“Gratio” can’t be until this clever

TV series activities Shogun Directly responsible for the gravity, thermal center, national isolation and other ideas of modern Japan. Mainly based on real events Change the name only for some reason,,,,, Shogun At the opening, a Dutch ship arrived in Japan, marking the first contact between the country and the Netherlands. After Portugal was dissatisfied with the Japanese authorities, the Dutch (with a firm foothold in the country) helped suppress the rebellion against Japanese Christians. They then became the only European people in Japan to deal with. In 1641, the Dutch East India Company established a factory on the island of Dejima next to Nagasaki, and for the next 218 years it was Japan’s main source of information about the Western world, its history and science. This is where Shizuki Tadao enters the scene.

Hanyu Pain Map | Opening History Museum Collection Museum

Shizuki Tadao: Polyhedron, scientist, possible change

Born in the Nakano Merchant family, this Japanese-changing man was adopted by the Shizuki family and became a Dutch interpreter (called Dutch) Tsuji) Sometime in the 1760s. At that time, the clan had been promoting the Dejima trade between the Netherlands and Japan. Shizuki entered the industry in 1776, but seemed to resign after just one year, citing poor health.

However, according to the latest research by Professor Ann Jannetta of the University of Pittsburgh, he may continue to serve as Tsuji Until 1786. His identity is also suspected to be invalid, with the main theory being that when he continues to participate in the interpretation major, he insists primarily on himself because he focuses on scientific research in his spare time and because he is just a generally unsocial person. When it comes to great minds, the two often go hand in hand.

Shizuki is undoubtedly a great mind. He lived in Nagasaki and he had access to most of the Dutch European scientific research, from Nicholas Copernicus to Isaac Newton, who set out to translate it all into Japan.

However, there is one problem. Japanese simply lacked many of the words found in the paper, forcing him to invent them from scratch. His works include jury (gravity), kyushinryoku (Central Force) and Enshinryoku (Centrifugal force). Although the last two are not so often used, today they are still standard Japanese, and jury is a very common word.

In addition, use -ryoku Suffix – Read the “power” of Chinese characters from China to show “power” – lays the foundation for the future development of the Japanese scientific dictionary. It feels right, because whatever Jing Zuki translates, he tries to understand first…at least to a certain extent.

Yushi Ishizaki | Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture Collection

Use the wrong equation to get the correct answer

Like many educated men of his time, Shizuki also spoke and read Chinese, which cast a shadow on his studies. Although he did seem to understand Newtonian mechanics and the principles of planetary motion, he approached them from the perspective of neosoviets and Taoism.

For example, he interprets electromagnetic force as the accumulation of Qi (the life energy of the entire universe in Chinese cosmology) and the law of attraction through Yin and Yang’s prism. His focus on Chinese cosmology is also likely to have influenced his decision to translate “Heliocentrism” into chidosetsu (Moving Earth Theory) – Another common Japanese word that children learn in school today.

None of these translations are wrong, but many are derived from metaphysical understanding of natural phenomena. Perhaps the greatest lesson Shizuki can teach us is that knowledge is not transferable, because his true talents are obviously in language rather than scientific.

Shizuki was reportedly the first Japanese to learn about Dutch in Western grammatical terms. Prior to this, the trend was to include the Dutch in the Japanese or Chinese grammatical framework. This is enough to complete Dejima’s commercial transaction, but it hinders the understanding of scientific texts and is therefore the understanding of scientific ideas. Shizuki changed that. He also changed the way we talk about Japanese history.

Details of Engelbert Kaempfer, Regni Japoniae of Cartouche no Mappa Geographica (1730) | Wikimedia Commons

A chain of countries

The policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the early 17th century, except for Dejima, Japan usually describes Japan’s name in Japan: Sakoku. The word is often translated as “national isolation” and is actually composed of two characters: “chain” and “country”.

This is also Shizuki’s invention, who translated the appendix into Engelbert Kaempfer’s Japan’s History. The original does not use the word “chain”, so the translation may indicate Shizuki’s real idea of ​​the policy. It is difficult to think of “the country of chain” as anything.

However, according to Get rid of the deadlock: The decision to open up Japan Shizuki’s notes show that Mitani Hiroshi’s notes show that he thinks isolationism is great, and that he mainly translates the text to make readers proud of their natural Japanese. His attitude is not that Japan and the rest of the world are closed, but that it is protected.

Although we may feel sorry, it was a common idea in Japan at the time and it undoubtedly helped popularize Shizuki’s works. Ultimately, it helped the Dutch research spread to Nagasaki beyond Edo (modern Tokyo), promoting not only the process of physics, but also the process of medicine and other sciences. Again, we see that we can use the wrong equation and get the correct answer.

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