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.
In ancient Chinese texts, surrounding peoples were sometimes called barbarians.
The word 'ban'i' has a discriminatory tone today, so it is not used outside historical contexts.
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.