In the first year of Xianheng, he sent envoys to peaceful Korea. Later, I learned a little Xia Yin, and my name became evil, so I changed it to "Japan". The messenger said that he was famous for his recent appearance. Or cloud Japan is a small country and was merged by the Japanese, so it took this name. The messenger has no feelings, so he is suspicious.
The Book of the New Tang Dynasty was edited by Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi in the Song Dynasty, and the above statement should be justified. Judging from this passage, "Japan" was renamed "Japan" after the first year of Xianheng in Tang Gaozong (AD 670). However, it is doubtful why the country name was changed and why it was named "Japan".
Why change "Japan" to "Japan"? It is said that the Japanese envoy to China had a little knowledge of Xia Yin (Chinese), but found that the meaning of "Japan" was not good, so he changed his name to "Japan". As mentioned earlier, the ancients in China called Japan "Japan", which was originally just a transliteration of "He", and it was not derogatory in itself. Therefore, it is hard to believe that it is "evil".
Then it is said that the Japanese changed the name of their country to "Japan" because they thought the geographical location of their country was "recently produced". This statement is also questionable; Because we think that Japan is "near", it can only be the concept of China people-Japan is on the distant sea in the east of China, which visually seems to be the place where the sun rises. "Shan Hai Jing Overseas East longitude" said: "There are hibiscus in the valley, and you can bathe for ten days." "Huainanzi Astronomical Training" also said: "The sun rises from the valley, bathes in the salty pool and blows on the hibiscus, which is called morning light." People living in the Japanese archipelago can't see the sun rising from the mainland. Therefore, the concept that Japan is the foundation of Japan's founding can only be produced in China. I said this later, obviously influenced by China's ideas.
There is also a saying that there is a small country called "Japan" near Japan, which was annexed by Japan. Later, Japanese envoys in the Tang Dynasty used the name "Japan" to address China people. This statement was suspicious at the time, and it was even more unfounded.
On the contrary, The Justice of Historical Records by Zhang Shoujie in Tang Dynasty provides a little-known evidence, which may help to solve the mystery of the origin of the name "Japan": "Wuhou changed Japan into a Japanese country." (Historical Records of the Five Emperors, Zhang Shoujie Justice) Originally, Japan was renamed Japan at the suggestion of Empress Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Shoujie was born in Xuanzong, not far from the reign of Wuhou, and his statement should be justified. If this statement is correct, then the above doubts will no longer exist.
In the third year of Meiji (AD 1870), the Japanese government made a decision that "all citizens can take their surnames". However, not many people responded. As a result, the government had to announce the Miao compulsory order in the eighth year of Meiji (1875), stipulating that "all citizens must take their surnames". Indeed, most people didn't have it before 1875 in Japan, where we are separated by a strip of water.
With a last name. It can be said that the Japanese have surnames, but it has only been more than a hundred years.
In ancient times, only the nobles in Japan were famous for their surnames, and their so-called surnames were different from what we understood.
At the end of the 4th century AD, the Japanese Yamato court unified many small countries in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago into one country, and its political rule was based on the surname system. A group headed by the great monarch (later emperor) of the Yamato court, which controls the central government and establishes blood relations with the kings of small countries affiliated to the court, is called "history", and a "history" is also an aristocratic family.
Some surnames come from official positions, some from place names of residence and ruling places, some from god names, and some from skills. For example, those who live in Izumo country are called "Izumo family" and those who do sacrificial work are called "taboo family". The Wang family, who held the supreme power of the Yamato court, was the most powerful family at that time.
Later, the Wang family gave many families belonging to the imperial court "surnames" according to their closeness, blood relationship and contribution. This "surname" is not a real surname, but it is a title of status, family status and position, similar to a title. At that time, there were about 30 surnames, among which "Sean", "Jun" and "Zhi" were the most powerful surnames for the royal family and prominent nobles.
Due to population growth, a big family has many branches. These branches gave themselves a word seedling. "Miao character" means bud branch, which is a branch from one's own home. For example, Fujiwara is a big family. After the split, Fujiwara, who lived near Jiangguo, took the initials of "near Jiangguo" and "Fujiwara" and called it "Kondo". Fujiwara, who lives in Yi Shi, Yuanjiang and Kaga, is called Ito, Endo and Kato. In the eighth year of Meiji, people who had never had a surname wanted to touch the word "Fujita" when taking their own surname, so Fujita, Fujimoto, Fujii, Fujiyama, Fujikawa and Fujita were born.
So at this time, the surname can represent a part of the family blood relationship, but the surname only represents the family status, and the Miao word represents a new branch, but at this time, the surname, surname and Miao word are only available to nobles.
By the middle of the seventh century, during the period of Dahua innovation, hereditary titles were abolished, which meant that surnames were meaningless, and surnames and surnames were confused, and some of them became surnames that have been passed down to this day. At this time, surnames are still exclusive to nobles. In the19th century, surnames were limited to warriors, tycoons and powerful people in the village. These people apply to the authorities and get special permission to have surnames. It is a great honor to "bring a knife and a name". The so-called "sword" means having a surname, and ordinary people only have a first name and no surname.
During the reign of Emperor Meiji, the government felt that it was inconvenient to have no surname, fabricate household registration and collect taxes, and called on everyone to take surnames. However, due to people's long-standing habits, no one wants to use surnames. At this time, the government had to issue an order that "all citizens must have their surnames". At this time, people are eager to find surnames, and there is a craze for taking surnames all over the country. The one who lives in Aoki Village is called Aoki, the one who lives by the bridge is called Da Qiao, and the one who grows pine trees at home is called Matsushita. If there is a mountain in front of the door, it is called a mountain pass. So Tanaka, Miki, Yamada, Sunshine, North Wind, Front, Above and Guanyin, surnames that China people find strange, suddenly burst out.
There are Ueno, Tanaka, Hanoi, Shangyuan, Shiyuan, Lu Qian, Otomiya, Yoshiokaya, Sanhewu, and Pangwu whose surnames are place names, and Yummy, Yummy and the prostitute man whose surnames are occupations. Some people also use the names of ancient warriors as surnames, such as Sakai, Bendo and Shangshan, all of which are the names of ancient warriors. Some people are afraid of being punished by the government, "don't choose their surnames" and take fish, vegetables, temples and occupations as surnames. Suzuki was originally a symbol held by a god official and became a surname. A little culture chooses good words such as longevity, longevity, Millennium, loose bamboo and Asahi as surnames. Longevity symbols such as pine, crane and tortoise have also become surnames, as have hundreds, thousands and thousands. Some people really can't think of a good way, so they have to deal with one casually. Most surnames of "my grandson", "pig hand" and Japanese people consist of two Chinese characters, some with only one word, and most with nine Chinese characters. Such as Beichi, Haian, Tanaka, Suzuki, Utsunomiya, saionji, Ogawara and Kadoorie. Therefore, in order to distinguish which is the surname and which is the first name, a word should be left between the surname and the first name on the occasion of formal signature. For example, Kiyoshi Inoue should be written as "Kiyoshi Inoue", "Third-order Golden Soup", "Yagi Xiahong" and "Yagi Xiahong".
It is said that there are hundreds of thousands of surnames in Japan, and the population of Japan is only over 100 million, with an average of only a few hundred surnames. There are more than 40 most common ones, among which Suzuki, Sato, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Gao Qiao, Kobayashi, Nakamura, Ito and Saito account for 10% of the total population, exceeding 100000.
There are so many surnames in Japan, but the emperor has no surnames. Emperor Akihito and Emperor Hirohito can't say their surnames. The Japanese believe that the emperor is not a person, but a god, and God has no surname. The emperor has no surname, and neither does the prince, grandson, daughter, brother or aunt. Generally, women will change their husband's surname after marriage, but civilians still use their maiden name when they marry the royal family. Wen Ren's wife Chuan Dao Kiko's surname is Chuan Dao, which is her maiden name.
Japanese people have strange surnames and names. Japanese men's names often end with words such as lang, husband, male and male. To show their strength, handsome and loyalty. Moreover, there are many signs of ranking. The eldest son is called Taro, the second son is called Jiro and Jiro, and the one ranked 1 1 is Yoichiro. Some people simply removed the word "Lang", which means "Tai", "Yi", "Ci" and "Er", which means that two have the rule, three have the choice to hide, and children are helpful. The eldest daughter is called the eldest son, the second daughter is called neutron and the third daughter is called the third son. Kobayashi Hiroichi must be the eldest son, and Tiger Jiro must be the second. In the past, Japanese men's names were often added with "Bing Wei", "Saemon" and "Saemon", all of which were changed from military posts, and some were used to show the spirit of martial arts.
Most Japanese women's names end with "Zi", "Jiang", "Dai" and "Zhi", such as Kawashima Yoshiko, Daguan Xingjiang, Chiyoyo Zhiye and Ohara Fujitsu, which sounds elegant and soft. Now about 90% of young women are named after "Zi". It is customary for a woman to change her husband's surname after marriage. After Ryoko Nakano married Kawasaki Yamahiro, he was renamed Kawasaki Yoshiko; Song dynasty, after marriage, changed its name to chestnut. Now, more and more women are opposed to the husband and wife sharing the same surname, and they have also set up a "rally against the husband and wife sharing the same surname", arguing that they should still use their own surnames after marriage.
Using numbers in names is another feature of Japanese names. There are people who blindly call Yi Dan, Er Jing, Miki and Si Dao; There are people named six, seven, eight horses, nine ghosts and ten stones; There are people named 45, Isuzu, 100 yuan, 600 fields and 1000 households; There are even people named EMI and Long Live. It is common to use numbers in names to indicate rankings, but some also indicate the time of birth. For example, Isoroku Yamamoto was born with a 56-year-old father. "Dog owners", "Ghost Head" and "Eggplant River" all came, and some even asked officials to take out one at will.
There are many explanations about the origin of Japan.
One is that the West is used to naming countries with special products, so China became China and Japan became Japan, because lacquerware was one of Japan's main export products at that time (just as Arabic numerals were invented by Indians, but became "Arabic numerals" because of the spread of Arabs).
One is Huang Jinguo in eastern China described by Kyle Poirot, while Huang Jinguo's pronunciation is close to Japanese.
There is also a saying that the pronunciation of "Japan" in ancient Chinese has gradually evolved into Japan.
The exact source is not very exact.