Translations of Encyclopedias: Transforming Knowledge in Early Modern Japan
Mamiko Ito
When the subject of the encyclopedia comes up, you may be reminded of Michel
Foucault’s work The Order of Things (An Archaeology of Human Sciences / Les mots et les choses:
une archéologie des sciences humaines). Peter Burke also refers to encyclopedias and their
categories as “expressions or embodiments of a view of knowledge and indeed a view of the world”
in his work, A Social History of Knowledge. An encyclopedia is a mirror of a culture. It reflects a
culture’s sense of values, customs, thoughts, ideas, scholarships, and trends for in a specific age and
in a specific country. The encyclopedia and its classification system are edited to order the things of
the world with words. In this sense, the encyclopedia is the knowledge that accompanies a given
order or system. With this in mind, I would like to discuss how the Japanese, particularly from the
17th to the 19th centuries, translated and incorporated encyclopedias originating elsewhere.
As far as encyclopedias in Europe go, the Cyclopaedia by Ephraim Chambers in the UK,
and the Encyclopédie/ Encyclopedia by Diderot in France became famous in the Eighteenth Century.
(Plinius; Naturalis Historia, of course) In China, during the Tang Dynasty, “Leishu” (a type of
encyclopedia) had come into being in 624. The first was named Yiwen Leiju by Ouyang Xun. In
Japan, the first encyclopedia was edited in the Tenth Century. It was called the Wamyo Ruiju-sho.
Princess Kinshi (the emperor’s daughter) was ordered to edit it for scholars to easily read the
Chinese book. The book invoked the Chinese literature of the court in this era. So the original
provenance of the encyclopedia in Japan is the importation and translation of Chinese culture.
Japan has incorporated aspects of different civilizations for hundreds of years. Until
recently, most cultural imports came from China. Japan adopted Chinese characters into its writing
system, Confucianism into its philosophy, and the Chinese form of the Encyclopedia (Leishu). For
many years, the Japanese encyclopedia took the form of an edited translation of a Chinese one,
especially in the Seventeenth Century.
In 1637, Sancai Tuhui (vol.106) was edited by Wang Qi in China (Ming Dynasty). This
title means the illustrations of subjects in the three worlds, since according to this source the
universe was composed of three dimensions: heaven, earth, and humanity. This was a view of the
world held in East Asia from antiquity. This encyclopedia was organized into 106 chapters in
fourteen categories: astronomy and meteorology are under heaven; geography, biology and minerals
are under earth; and man and life are under the category of humanity. This work was quickly
transmitted to Japan and translated within thirty years as Wakan Sansei Zue by Terashima Ryoan, the
doctor, in 1713. The title means “the illustrations of subjects in the three worlds in Japan translated
from the Chinese.” He had picked up the things connected with Japan from the original and put into
Japanese subjects. It had a Japanese alphabetical order, making it easier to search. It was also transmitted
to Korea. Under the title Im Wong Eong Jae Ji, it was edited as an encyclopedia there in the first half of
the 19th Century, influenced by both the original Chinese and the Japanese versions. In Europe, the
national library in France has the Japanese version of this encyclopedia (in the Siebold collection).
This Japanese encyclopedia was popular. The price was not so high since it was printed
book and not a hand-written manuscript, and the pictures made it easy to understand. Because of this,
it was reprinted several times over 200 years. Wamyo Ruiju-sho, the first Japanese encyclopedia, was
also reprinted six times during the 17th Century. Why did these encyclopedias enjoy such popularity?
One reason was the progress of print techniques that lower prices, and another factor was the
popularity of natural history.
Natural history has had a wide appeal on not only in Europe but in Asia in the 100 years
from the mid-Eighteenth century. In Europe, the plant-hunter joined explorers and went to abroad to
gather something new or rare. On the other hand, Japan was a prohibition by the Shōgun, feudal lord
of Japan, which forbade voyaging overseas and allowed only Chinese and Dutch merchants into the
ports. Because of its status as a “closed country,” Japan remained political stable. It allowed for a
flourishing of culture and hobbies. One aspect of this was an interest in natural history. It spread not
only among intellectuals and wealthy aristocrats, but also among the general public. They enjoyed
gardening (cultivating bonsai), breeding (fanciers of goldfish, birds, frogs, even flies were active).
They showed each other their work and took pleasure in competition. The encyclopedia played a big
role as the guidebook to these amateur hobbyists.
Natural history became popular as a scholarly pursuit as well. Chinese herbalism brought
from the mainland also introduced concepts of natural history. Li Shizhen’s Bencao gangmu (it had
1903species), was published in 1596, and was imported to Japan by 1604. Bencao gangmu was also
transmitted to Korea and Vietnam, and scholars in Europe took notice of Li Shizhen’s work in the
middle of the seventeenth century. The most famous translation of it was Yamato Honzo by Kaibara
Ekiken. He picked included things found in Japan, and added a large number of animals, plants, and
minerals to the original.
In the first half of the Eighteenth Century, the government adopted new policy: the
development of domestic pharmacopeia. For a long time, most of the materials used to make
chemical substances had been imported, so a large amount of silver and copper flowed out of the
country. Therefore, new species or subspecies were sought. Scholars met to identify between things
and names elaborated in books. In time, they brought rare articles together and organized exhibitions.
In 1757, scholars nationwide attended the exhibition in Edo (old Tokyo) showcasing rare articles,
and if they could not come to Tokyo, it was possible to send items through the network of the
pharmacies. This is the origin of the modern exhibition in Japan. With the popularity of natural
history, many variations of the encyclopedia were edited, both digests (handbooks for daily use) and
specialized ones.
Although Japan was “closed,” books on practical topics such as surgery or navigation had
been allowed, and a small flow of Western books and Chinese translations had arrived in Japan. In
1720, the government lifted the import ban on Western books. Knowledge on medical science,
astronomy, and navigation techniques were permitted to flow in. In the beginning of Nineteen
Century, when Western country came to East Asia, the government ordered the astronomical bureau
to make a map of the world (1809), and placed the translation department within the astronomical
bureau (1811).
The government began to translate the Dutch encyclopedia, Noel Chomel’s Huishoudelijk
Woordenboek（Household Dictionary, eight volumes). It was bought from Hendrik Doeff, the Dutch
commissioner in the Dejima trading post in 1810. This was the economical encyclopedia, the
original of which was edited by French Father Chomel. It was the first encyclopedia from Europe to
be translated into Japanese.
The translation project continued over thirty years (1811-1846), and required the talents of
twelve scholars. There were problems. First off, the alphabetical order did not work in Japanese.
Every item was classified by the traditional classification system. Not only that, the method of
explanation was very different from the style in use in East Asia. In the West, the item was explained
with provenance, figuration, and so on. But it was the style in East Asia to refer to the anthologies of
significant literature. Hence, the scholar had to use both styles. The translation was mostly finished
in the mid-Eighteenth Century, but it was never published. Very at that moment, Western countries
urged Japan to open to them, and the interpreters’ energies became devoted to this issue.
When the country was reopened again in 1854, the translation departments became the
school of western study. This “opening” and active interest in modernization based on learning from
Western models defined the spirit of Japan’s Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Restoration, from 1868,
marked the beginning of Japan’s entry into the global system of modern nation states. During the
period, an overwhelming amount of Western knowledge flowed into Japan. The revolutionary
agenda of the new government was to become a modern country. The newly formed Ministry of
Education began to translate the Western encyclopedia at once. They chose W. Chambers and R.
Chambers’ Information for the People. Ninety volumes, ranging from chemistry, medical science,
diplomacy, economy, and so on were published in ten years. This ordering of thought and the
material world within modern Western academic fields was deemed essential at the moment.
On the other hand, conservatives insisted that the priority was to create an original
Japanese encyclopedia (1873-1884). In 1879, the Minister of Education ordered that the
encyclopedia would be edited in the traditional style, emphasizing literary allusions. The title is Koji
Ruien. It means, garden of ancient matters. The range of literature to be drawn upon was wide: it
spanned from myth to materials just preceding the Restoration. However, the project was suspended
because it was ultimately criticized as too narrowly Japan-specific for an official, state-sponsored
project. It continued as the project of the office of Ise Shrine (dedicated to the goddess ancestor of
the imperial line) (1879-1907). It was finished in 1907, and ran to one thousand volumes.
In East Asia, the style in which anthologies of significant literature and the classification
by three worlds were used to order and explain the material world is a distinctive element. On the
first translation, the classification was used, since there was no established alphabetical order. After
the Restoration, the government hired foreigners from over twenty nations to adopt Western
technology and culture widely and thoroughly. Why Japan could westernize so rapidly? One key
reason is that Japan had a long history of adopting from foreign cultures. The model shifted from
China to Western countries, so the method was familiar.
But the Japanese system of knowledge did not work because of a massive inflow of
Western knowledge. Nishi Amane established the education system in the new, post-Restoration
government. He had studied Confucianism first. After the country was reopened again, he began to
study English. He was sent by the government to Leiden for two years and studied various subjects,
including law and philosophy, which enabled him to learn the essence of Western academism of the
mid-Nineteen Century. Upon his return, he opened a private school for Western Studies. He named
his lecture “Hyakugaku Renkan,” and utilized the new system of knowledge to order it. “Hyakugaku
Renkan” means the linked cycle of knowledge. Nishi created this word as the Japanese translation of
the word “ Encyclopedia.”