A Chinese Dictionary That Survives Only in Japan
Among the holdings of the Grand Shrine of Ise is a single paper scroll, copied early in the year 904, that preserves one volume of a Chinese reference work now lost in the country that produced it. The scroll is the twenty-second of the thirty volumes of the Yupian (in Japanese, Gyokuhen), a character dictionary compiled in 543 by the scholar Gu Yewang during China's Liang dynasty. The complete work arranged thousands of characters under 542 radicals, the shared graphic elements by which Chinese characters are grouped. In China the text was later edited and abridged, and Gu Yewang's original eventually disappeared. What he actually wrote can now be read only from fragments kept in Japan, and the Ise scroll is one of them.
The dictionary earned its long influence through how it worked. Following the model of the earlier Shuowen Jiezi, the Yupian gave each character a pronunciation spelled out by the fanqie method, then a definition, and often quotations from older books to show the word in use. Some of those quotations preserve passages from texts that have otherwise vanished, which makes the surviving pages valuable well beyond the study of language. Reading the scroll means reading through a sixth-century scholar back into works older than his own.
Why the Ise Scroll Is a National Treasure
Four Yupian fragments in Japan hold the rank of National Treasure. Most were brushed in Tang-dynasty China and carried east; the Ise scroll is the one understood to have been copied in Japan itself. A colophon at its end records that it was written out at the residence of the Director of the Bureau of Court Music on the fifteenth day of the first month of Engi 4, the year 904. That single line fixes the manuscript in time more securely than almost any other early copy of the work, and it shows that a Chinese dictionary already circulated among learned Japanese a little over a century after the capital settled at Heian-kyo.
Turn the scroll over and a second document appears. Paper was costly, so the back of an aging manuscript was often reused for new writing. Here the reverse carries a genealogical register of the senior priests, the negi, of the Inner Shrine, the sanctuary dedicated to the sun deity Amaterasu. For historians of Ise that register is a primary source in its own right, and its presence helps explain how the scroll came to the shrine. The manuscript was designated a National Treasure on June 9, 1951.
Reading the Brushwork
The text is written in clear regular script, the formal hand a trained scribe of the early tenth century would have used for a work meant to last. Each entry sets its head character apart, with the sound and sense following in smaller columns, so the page keeps a rhythm of large and small that carries the eye down the roll. Volume 22 falls in the stretch of the dictionary given to characters built on the radical for "mountain" and its neighbors, so a reader who knows the system can watch related words gather in sequence.
Seeing the scroll in person is rare. The shrine keeps it in the Jingu Bunko, its library, and brings it out only on occasion. When it has been shown, it has appeared at the Jingu Chokokan, the shrine's history museum, or been lent to major exhibitions on Ise and its art. Anyone hoping to view the original should treat the chance as exceptional rather than expected, and check what is on display before traveling.
Around the Museum and the Shrine
The Jingu Chokokan stands between the Inner and Outer Shrines, in a Renaissance-style building from 1909 that was Japan's first privately founded museum. Its galleries hold the ceremonial regalia renewed every twenty years for the shrine's periodic rebuilding, alongside historical and craft objects, so a visit places any single manuscript within the long ritual life of Ise. The neighboring Nogyokan, devoted to agriculture and the foods offered to the gods, and the nearby Jingu Art Museum share a combined ticket.
Most travelers pair the museums with the shrines themselves. The Outer Shrine sits close to Iseshi Station, while the Inner Shrine, reached across the Uji Bridge and along the Oharaimachi street of shops and tea houses, lies further south. A loop bus links the stations, the museums, and both shrines, which makes it practical to see all of them in a day.
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Q&A
- What exactly is the Yupian?
- It is a Chinese character dictionary compiled in 543 by Gu Yewang. Originally thirty volumes, it grouped characters by 542 radicals and gave each a pronunciation, a definition, and quotations from older texts. The original was lost in China, and Gu Yewang's wording now survives mainly through early manuscripts kept in Japan.
- What makes the Ise copy special among them?
- Of the four Yupian fragments designated National Treasures, most were copied in Tang China, while this one is understood to have been written in Japan. Its colophon dates the copying to 904, giving it an unusually firm place in time.
- Can I see the scroll on display?
- Only rarely. It is normally kept in the Jingu Bunko and shown to the public on infrequent occasions, usually at the Jingu Chokokan. Check current exhibitions before you visit if seeing the original matters to you.
- What is written on the back of the scroll?
- The reverse carries a genealogical register of the senior priests of the Inner Shrine. The paper was reused, which was common when paper was scarce, and that register is itself an important record of the Ise priesthood.
- How do I reach the Jingu Chokokan?
- Take the loop bus from Iseshi Station, on the JR and Kintetsu lines, or from Kintetsu Ujiyamada Station, and get off at Chokokan-mae, about ten minutes, then walk three minutes. The museum sits between the Outer and Inner Shrines.
Basic Information
| Name | Yupian (Gyokuhen), Volume 22 |
|---|---|
| Classification | National Treasure (Calligraphy and Classical Books) |
| Date designated | June 9, 1951 |
| Date of this copy | 904 (Engi 4), Heian period |
| Original compilation | 543, by Gu Yewang, Liang dynasty China |
| Quantity | One scroll |
| Owner | Jingu (Grand Shrine of Ise) |
| Where kept | Jingu Bunko, Ise, Mie Prefecture; rarely exhibited |
| Museum hours | Jingu Chokokan, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (last entry 4:00 p.m.) |
| Admission | Adults 500 yen (Chokokan and Nogyokan); 700 yen for the three-museum ticket including the Jingu Art Museum |
| Access | About 10 minutes by loop bus from Iseshi or Ujiyamada Station, alighting at Chokokan-mae, then a 3-minute walk |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/575
- Cultural Heritage Online (National Institutes for Cultural Heritage)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/197620
- Grand Shrine of Ise (Jingu), Official Site
- https://www.isejingu.or.jp/
- Jingu Chokokan, Ise City Tourism Association
- https://ise-kanko.jp/purpose/jinguchokokan/
- Jingu Chokokan and Nogyokan, Kanko Mie
- https://www.kankomie.or.jp/spot/3135
Last verified: 2026.06.08