海行かば

Japanese

Kanji in this term
海	行
うみ Grade: 2	ゆ Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
海行かば (kyūjitai)

Alternative forms

海ゆかは

Etymology

From a 長歌 (chōka, “long poem”) in the Man'yōshū,[1][2][3] attributed to Ōtomo no Yakamochi:

葦原(あしはら)能(の)美豆(みつ)保國(ほのくに)乎(を)安麻久太利(あまくだり)　[...]　都加倍之(つかへし)官(つかさ)海行(うみゆか)者(は)美都久(みつく)屍(かばね)山行(やまゆか)者(ば)草(くさ)牟須(むす)屍(かばね)大皇(おほきみ)乃(の)敝尓許曽(へにこそ)死(しな)米(め)可敝里見波(かへりみは)勢自(せじ)等許等太弖(とことだて)　[...]　御(み)言(こと)能左吉乃(のさきの)聞(きけ)者(は)貴(たふと)美(み) [Man'yōgana]

葦原(あしはら)の瑞(みづ)穂(ほ)の国(くに)を天下(あまくだ)り　[...]　仕(つか)へし官(つかさ)海(うみ)行(ゆ)かば水漬(みづ)く屍(かばね)山(やま)行(ゆ)かば草(くさ)生(む)す屍(かばね)大君(おほきみ)の辺(へ)にこそ死(し)なめかへり見(み)はせじと言(こと)立(だ)て　[...]　御(み)言(こと)のさきの聞(き)けば貴(たふと)み [Modern spelling]

ashihara no Mizuho-no-kuni o ama-kudari... tsukaeshi tsukasa umi yukaba mizuku kabane yama yukaba kusa musu kabane Ōkimi no he ni koso shiname kaerimi wa seji to kotodate... mikoto no saki no kikeba kikeba tōtomi

[To govern this abundant reed plain land, the distant ancestors of the Ōtomo clan] pledged: "If we go by sea[,] water will cover our corpses, if through the mountains, grass will grow from our bones. We will die beside our lord with never a look back." ...as reverently I hear the august royal decree.[4]

Proper noun

海(うみ)行(ゆ)かば • (Umi Yukaba)

a 軍歌 (gunka, “war song”)

References

c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 18, poem 4094), text here
1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
Paula Doe; Yakamochi Ōtomo (1982) A Warbler's Song in the Dusk: The Life and Work of Ōtomo Yakamochi (718-785), illustrated edition, University of California Press, →ISBN, pages 184-185

[1] . 759, Man'yōshū (book 18, poem 4094), text here

[2] 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[3] 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[4] Paula Doe; Yakamochi Ōtomo (1982) A Warbler's Song in the Dusk: The Life and Work of Ōtomo Yakamochi (718-785), illustrated edition, University of California Press, →ISBN, pages 184-185