noun
barbarians; savages
Historical term used in classical Chinese and pre-modern Japanese texts to refer to non-Chinese or non-Japanese peoples, often with a derogatory nuance. Not used in modern neutral contexts.
古代中国の文献では、周辺民族を蛮夷と呼ぶことがあった。
In ancient Chinese texts, surrounding peoples were sometimes called barbarians.
「蛮夷」という言葉は、現代では差別的な響きがあるため、歴史的な文脈以外では使われない。
The word 'ban'i' has a discriminatory tone today, so it is not used outside historical contexts.
Modern word for 'barbarian' or 'savage'; 野蛮人 is more neutral and commonly used today, while 蛮夷 is archaic and historical.
Standard kanji form for this historical term.
Variant kanji form; less common than 蛮夷.
From Chinese 蠻夷 (mányí), a compound of 蠻 (southern barbarians) and 夷 (eastern barbarians), used in classical texts to refer to non-Chinese peoples. The Japanese reading is on'yomi.