写本

syahon manuscript, codex

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It crossed my mind earlier today that I didn't actually know if there was a Japanese term for a manuscript, in the sense of a book copied by hand by trained calligraphers, and not in the sense of the original text which editors sink their teeth into when producing a book today (which, in Japanese, is 原稿 genkou, meaning somewhat literally, original copy or posting). As a long-time fan of illustrated manuscripts (from the Latin for written by hand), or codices (the plural of codex, Latin for ledger, adopted in the middle ages to refer to manuscripts as well), I wondered about the Japanese. I was happy to see that 写本 is used. That first character is also used in verbs like 写る and 写す (uturu and utusu) which refer to the act of copying, or transfering, or even describing. We see it in compounds like 写経 syakyou (the hand-copying of Buddhist sutras, which is why 写本 makes so much sense to me) and 写真 syasin (photograph, which is fascinating, because for us, based on its Greek roots, a photograph is writing with light, where as for Japanese, a photograph is a copying of truth). And let me end today's adventures in pedantry here.