The modern Japanese script was derived from Chinese characters which since then have evolved into a logographic writing technique. The kanji script today as we understand stands for Japanese writing style which originally has been adopted from Chinese symbols. If you translate the kanji script you will find Hans character from which it was developed.
It is important to understand how the kanji script originally 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.
You may find number of instances such as the then Han dynasty emperor had presented a gold seal to the Japanese with Hans inscription. What we still don't know is that how and when the Hans script was adopted and controlled by the Japanese.
The most probable story is that the first people to make use of the Chinese Kanji script symbols in Japan were actually Chinese immigrants. Otherwise the Japanese had no real means of understanding or comprehending and even learning the Chinese script.
The political ties between China and Japan goes back a long way and such a boding required a volume of paperwork which was necessary to go to and fro from one country to the other. In Japan they set up a committee called Fuhito who were entrusted with the task to learn Chinese language so that they could read the documents. This perhaps made way for the Chinese Kanji script to be accepted developed in Japan.
When Chinese Kanji script came to Japan there was nothing like formal writing system existing in the country. originally the Japanese started writing with the Chinese script itself but gradually they started developing a script of their own with the help of the Kanji script which would be compatible with 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 method 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.
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 reading method 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.
It is important to understand how the kanji script originally 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.
You may find number of instances such as the then Han dynasty emperor had presented a gold seal to the Japanese with Hans inscription. What we still don't know is that how and when the Hans script was adopted and controlled by the Japanese.
The most probable story is that the first people to make use of the Chinese Kanji script symbols in Japan were actually Chinese immigrants. Otherwise the Japanese had no real means of understanding or comprehending and even learning the Chinese script.
The political ties between China and Japan goes back a long way and such a boding required a volume of paperwork which was necessary to go to and fro from one country to the other. In Japan they set up a committee called Fuhito who were entrusted with the task to learn Chinese language so that they could read the documents. This perhaps made way for the Chinese Kanji script to be accepted developed in Japan.
When Chinese Kanji script came to Japan there was nothing like formal writing system existing in the country. originally the Japanese started writing with the Chinese script itself but gradually they started developing a script of their own with the help of the Kanji script which would be compatible with 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 method 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.
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 reading method 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.
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kanji symbols from China are becoming more popular for tattoos. If you want to look at more Chinese alphabet symbols click on the hyperlinks.