Wamyō Ruijushō

The Wamyō ruijushō or Wamyō ruijūshō (和名わみょう類聚るいじゅう抄しょう, "Japanese names [for things], classified and annotated") is a 938 CE Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters. The Heian period scholar Minamoto no Shitagō (源順みなもとのしたごう, 911–983 CE) began compilation in 934, at the request of Emperor Daigo's daughter. This Wamyō ruijushō title is abbreviated as Wamyōshō, and has graphic variants of 和名わみょう類聚るいじゅう抄しょう with wa 和わ "harmony; Japan" for wa 倭やまと "dwarf; Japan" and 倭名わみょう類るい聚鈔 with shō 鈔 "copy; summarize" for shō 抄しょう "copy; annotate".

The Wamyō ruijushō is the oldest extant Japanese dictionary organized into semantic headings, analogous to a Western language thesaurus. This ancient lexicographical collation system was developed in Chinese dictionaries like the Erya, Xiao Erya, and Shiming. The Wamyōshō categorizes kanji vocabulary, primarily nouns, into main headings (bu 部ぶ) divided into subheadings (rui 類るい). For instance, the tenchi (天地てんち "heaven and earth") heading includes eight semantic divisions like seishuku (星宿せいしゅく "stars and constellations"), un'u (雲くも雨う "clouds and rain"), and fūsetsu (風雪ふうせつ "wind and snow").

Each dictionary entry gives the Chinese character, sources cited, Chinese pronunciations (with either a homonym or fanqie spelling), definitions, and corresponding Japanese readings (in the ancient Man'yōgana system using kanji to represent Japanese pronunciation). It cites over 290 sources, both Chinese (for example, the Shuowen Jiezi) and Japanese (the Man'yōshū).

The Wamyō ruijushō, survives in both a 10-volume edition (十じゅう巻かん本ほん) and a 20-volume edition (二に十じゅう巻かん本ほん). The larger one was published in 1617 with a commentary by Nawa Dōen (那波なば道どう円えん, 1595–1648) and was used in the Edo period until the 1883 publication of the 10-volume edition annotated by Kariya Ekisai (狩谷かりや棭齋, 1775–1835), also known as the Senchū Wamyō ruijushō (箋注倭名わみょう類聚るいじゅう抄しょう "Annotated commentary to the Wamyō ruijushō"). The 10-volume edition has 24 main headings divided into a total of 128 subheadings, while the 20-volume version has 32 and 249, respectively. The table below illustrates how words are semantically categorized in the 10-volume edition.

Subject headings in the 1883 Wamyō ruijushō

	Rōmaji	Kanji	Translation	Subjects
1	Tenchi	天地てんち	Universe	constellations, weather, gods, earth, topography
2	Jinrin	人倫じんりん	Humans	gender, kinship, family, marriage
3	Keitai	形体けいたい	Body	body parts, sense organs, internal organs
4	Shippei	疾病しっぺい	Sickness	diseases, wounds
5	Jutsugei	術じゅつ藝げい	Arts	martial arts, fine arts, skills
6	Kyosho	居きょ處しょ	Architecture	houses, walls, doors, roads
7	Sensha	舟ふね車しゃ	Vehicles	boats, carts, carriages
8	Chinpō	珍寶ちんぽう	Treasures	precious metals, jewels
9	Fuhaku	布帛ふはく	Textiles	embroidery, silks, woven fabrics
10	Shōzoku	装束しょうぞく	Clothing	hats, clothes, belts, shoes
11	Inshoku	飲食いんしょく	Foods and Drinks	liquors, beverages, cooked grains, fruits, meats
12	Kibei	器うつわ皿さら	Utensils	objects of metal, lacquer, wood, tile, and bamboo
13	Tōka	燈火ともしび	Illumination	lamps, lights, lighting
14	Chōdo	調度ちょうど	Things and Supplies	implements, tools, weapons, utensils, furnishings
15	Uzoku	羽はね族ぞく	Birds	birds, feathers, ornithology
16	Mōgun	毛け群ぐん	Wild Animals	wild animals, body parts
17	Gyūba	牛馬ぎゅうば	Domestic Animals	cattle, horses, sheep, body parts, diseases
18	Ryōgo	龍りゅう魚ぎょ	Aquatic animals	dragons, fish, reptiles, amphibians
19	Kibai	龜貝かめがい	Shellfishes	turtles, shellfish
20	Chūchi	蟲むし豸	Miscellaneous Animals	insects, worms, small reptiles
21	Tōkoku	稲いね穀こく	Grains	rices, cereals
22	Saiso	菜さい蔬	Vegetables	tubers, seaweeds, edible plants
23	Kayu	果はて蓏	Fruits	fruits, melons
24	Sōmoku	草木くさき	Plants	grasses, mosses, vines, flowers, trees

The broadly inclusive Wamyō ruijushō dictionary was an antecedent for Japanese encyclopedias. In the present day, it provides linguists and historians with an invaluable record of the Japanese language over a thousand years ago, more specifically the linguistics of the 10th century and Heian Period.

Further reading

• Minamoto, Shitagō (1968) [c. 934]. Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen. Kyōto: Rinsen. ISBN 4-653-00507-9.
• Minamoto, Shitagō (1968). Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Sakuinhen. Kyōto: Rinsen. ISBN 4-653-00509-5.
• Minamoto, Shitagō (1966) [c. 934]. Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Gaihen. Kyōto: Rinsen. ISBN 4-653-00508-7.

External links

• 倭名わみょう類るい聚鈔 Archived 2006-11-12 at the Wayback Machine, Waseda University Library online Wamyō ruijushō (in Japanese)
• Manuscript scans at Waseda University Library: 1617, 1667, 1667, 1688, 17th century, 17th century