Kanji Symbols From China
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.
How come the Kanji script today belongs to Japan if it had its origin in China? The entire 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 application of the Chinese characters remains a mystery.
The most believable 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.
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 circumstances it was a requirement that the Chinese language should be understood by Japanese and a board of people called Fuhito was taught 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 gradually gave form to its own writing system which involved making use of Chinese text with some reformation according to Japanese grammar.
Yet another advancement made was that the Japanese were presently using the Chinese characters to write Japanese words. This is what gave birth to modern kana syllables. The difference was that whereas the Chinese used their characters as symbols that lacked any phonetic value, the Japanese introduced a phonetic value to the Chinese script.
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 seem quite similar the Chinese kanji symbols are quite different with regards to their structure.
The reading method of the Kanji script in both China and Japan are also different. In China this script is treated exclusively 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.
Chinese kanji symbols have been used in China for thousands of years. If you would like to know more about Chinese tattoo symbols follow the links contained herein.
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