The modern Japanese script was derived from Chinese characters which since then have evolved into a logographic writing style. The kanji script today as we understand stands for Japanese writing style which actually has been adopted from Chinese symbols. If you translate the kanji script you will find Hans character from which it was developed.
How come the Kanji script today belongs to Japan if it had its origin in China? The whole thing was the result of the trade followed by the two countries where Japan would import Chinese items with Hans script labeled on them.
An example of such an article includes the gold seal that was handed over by the then emperor of the Han dynasty to the Japanese. How and when the Japanese began to gain command over the use of the Chinese characters remains a mystery.
It could be quite likely that the Chinese themselves had started using the Chinese Kanji script in Japan when some of them migrated to China. There was no way that Japanese could have had an opportunity to comprehend and then learn the language by themselves.
With the passage of time the ties between the two countries became stronger. There was a constant need of written record that was to be transferred between both the countries. Hence a formal body of people known as the fuhito was set up which was trained to handle the documents written in the Chinese script. This paved the way for the acceptance of the Chinese Kanji script in Japan.
Chinese Kanji script brought the idea of formal writing script in Japan which did not have one at that time. They began to use Chinese script for writing initially and slowly shaped their own writing system with things taken from the Chinese script and then reshaping them to fit the Japanese grammar.
What the Japanese did was that they started to write Japanese words with Chinese characters. This was an advancement made in Japanese writing style and was named as Kana syllables. The Japanese further developed the script and introduced phonetics to the Chinese symbols they were using whereas in China the symbols did not have any kind of phonetic.
The use of Kanji symbols is still far greater in China as compared to in Japan. Contrary to popular belief the kanji script used in both the countries are not precisely the same. Although they may look quite similar the Chinese kanji symbols are quite different with regards to their structure.
The reading practices of the Kanji script in both China and Japan are also different. In China this script is treated entirely as symbols and as such has no phonetic value where as in Japan it is read according to their phonetics as we have already discussed.
How come the Kanji script today belongs to Japan if it had its origin in China? The whole thing was the result of the trade followed by the two countries where Japan would import Chinese items with Hans script labeled on them.
An example of such an article includes the gold seal that was handed over by the then emperor of the Han dynasty to the Japanese. How and when the Japanese began to gain command over the use of the Chinese characters remains a mystery.
It could be quite likely that the Chinese themselves had started using the Chinese Kanji script in Japan when some of them migrated to China. There was no way that Japanese could have had an opportunity to comprehend and then learn the language by themselves.
With the passage of time the ties between the two countries became stronger. There was a constant need of written record that was to be transferred between both the countries. Hence a formal body of people known as the fuhito was set up which was trained to handle the documents written in the Chinese script. This paved the way for the acceptance of the Chinese Kanji script in Japan.
Chinese Kanji script brought the idea of formal writing script in Japan which did not have one at that time. They began to use Chinese script for writing initially and slowly shaped their own writing system with things taken from the Chinese script and then reshaping them to fit the Japanese grammar.
What the Japanese did was that they started to write Japanese words with Chinese characters. This was an advancement made in Japanese writing style and was named as Kana syllables. The Japanese further developed the script and introduced phonetics to the Chinese symbols they were using whereas in China the symbols did not have any kind of phonetic.
The use of Kanji symbols is still far greater in China as compared to in Japan. Contrary to popular belief the kanji script used in both the countries are not precisely the same. Although they may look quite similar the Chinese kanji symbols are quite different with regards to their structure.
The reading practices of the Kanji script in both China and Japan are also different. In China this script is treated entirely as symbols and as such has no phonetic value where as in Japan it is read according to their phonetics as we have already discussed.
About the Author:
Chinese dragon symbols are a good option for a tattoo. If you want to know more about Chinese peace symbols please follow the links.