If you have heard of Japanese script called Kanji you have to understand that it has its roots in China. The characters from Chinese symbol are throughout evident in the Japanese script as we see it now in their logographic style of writing. In fact once you translate the Kanji script you will find characters from Chinese Hans symbols.
It is important to understand how the kanji script firstly developed in China ultimately came to be regarded as Japanese script. The articles which were imported by Japan from China in ancient times had the Hans characters on them from which kanji were developed.
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.
What probably may have happened was that the Chinese immigrants in Japan must have been the first people to be using the Kanji script. It would have been absolutely impossible for the Japanese themselves to understand it and learn the script on their own.
As time passed the China and Japan developed friendly relations in trade and otherwise which required written documents going from one country to the other. In such conditions it was a necessity that the Chinese language should be understood by Japanese and a board of people called Fuhito was trained to handle the paper work from China. This could be the most plausible reason how Chinese Kanji script landed up in Japan and later evolved.
At the time when the Chinese Kanji script was introduced in Japan, the country lacked any writing system of its own. Starting out with the Chinese system the country slowly gave form to its own writing system which involved making use of Chinese text with some reformation according to Japanese grammar.
The Japanese accepted the Chinese symbol characters in their script and wrote the Japanese language with Chinese symbol naming it as Kana syllable. It was a distinct accomplishment as far as Japanese script was concerned. To further the easy acceptance of their script the Japanese introduced phonetics in their script where as in China Chinese symbols had no phonetics whatsoever.
Kanji script though taken more or less as Japanese is used more frequently in China than in Japan. People also believe that the Kanji script of both the countries look almost the same. In reality the Japanese and Chinese Kanji script has lot of difference as Chinese Kanji symbols are shaped differently.
The dissimilarity between the Chinese and Japanese script also extends into the way that they are read. As mentioned above the Chinese would treat the kanji characters as entire symbols whereas the Japanese would read them according to their phonetic value.
It is important to understand how the kanji script firstly developed in China ultimately came to be regarded as Japanese script. The articles which were imported by Japan from China in ancient times had the Hans characters on them from which kanji were developed.
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.
What probably may have happened was that the Chinese immigrants in Japan must have been the first people to be using the Kanji script. It would have been absolutely impossible for the Japanese themselves to understand it and learn the script on their own.
As time passed the China and Japan developed friendly relations in trade and otherwise which required written documents going from one country to the other. In such conditions it was a necessity that the Chinese language should be understood by Japanese and a board of people called Fuhito was trained to handle the paper work from China. This could be the most plausible reason how Chinese Kanji script landed up in Japan and later evolved.
At the time when the Chinese Kanji script was introduced in Japan, the country lacked any writing system of its own. Starting out with the Chinese system the country slowly gave form to its own writing system which involved making use of Chinese text with some reformation according to Japanese grammar.
The Japanese accepted the Chinese symbol characters in their script and wrote the Japanese language with Chinese symbol naming it as Kana syllable. It was a distinct accomplishment as far as Japanese script was concerned. To further the easy acceptance of their script the Japanese introduced phonetics in their script where as in China Chinese symbols had no phonetics whatsoever.
Kanji script though taken more or less as Japanese is used more frequently in China than in Japan. People also believe that the Kanji script of both the countries look almost the same. In reality the Japanese and Chinese Kanji script has lot of difference as Chinese Kanji symbols are shaped differently.
The dissimilarity between the Chinese and Japanese script also extends into the way that they are read. As mentioned above the Chinese would treat the kanji characters as entire symbols whereas the Japanese would read them according to their phonetic value.
About the Author:
Chinese symbol meanings vary according to region and historical period. If you are interested in Chinese New Year symbols click on the links to read more.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire