Here is the kanji for "pan
gai nun", written by
Sumako. It exactly matches
the standard kanji calligraphy
style found depicting “Pangainun”
in several published books.
This style is not unique however;
it is taught to every schoolchild
as a basic standard in all
public schools in Japan.
The Japanese
pronunciation for these kanji
is "han ko nan".
In both Chinese and Japanese,
the kanji are the same (Japan
got its kanji from China in
the first place). "Han
ko nan" means half-hard-soft
and was taken as a name for
one or more of the UechiRyu-related
associations here on Okinawa
(Hankonan Ryu, and another
used two of the three kanji
for its name, Konan Ryu).
"Pangainun" does
not exist as a single word
in Chinese and as such will
not be found in any dictionary.
Only by defining its kanji
components can we find "half
hard soft".
On the next few pages are
shown the flyleaf and kanji
extracts from a dictionary
of shared Chinese-Japanese
kanji. These are Chinese kanji
characters with their Japanese
pronunciations.
For two kanji examples we
find a “T” and
an alternate means of writing
the kanji. According to the
section “Abbreviations
and Signs” (page III):
“T – Tooyoo Kanji
(Tooyoo Character), i.e.,
one of the partly simplified
characters on the list officially
issued since 1946 and which
must be learned in the period
of Japanese compulsory school
education (9 years).”
Page numbers accompany each
section used. (1)
|
From
page 92: Pan is also "ban".
In Japanese it is pronounced
"han" and means
"half". There
are two ways to depict
the kanji, as shown. One
is an older style of writing,
the other included is
the modern Japanese style
(as used in Sumako’s
calligraphy). |
 |
|
|
From
page 326: The Chinese
“Gai” is also
pronounced "kowai"
in Japanese - a similar
pronunciation. When it
is pronounced "ko"
in modern Japanese it
means "strong"
(as in "tough, or
durable"). If it
is pronounced "katai"
or "kowai" in
modern Japanese, it means
"hard". |
|
|
|
From
page 440: Nun (also spelled
“non”) is
pronounced "nan"
in Japanese and means
weak or soft, depending
on its usage. Note that
the word "yawarakai"
is included there, related
to "yawakasa"
- one of the three main
teachings of the older
style. In Sumako’s
kanji shown earlier, the
2nd half of the symbol
is not joined. In this
book it is printed as
a joined symbol. They
are the same; it is merely
the difference between
a writing style in calligraphy
vs. a printing style,
not a different set of
kanji. |
Now let’s
examine the signboard of the
Wakayama Dojo.
This is a photograph of the
signboard. Beside it, closely
matching the positions of
the original symbols, is a
clearer representation supplied
by Sumako. The sign reads
from right to left, and from
top to bottom of each column.
The three columns
of the sign read as follows:
Pan Gai Nun Ryu
Kara Te Jutsu Kenkyu Sho
Kyoshi Uechi Kanbun
Translation:
Half-hard-soft Style (or
Method)
Empty-Hand Skills Study Place
(or Study Hall)
Teacher, Uechi Kanbun
“Pan Gai Nun”
is written in kana –
Japanese symbols used for
phonetic pronunciation of
foreign words. Appended to
the bottom of the right column
of kana is the kanji symbol
“Ryu” (style or
method). The rest of the sign
is Japanese kanji.
The information shown plainly
in the photograph of the signboard
contrasts somewhat with a
report written by Mabuni Kenwa
Sensei, the founder of ShitoRyu
KarateDo.
In “The Story of Chinese
Chu’an-fa” by
Mabuni Kenwa (originally published
in Karate Kenkyu, 1934 pg.
92-93.), translated by Mario
McKenna, we find the following:
“My student and I were
traveling on business. On
the last day, we visited Higashi
Kawagan-machi in Wakayama
city. On the way there the
first thing I noticed was
a signboard on the left. It
read, Pangainun-ryu Toudi
Master; Uechi Kanbun, Instructor.
(2)
“At the age of 20,
Uechi had traveled to China
and trained in pure Chinese
style chu’an-fa for
more than 13 years and returned
an expert. I was impressed
by the sign board which was
in the Chinese style.”
According to photographic
evidence, the sign was not
in the Chinese style nor did
it read quite as described
by Mabuni Sensei.
References
1. Rose-Innes, A. (1984).
Beginners' Dictionary of Chinese-Japanese
Characters. 8th edition.
2. Mabuni, K. (1934). Karate
Kenkyu.
