<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article contains Japanese text . Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana . </Td> </Tr> <P> The word Japan is an exonym, and is used (in one form or another) by a large number of languages . The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon (にっぽん listen (help info)) and Nihon (にほん listen (help info)). They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本 . </P> <P> Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "the sun's origin", that is, where the sun originates, and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun . This nomenclature comes from Imperial correspondence with the Chinese Sui Dynasty and refers to Japan's eastern position relative to China . Before Nihon came into official use, Japan was known as Wa (倭) or Wakoku (倭国). Wa was a name early China used to refer to an ethnic group living in Japan around the time of the Three Kingdoms Period . </P> <P> Although the etymological origins of "Wa" remain uncertain, Chinese historical texts recorded an ancient people residing in the Japanese archipelago (perhaps Kyūshū), named something like * ʼWâ or * ʼWər 倭. Carr (1992: 9--10) surveys prevalent proposals for Wa's etymology ranging from feasible (transcribing Japanese first - person pronouns waga 我 が "my; our" and ware 我 "I; oneself; thou") to shameful (writing Japanese Wa as 倭 implying "dwarf"), and summarizes interpretations for * ʼWâ "Japanese" into variations on two etymologies: "behaviorally' submissive' or physically' short' ." The first "submissive; obedient" explanation began with the (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi dictionary . It defines 倭 as shùnmào 順 皃 "obedient / submissive / docile appearance", graphically explains the "person; human" radical 亻 with a wěi 委 "bent" phonetic, and quotes the above Shijing poem . "Conceivably, when Chinese first met Japanese," Carr (1992: 9) suggests "they transcribed Wa as * ʼWâ' bent back' signifying' compliant' bowing / obeisance . Bowing is noted in early historical references to Japan ." Examples include "Respect is shown by squatting" (Hou Han Shu, tr . Tsunoda 1951: 2), and "they either squat or kneel, with both hands on the ground . This is the way they show respect ." (Wei Zhi, tr . Tsunoda 1951: 13). Koji Nakayama interprets wēi 逶 "winding" as "very far away" and euphemistically translates Wō 倭 as "separated from the continent ." The second etymology of wō 倭 meaning "dwarf, pygmy" has possible cognates in ǎi 矮 "low, short (of stature)", wō 踒 "strain; sprain; bent legs", and wò 臥 "lie down; crouch; sit (animals and birds)". Early Chinese dynastic histories refer to a Zhūrúguó 侏儒 國 "pygmy / dwarf country" located south of Japan, associated with possibly Okinawa Island or the Ryukyu Islands . Carr cites the historical precedence of construing Wa as "submissive people" and the "Country of Dwarfs" legend as evidence that the "little people" etymology was a secondary development . </P>

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