EmmaW Posted August 27, 2013 at 03:36 PM Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 at 03:36 PM I found this inscription on the bottom a Buddha. Can anyone help me with what it means? Thank you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 27, 2013 at 11:30 PM Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 at 11:30 PM It says "National Treasure, Great Buddha of Kamakura". Kamakura is a city in Japan not far from Tokyo, where there's a large outdoor statue of the Buddha. It's quite famous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dtoku-in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaW Posted August 28, 2013 at 08:23 AM Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 08:23 AM Thanks so much Glenn, I'm quite embarrassed that I thought it was Chinese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneEye Posted August 28, 2013 at 08:57 AM Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 08:57 AM Don't be. They share the same writing system (Chinese characters). The の on the bottom row is actually the only character that's specific to Japanese. The rest is quite readable by anyone who can read Chinese, and even の is familiar enough to readers of Chinese that it doesn't pose any problem. In fact, change the の to 之 (as I believe it is sometimes written) and it could be either language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaW Posted August 28, 2013 at 10:57 AM Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 10:57 AM Thanks OneEye, feeling a bit better now! Do you know what the top two characters mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruben von Zwack Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:57 AM Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:57 AM Reading from right to left: "National Treasure" Guó bǎo in Chinese, Kokuho (or kokuhoo, kokuhou - a long "o") in Japanese. It's written right-to-left and in traditional Characters, 國寶. Both Chinese and Japanese also use the same modern simplified Characters: 国宝 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaW Posted August 28, 2013 at 12:15 PM Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 12:15 PM Thanks Ruben. Definitely an appropriate description for such an object Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaW Posted August 28, 2013 at 02:55 PM Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 02:55 PM Thanks everyone for all your help. I'd appreciate a bit of clarification with something, strictly to satisfy my own curiosity. When I google translated Great Buddha of Kamakura it was written almost exactly as is written on the bottom of my Buddha, (apart from the order being switched) 鎌倉の大仏 This symbol 仏 was the only one that didn't match - I think it should have corresponded with the far left character on my Buddha, which I think means 'Buddha'. Is this purely because google gave me the modern simplified version? Thank you (and I really appreciate the Japanese help on a Chinese forum!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:09 PM Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:09 PM Yes, it's the modern, simplified version that Japanese uses for 佛. Also, の also seems to be used in modern Chinese sometimes for 的, so really, you could read it in Chinese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruben von Zwack Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:12 PM Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:12 PM Exactly like you suspected already Could even be that the short form you got on google might be unique to Japanese. Others here will know that better. I'm thinking so because my dictionary says "仏: Japanese variant of fó 佛". I think the Japanese pronounciation is Daibutsu (大dai, great 仏 butsu, Buddha). No worries, Japanese art is wonderful, it's a pleasure to just think about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruben von Zwack Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:14 PM Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:14 PM の also seems to be used in modern Chinese sometimes for 的 are you sure it wasn't a Japanese quotation in a Chinese text or something like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:19 PM Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 at 11:19 PM If memory serves me correctly, it was all over the internet, and it was never in a Japanese quotation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaW Posted August 29, 2013 at 07:43 AM Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 at 07:43 AM Thanks Ruben and Glenn, that's really interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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