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Udagawa Youan’s (1798–1846) translation of light and heat reactions in his book Kouso Seimika

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Abstract

Japanese scholars in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries concentrated their efforts translating Western scientific books. Due to fact that only Dutch merchants were permitted to trade with Japan, mainly books in Dutch were introduced into Japan. Thus Dutch translations of books from England, Germany, France, Sweden and Italy were imported. Udagawa Youan was a member of a Japanese family of Chinese medicine doctors and Dutch translators. In the following chapters I outline his life, his vast scope of translations, and present one of his translations, Kouso Seimika, “Chemistry of the Element of Light”: On light and heat reactions with substances, based on a paragraph of the Dutch edition of Antoine Lavoisier’s Traité Élémentaire de Chimie. Youan’s skills were shown in coining new terms in his largest book Seimi Kaiso for which more than twenty-five books of foreign authors are cited as origin for its translation. The wide range of knowledge transfer between scholars of different countries in Europe emphasizes its contrast with the isolation of translation work of the Japanese scholars. Flow of scientific knowledge from Europe to Japan in the nineteenth century is manifested. Udagawa Youan’s text Kouso Seimika explains the reactions of heat and light with matter, plants, animals and mankind as was understood in Lavoisier time.

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Notes

  1. Udagawa Youan 宇田川榕菴 (1798–1846).

  2. Udagawa Youan 宇田川榕菴 Seimi Kaiso 舎 密 開宗 (1836–1847).

  3. Udagawa Youan 宇田川榕菴 Kouso Seimika 光素 舎密 加1830.

  4. Lavoisier Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (1789).

  5. Siderer Yona, et al.: Research on mechanism of oxygen evolution in plants, (1977).

  6. Dismukes and Siderer (1981). Continued research on oxygen evolution mechanism.

  7. Ezawa Youzo 江沢 養樹.

  8. Ezawa Yasuko江沢 安子.

  9. Tsuyama Town 津山市.

  10. Udagawa Genshin 宇田川 玄真 (1769–1834).

  11. Udagawa Genzui 宇田川 玄随 (1755–1797).

  12. Dōke; pp. 67–97. Dōke (1979) on p. 40 of nihon no kagaku noyoake日本の科学の夜明け "Dawn of Science in Japan" explains the presence of two autobiographies by Youan.

  13. Azuma (2007, pp. 55–59).

  14. McMullen: 133–189 (1975).

  15. Ochiai: pp. 355–379 (2008).

  16. Dōke: note there, pp. 105–106, (1973).

  17. Baba Sajūrō 馬場佐十郎 (1787–1822).

  18. Banshowagegoyou 蕃書和解御用, Office for Translation of Foreign Language into Japanese.

  19. ,Otsuki Gentaku 大槻玄沢 (1757–1827).

  20. For Chomel dictionary and its English and Dutch translations see Goodman (2014, pp. 129–132) and references cited therein. (Goodman 2014).

  21. Montgomery: p. 215 (2000).

  22. Seyo Choushun 世璵長雋 (1808–1856).

  23. Adachi Choushun 足立長雋 (1776–1836).

  24. Later descendants were: Udagawa Kousai 宇田川興斎 (1821–1887) who studied by and became adopted son of Udagawa Youan. Udagawa Junichi 宇田川 準一 (1848–1913), physicist, was adopted son of Udagawa Kousai. He presented a list of chemical elements according the Chinese names, including their katakana transliteration, atomic weight and more (year). He wrote the history of Udagawa family (ref. 4 in Dōke (1975)].

  25. Youan's botany books include: Botanika Kyō 菩多尼訶経 “Sutra of Botany” 1822; Shokugaku Keigen, 植学啓源 “Principles of Botany”, 1834. Dutch book preserved in the library of Waseda University was one of the presents from Dr. Von Siebold to U. Youan; Youan Shasei Shokubutsu Zufu 榕菴写生植物図譜 “Youan’s Complete book of living plants”, 1815; Hyakku Fu 百綱譜 that contained more than 1600 sorts of Japanese plants classified in a list of a hundred families after Kurt Sprengel's book (Anleitung zur Kenntnis der Gewächse (1817–1818) (“Guide to the Knowledge of Plants in Letters” 1802) that he received as a gift from von Siebold.

  26. Siebold’s handwritten dedication (in German) on the cover page of Kurt Sprengel’s 1818 book Anleitung zur Kenntnis der Gewãchse (Guide to the Knowledge of Plants (is presented in Tanaka Minoru's book (1975, fig. G.): “In memory, to my friend devoted learner Udagawa Youan, Dr. von Siebold, 1826". Chapters concerning”Siebold and Udagawa Youan friendship” and "Youan the linguist" were told by Takahashi Terukazu 高橋輝和.

  27. Kyo-U Archive of Takeda Science Foundation 杏雨書屋武田科学振興財団.

  28. Endo et al. (2014).

  29. Shiba Tetsuo 芝哲夫, (1998) pp. 100–102. Including a list of 20 Japanese articles on Udagawa Youan’s life and writing. Ref. 20 includes a list of Youan’s books in Tsuyama town library (1993).

  30. Tanaka Minoru 田中実: in names index koyuumeisho 固有名詞素引 pp. 564–568 (1975).

  31. Tsukahara: For full titles of Dutch books see pp. 150–151 and Appendix C. pp. 267–284, (1993).

  32. Seimi Kaiso in 7 volumes in Edelstein Collection of old and rare science books, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem (2015). The text on the binding cover is: 舎密開宗 宇田川榕庵 譯 幕末頃 刊彩色刷 合七冊 Seimi Kaiso Udagawa Youan translator about Last days of the Bakufu edition, color printing, seven volumes.

  33. Endo et al.: Youan's plants drawings with notes on pp. 535–625, (2014); Kyo-U Library: pp. 70–71, 75–76, (2008).

  34. Dōke: p. 105: "Youan mastered theoretical grammar and practical usage of Dutch very rapidly and when he was only 18 years old he wrote Kahi no Setsu ("an article on coffee", 1816)" (ref. 45) (1973); Tanaka: 1975, koffee コーヒー p. 204 (1975).

  35. Dōke: Youan meeting foreigners, p. 71, (1975).

  36. Ensei Iho Meibutsuko Hoi 遠西医方名物考補遺, Far West Medicine Special Supplement (1834).

  37. Bensaude-Vincent: pp. 174–175, (2003).

  38. Shiba: Youan chemistry articles and drafts; See “Appendix” above (2010).

  39. Dōke: pp. 110 and 113: "Materials comprising the Outer Part (Ge hen) [of Seimi Kaiso] were derived from his own studies on chemical analysis and examination of the various spa waters throughout Japan", (1973).

  40. Shimao (1972).

  41. Tsukahara (1993).

  42. Tanaka (1973).

  43. Tanaka (1975).

  44. Sakaguchi (1975); Sakaguchi Masao 坂口正男article in 科学史研究 II, 18, pp. 105–121, (1979).

  45. Dōke (1973).

  46. Dōke (1975).

  47. Azuma (2013).

  48. Azuma (2014).

  49. Tanaka :Modern translation of books 1–3 and 7 by Hayashi Yoshishige 林良重, book 4 by 黒杭消治, book 5 by 楠山和雄 and book 6 by 楠山和雄, (1975).

  50. Dōke: Yo Jiju Nenpu 榕自叙年譜 (Chronological Autobiography) See ref. 4, p. 103, (1973); Dōke: Youan's diary cited in Dōke's article footnote*1, p. 68 (1975).

  51. Lavoisier: pp. 200–202, (1789).

  52. Fremery: pp. 198–200, (1800).

  53. Tsukahara: p. 269, (1993).

  54. Siderer Yona and Uchida Masao, on a visit to Kyo-U Archive, Osaka, 28th November 2014 we studied the original books of Kouso Seimika and Danso.

  55. Gottlieb: in particular chapters 4 and 5, pp. 121–201 (1995), Twine (1991).

  56. Jensen: p. 205 (1970).

  57. Lavoisier: first sentence p. 200. (Source gallica.bnf.fr/Bibliothèque nationale de France), (1789).

  58. Lavoisier: p.192, (1789).

  59. Tsukahara (1993), pp. 133–135, 167, 169, 178, (1993).

  60. Ghibaudi (2013).

  61. Tsukahara: pp. 171–172 shinwa ryoku 親和力 "power of affinity" (1993).

  62. Fremery: deeltije p.198, (1800).

  63. Kerr: particles" p. 253, (1801).

  64. Ihde: p. 78 and p. 32: "Because so many of his vessels shattered when he prepared gasses by chemical reactions, van Helmont [1577–1644] used the term "gas", after the Greek word for chaos, for such substances", (1984).

  65. Lavoisier: pp. 200–201, (1789).

  66. Fremery: pp. 198–199, (1800).

  67. Kerr: p. 253 (1801).

  68. Kok: (1970).

  69. Cryns: personal correspondence, 2 March 2016.

  70. Fremery: pp. 198–199, (1800).

  71. Kerr: p. 254, (1801).

  72. Lavoisier: p. 202, (1789).

  73. Miyashita: p. 76 entry 22: "hikari-hen 光篇、translated by [Udagawa Youan (Yo)] 宇田川榕庵(榕) date unknown. A draft kept in the library of Takeda Chemical Industries is a translation of chapters 132–143", (1998).

  74. Tsukahara 1993, citing Isfording, details on p. 277 appendix C.15: "Citation in Seimi Kaiso was only once in the text. In Book 1, vol. 1, chapter 13: 'Carolique, about photon and colour'".

  75. Tanaka: kouso コーソ光素, is referred to in the index, p. 559. Tanaka cited 10 places in Seimi Kaiso in which kouso is discussed (1975).

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Acknowledgements

I thank the scholars who helped me in various steps of this work: Prof. Masanori Kaji, Prof. Toru Azuma, M.Sc. Masao Uchida, Prof. Frederik Cryns, M.A. Meital Levin, Prof. Shimon Vega, Dr. Neomy Soffer, Prof. Tatsumasa Dōke and Prof. Shin Sato. I could not have progressed in my research without their contributions.

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Correspondence to Yona Siderer.

Appendix

Appendix

Partial List of chemistry writing, translations by Udagawa Youan in Kyo-U Library, Osaka (after Shiba 2010):

  • 植物第一書 First Book on Plants

  • 金属舎密加 Metal Chemistry

  • 宇田川化学書 Udagawa Chemistry Book

  • 舎密開宗音釈字篇 Introduction to Chemistry Characters Sound Explanation Book

  • 色舎密加 Dyeing Chemistry

  • 舎密加第一書土類 Earth Chemistry number 1

  • 光素舎密加 Chemistry of Light Element (this work)

  • 土類舎密加 Earth (non-metal) Chemistry

  • 西洋度量考 Consideration of Western Measures

  • 西洋鉱泉譜 Note on Western Mineral Springs

  • 舎密開宗続訳硝石集説 Introduction to Chemistry sequel Potassium Nitrate (Saltpeter) Theory

  • 諸国温泉試説 Theory on Hot Springs Experiments of Several Provinces

  • Chemistry Terminology

  • Udagawa Youan Portrait (Fig. 2)

Second column

  • Stone Record Broad Sense Supplement

  • 碌素舎密加 ろくそ ateji (phonetic) reading せいみか Chemistry

  • 年表 (nenbyou) Chronological Tables

  • 第七銅和物 Seventh Copper-made Things

  • 舎密加第一書 First Chemistry Book

  • 中性塩舎密加 Chemistry of Neutral Salt

  • 舎密開宗榕菴 Youan’s Introduction to Chemistry (Seimi Kaiso)

  • Heat Experiment (tools) Theory

  • 製薬贅言 Drug Manufacturing

  • 瓦爾華尼越列機的児 Galvani’s Electricity(phonetic kanji)

  • 篤隆氏舎密合薬舎密 Dr. Trommsdorff Pharmaceutical Chemistry

  • Compilation of Chemical Reagents

  • 酵素類篇 Compilation of Fermentation Matter

  • 製剤異石集 Formulation (of pharmaceuticals) Unusual Stone Collection

  • 舎密加 Chemistry (read: Seimika)

  • 舎密加総論 General Remarks on Chemistry

Third column

  • 舎密器械図彙 (写真1) Illustrations of Chemical Instruments (Fig. 1)

  • 舎密第一書金属 Chemistry 1st book, metals

  • 元素和合篇 Chemical Reaction Between Alkali and Acid (?)

  • Origin Unfolding Manuscript

  • Youan's Hot Springs Account

  • 開物全書図 Unfolding Pictures of All Things

  • Chemistry Summary

  • 瓦斯舎密加 Chemistry of Gas

  • 舎密書残 Remaining of Chemistry Book

  • 廣義附録 Broad Sense Supplement

  • 動酸舎密加 Animal Acid Chemistry

  • Plant Chemistry

  • Dutch Related Udagawa Family Heredity

End of “Appendix”.

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Siderer, Y. Udagawa Youan’s (1798–1846) translation of light and heat reactions in his book Kouso Seimika . Found Chem 19, 223–240 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-017-9287-2

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