Miguo, the Japanese name for the United States.
Japan uses "rice" to represent American me, so it is called "the country of America". Japanese kana: べいこく, Roman pronunciation: beikoku Why the United States is called the "American country" is also a question that many ordinary Japanese often feel confused about. I saw on the Internet that Japanese netizens asked this question: Why is America a "country of America" ??- a country of rice? How can a country where rice is not a staple food be a rice country? To answer this question, we must start from answering why the Chinese call the United States "the United States" and from the "discovery" of the American continent. In 1492, Italian navigator Cristoforo Colombo, with the funding of the King of Spain, crossed the Atlantic Ocean with letters of credence to the Emperor of China and the King of India. After more than 70 days of sailing, he finally discovered land. He thought it was the eastern part of the Asian continent. . Afterwards, another Italian navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, came here to explore from 1499 to 1502. After investigation, he confirmed that this was not the known Asian continent, but a "New World" unknown to Europeans. After returning from the voyage, Amerigo Vespucci made his findings and conclusions public in two letters. In 1507, the German geographer Martin Waldseemüller marked the continent as America for the first time on a newly published world map, which was a corruption of the navigator's name Amerigo. More than 60 years later, in 1583, Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (Chinese name Matteo Ricci) arrived in Macau, China. There, Matteo Ricci came into contact with square characters that were completely different from Western pinyin characters for the first time. He was very excited and began to work hard to learn Chinese. During this period, a Japanese envoy to Europe happened to pass through Macau, and the studious Ricci took the opportunity to learn a little Japanese. In 1583, Matteo Ricci was allowed to enter Zhaoqing, Guangdong, and in the following year he produced and printed a Chinese world map - "Comprehensive Map of Mountains, Seas and Geographical Areas". This was the first time that Chinese people came into contact with world geography in the eyes of Europeans. The only difference was that Ricci In order to please the Chinese, Dou put China in the center of the map. Since then, Matteo Ricci repeatedly drew the Chinese world map many times, and in 1602 published the "Comprehensive Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms" in Beijing. In "The Complete Map of Kunyu and All Kingdoms" we can see the Chinese names given by Matteo Ricci to the various continents of the world: Asia (i.e. Asia), Europa (i.e. Europe), Levia (i.e. Africa), South and North America (that is, South and North America). Although the Chinese were probably aware of the existence of America before the Europeans, China's most authoritative world map at the time indicated that "America" ??was in line with the world and became the standard Chinese translation of America during the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, when the United States of America became independent in 1776, it was rightfully called the "United States of America". Perhaps because "America" ??is a convoluted word, ordinary people used the "Stars and Stripes" to talk about things and called the "United States of America" ??the "Flag Country." "Citi" as the name of a country has not become popular in China, leaving only the old foreign name "Citibank" (I think Citibank must have displayed the stars and stripes at the door back then). Only the Vietnamese, who are deeply influenced by Chinese culture, still call the United States of America Hp Chúng Quc Hoa. When written in Chinese characters, it means "United States of America Flag". However, Matteo Ricci's translation, which was once recognized by the Ming Dynasty, attracted fierce criticism in the Qing Dynasty. In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), there was a Jinshi named Ping Buqing, who wrote extensively throughout his life. In his book "Xiawai Zongchen", there was a wonderful argument about "Chinese nonsense": "Xuan Dan served his father when he was young, and he traveled far and wide. Everyone knows that the West is strange. In Matteo Ricci's "The Complete Map of All Nations", China is Asia and the West is Europe. I don't know how to interpret the word "Europe". If you use "Taixi" to infer it, it will be an exaggeration. For 'Ya', "Erya Exegesis" says: 'Ciye.
’ “Shuowen Jiezi” says: ‘Ugly. 'Zeng Yun' says: 'Small. 'Chinese means 'sub-small sub-continent', which is extremely insulting to China! Yuan Hao changed his name to "Wuzhu" and Huayan said "My ancestor". Ouyang Wenzhong went to Zhazi to serve as the imperial court and called the Tibetan thieves "our old man"; while the people of the Ming Dynasty were willing to be insulted by Matteo Ricci, and no one realized that he was a traitor! " Perhaps the translation of America also uses the derogatory word "Asia". Pingbuqing's "Cultural Revolution"-style criticism only involved "Europe" and "Asia" and did not directly comment on the translation of "America". However, we have noticed that the "Tianjin Treaty" signed between the Qing Dynasty and the United States of America in the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858) did not use the name "United States of America", but "United States of America". The first sentence in the preamble of the Treaty of Tianjin is: "The Qing Kingdom of China and the United States of Asia and America, in order to maintain a long and sincere friendship, have clearly established fair and precise laws and regulations, and revised the Treaty of Friendship and the Charter of Peace and Harmony Trade, in order to The two countries will abide by the rules in the future, which is a good move. "That is to say, "America" ??has officially become "Daya Meilijia", and the "beautiful" meaning of "for this beautiful move" is intriguing. More than 40 years later, in the 27th year of Guangxu (1901) " When the Xinchou Treaty was signed, the word "Ya" in "Yameilijia" disappeared from the world, and "Dayamelijia" was quietly simplified to "Greater America", neatly competing with the "Great Qing Dynasty". From then on, it became "Greater America". After the Qing Dynasty came to an end, the "Greater America" ??naturally became the "United States", complementing "China". Just four days before the Treaty of Tianjin was signed in 1858 between the Qing Dynasty and the "United States of Asia and America" In 1854 (Kaei 7th year), Japan also signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States of America. The official country name used in the treaty was "United States of America", which was the same as that of Matteo Ricci in the Ming Dynasty. The official translation text is the same, except that a parentheses are added after "America" ??and the word "America" ??is written in katakana. Obviously, "America" ??was changed to "America" ??in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Japanese officials still insisted on using the unsentimental "America". At this point, China and Japan have begun to part ways in calling the United States of America. So, how did "America" ??become in Japan. What about the "American country"? After all, it has something to do with the Chinese. After the Opium War, Chinese literati learned the hard way and believed that the Chinese people's ignorance of the world was an important reason for their failure. , served successively as the chief envoy and the governor's staff in Jiangsu, and was a war-fighter. Wei Yuan wrote in the poem "Du Zhong Yin": "Prepare for the aftermath, prepare for the aftermath, and defend the river and seaport with forts." They build weapons, ships, and fire to attack, but they don't dare to attack but instead discuss defense. Why not learn from barbarian techniques for ship artillery, lest the labor cost would be doubled? Why not impose a strict smoking ban in Jianghai, lest the ban would provoke provocations from the outside world? Why did Haiyi sail on his own? Maybe Yunconngling can lead to the Atlantic Ocean, or Yunkuoerke India can get a glimpse of the Uzbekistan; maybe the Yiyi Buddhas in the Yiyi people want to help the Tang Dynasty by imitating the Huihe; or the countries in the Yunnan are in a state of embarrassment and unpredictability, so I can negotiate for the money. There is no way to discuss war or defense. Alas! Daoyitong City has been in existence for two hundred years, but it is still peaceful in the vastness and ignorance. There are so many titles to translate the national documents, so why not open a Haiyi Translation Center to prepare for the next step? The emotions and skills of the barbarians and the maps of the barbarians are as clear as the palm of your hand from thousands of miles away. If you know yourself and your enemy, you will know how to manage your family's illness. Who will be responsible for the country's duties? " ("Wei Yuanji·Thirteen Poems in Duzhong" No. 676-677). Please note that in this poem, "Miyi Fo Yi E Yi generation", "Fo Yi" refers to "France" (i.e. France) People, "Eyi" refers to "Eros" (Russia), and the word "Mi" in "Miyi" refers to "Military", which is the United States of America officially referred to as "Daya Meilijia" . Because of Wei Yuan's attitude towards the Yi people, the word "Mei" was not used, but "Mi Li Jian" was used instead of "Daya Mei Li Jia". In 1843, the 50-volume "Hai Guo Tu Zhi" compiled by Wei Yuan was officially published. The first masterpiece written by the Chinese themselves to introduce the situation of various countries in the world, Wei Yuan said in the book that the purpose of compiling "Hai Guo Tu Zhi" was to "learn from the skills of the barbarians and control them."
In this book, Wei Yuan refers to America as "Merica", but calls the United States of America "Milijan". Wei Yuan wrote in the book: "What is the method of attacking the foreign barbarians from the sea? To prepare for the barbarians, you must know the barbarians' sentiments, and to know the barbarians' feelings, you must know the barbarians' shape. Please state the situation first: The third enemy of the British barbarians is Russia: Russia. Said France, said Mi Lijian. "However, after the publication of "Hai Guo Tu Zhi", it was criticized by the government and ignored by the academic circles. However, it became very popular in neighboring Japan, which was also bullied by the barbarians, and became the enlightenment of Japanese reformers. Readings. When Mr. Liang Qichao reviewed the successful history of the Meiji Restoration, he once commented that the predecessors of the Japanese reformists "were all stimulated by this book and indirectly performed a live drama of respecting and resisting the reform." I think that under the influence of this book, the translation of United States of America in Japan became "United States of America", replacing "United States of America". Because "Mi" is a bit unfamiliar and has many strokes (the traditional Chinese character for "Mi" is "Mi"), "Mi Li Jian" evolved into "Mi Li Jian". In 1783, the history book translated and published by Chichi Oka and Toshiyuki Kono called the United States of America "Milikan", or "U.S. country" for short. In fact, Mr. Chiang Kai-shek answered the question of why the Japanese call the United States "the United States" more than 70 years ago. In July 1934, Chiang Kai-shek said this in his speech entitled "Resisting Foreign Invasion and Reviving the Nation" to the Lushan Officer Training Corps: "In order for Japan to annex China, it must first conquer Russia and eat the United States. Only by defeating Britain can he achieve his goal. This is their long-decided national policy. He calls China "China". What does the word "China" mean in Japanese? Do you know that in his eyes? There is no China, so we don't call our China the Republic of China, but always call us "China". Secondly, what does it call Russia? Its name is "Lucia", and the word "lu" is the dew of rain. , what does it mean? He just compares Japan to the sun and regards Russia as dew. As soon as the sun hits the dew, the dew will dry up! This shows that Japan's national policy has long been determined to destroy Russia. What does he call America? We call it America, but Japan calls it America. Rice is a necessary food for people. It means America. They are determined to eat the United States!” I don’t know if the Americans believed what Chairman Chiang said. Anyway, the official Japanese translation of the United States of America in all the treaties signed between Japan and the United States after the war was “America”, which means not Beautiful, but also without rice. Of course, Chiang Kai-shek's statement that Japan wanted to eat "the United States" was quite prophetic. Not to mention that the United States was severely bitten by Japan in the Pearl Harbor incident, and the hungry Japanese after the war still relied on relief flour shipped from the United States. Therefore, in Japan, flour can also be called "Merikan flour". Since the flour is shipped from America, why is it not called American flour but Merikan flour? It's very simple. Merikan means "Milikan", so "メリケン noodles" are noodles from the "U.S. country". Therefore, from a food perspective, it may be more reasonable for Japan to call the "rice country" a "noodle country".
Hope it can help you, welcome to adopt O(∩_∩)O~