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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2 2008, 9:04 PM EDT (current) | reikiwiki | 86 words added |
| Jun 2 2008, 9:04 PM EDT | reikiwiki |
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(Japanese) Kanji are Japanese written characters that are both pictographs (pictures that represent ideas) and ideographs (symbols that represent the sounds that form its name).
In China, kanji originated in the Yellow River area about 2000 B.C.. During the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. it was brought across from China and Korea to Japan. Until that time Japan had only ever used the spoken language. The Chinese characters were used phonetically to represent similar sounding Japanese syllables but the actual meaning of the characters was ignored.
In China, kanji originated in the Yellow River area about 2000 B.C.. During the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. it was brought across from China and Korea to Japan. Until that time Japan had only ever used the spoken language. The Chinese characters were used phonetically to represent similar sounding Japanese syllables but the actual meaning of the characters was ignored.
