Changes

Japanese writing, employing a combination of ''[[kanji]]'' and ''[[kana]]'', originated with the adoption and adaptation of Chinese characters in the 5th-7th centuries CE, to be applied to the Japanese (spoken) language, a language with completely separate origins.  

Japanese writing, employing a combination of ''[[kanji]]'' and ''[[kana]]'', originated with the adoption and adaptation of Chinese characters in the 5th-7th centuries CE, to be applied to the Japanese (spoken) language, a language with completely separate origins.  

Over the centuries, Japanese writing of course took myriad forms running the full gamut from works solely in ''kana'' to those solely in ''kanji'', being used to produce everything from poetry and literature, to letters and other forms of communications, to formal records. Forms using ''kanji'' exclusively, or almost exclusively, are known as ''[[kanbun]]'', while other forms are known as ''wabun''.

Over the centuries, Japanese writing of course took myriad forms running the full gamut from works solely in ''kana'' to those solely in ''kanji'', being used to produce everything from poetry and literature, to letters and other forms of communications, to formal records. Forms using ''kanji'' exclusively, or almost exclusively, are known as ''[[kanbun]]'', while other forms are known as ''wabun''.

Writing was done chiefly, if not exclusively, with brushes for many years, until the advent of the pen in modern times. [[Printing and Publishing|Woodblock printing]] in the [[Edo period]] (17th-19th centuries) became a major mode of publication of written materials; though Japan briefly experimented with movable type in the late 16th century, it was only in the late 19th century that moveable type re-emerged and replaced woodblock as the chief mode of publication. The advent of moveable type, along with the shift from brushes to pens/pencils, brought about significant changes in the aesthetic forms of Japanese characters, and of Japanese writing as a whole. Pen & pencil produce much sharper lines, with sharper contours and consistent thickness of line; moveable type and, later, typewriters and modern electronic printing & displays, allowed for the language to become considerably standardized, such that the flowing and cursive forms of the past have now become relatively stark and standard in form.

Writing was done chiefly, if not exclusively, with brushes for many years, until the advent of the pen in modern times. Pencils using [[lead]] or red ochre were imported from the [[Dutch East India Company]] for a time, and were treasured by the shogunate and ''daimyô'' as exceptionally rare luxury items; graphite pencils came into use in Europe only first beginning in the 17th century, and did not become common in Japan until the late 19th.<ref>Cynthia Viallé, "In Aid of Trade: Dutch Gift-Giving in Tokugawa Japan," ''Tokyo daigaku shiryôhensanjo kenkyû kiyô'' 16 (2006), 75n43.</ref>

 

[[Printing and Publishing|Woodblock printing]] in the [[Edo period]] (17th-19th centuries) became a major mode of publication of written materials; though Japan briefly experimented with movable type in the late 16th century, it was only in the late 19th century that moveable type re-emerged and replaced woodblock as the chief mode of publication. The advent of moveable type, along with the shift from brushes to pens/pencils, brought about significant changes in the aesthetic forms of Japanese characters, and of Japanese writing as a whole. Pen & pencil produce much sharper lines, with sharper contours and consistent thickness of line; moveable type and, later, typewriters and modern electronic printing & displays, allowed for the language to become considerably standardized, such that the flowing and cursive forms of the past have now become relatively stark and standard in form.

==History==

==History==

===Origins===

===Origins===

The earliest object with written characters on it to be uncovered in Japan dates all the way back to [[57]] CE. This is a golden seal granted to the Japanese state of [[Na]] by [[Emperor Guangwu]] of the [[Han Dynasty]]. However, writing is not believed to have been truly adopted by Japanese elites in any significant way until the 5th century CE, and it was only beginning in the 7th century that materials began to be read and written more widely by the capital elites, including Buddhist and Confucian texts, and other Chinese materials.

The earliest object with written characters on it to be uncovered in Japan dates all the way back to [[57]] CE. This is a golden seal granted to the Japanese state of [[Na]] by [[Emperor Guangwu]] of the [[Han Dynasty]]. Inkstones dating to the [[Yayoi period]] have also been found, suggesting that writing was being practiced by at least some people, in some regions of the Japanese islands, far earlier than was previously believed.<ref>Nakamura Shunsuke, "[http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201711140051.html 2,000-year-old tool offers new proof of Japan’s earliest writing]," ''Asahi Shimbun'', 14 Nov 2017.</ref> However, research on those inkstones and their implications remains in very early stages. According to the standard historical understanding, writing was not believed to have been truly adopted by Japanese elites in any significant way until the 5th century CE, and it was only beginning in the 7th century that materials began to be read and written more widely by the capital elites, including Buddhist and Confucian texts, and other Chinese materials.

The ''Nihon shoki'' and ''[[Kojiki]]'' suggest that figures such as [[Wani]] or [[Achiki]]<!--阿直岐--> came to Japan from Paekche during the reign of [[Emperor Ojin|Emperor Ôjin]], and introduced the [[Analects of Confucius]] and other documents at that time. Though the dating of the events of the ''Nihon shoki'' and ''Kojiki'' would place this in the 3rd-4th centuries, scholars today believe that if the introduction of the Analects and the ''[[Thousand Character Classic]]'' by Wani and Achiki actually took place, it more likely took place in the early 5th century.

The ''Nihon shoki'' and ''[[Kojiki]]'' suggest that figures such as [[Wani]] or [[Achiki]]<!--阿直岐--> came to Japan from Paekche during the reign of [[Emperor Ojin|Emperor Ôjin]], and introduced the [[Analects of Confucius]] and other documents at that time. Though the dating of the events of the ''Nihon shoki'' and ''Kojiki'' would place this in the 3rd-4th centuries, scholars today believe that if the introduction of the Analects and the ''[[Thousand Character Classic]]'' by Wani and Achiki actually took place, it more likely took place in the early 5th century.

The ''Nihon shoki'' ([[720]]) and ''Kojiki'' ([[712]]) are generally considered the earliest surviving major-length works in Japanese. Other documents from the [[Shosoin|Shôsôin Imperial Repository]] of similar age should similar linguistic forms. While the ''Nihon shoki'' was written almost entirely in ''kanji'', the ''Kojiki'' employed a more thoroughly indigenous (non-Sinic) form. Buddhist texts written in Chinese began to be notated, or re-written, in various ways at this time to become legible as Japanese, marking the beginning of some of the earliest forms of ''kundoku''.

The ''Nihon shoki'' ([[720]]) and ''Kojiki'' ([[712]]) are generally considered the earliest surviving major-length works in Japanese. Other documents from the [[Shosoin|Shôsôin Imperial Repository]] of similar age should similar linguistic forms. While the ''Nihon shoki'' was written almost entirely in ''kanji'', the ''Kojiki'' employed a more thoroughly indigenous (non-Sinic) form. Buddhist texts written in Chinese began to be notated, or re-written, in various ways at this time to become legible as Japanese, marking the beginning of some of the earliest forms of ''kundoku''.

==Medieval==

[[Keian Genju]] ([[1427]]-[[1508]]), founder of the [[Satsunan school]] of Japanese [[Neo-Confucianism]], developed his own system of ''kundoku'' notation for reading classical Chinese as Japanese. This system, called Keian-ten, was later adapted by Satsunan leader [[Nanpo Bunshi]] ([[1555]]-[[1620]]), whose Bunshi-ten texts were then distributed more widely by his student [[Tomari Jochiku]] ([[1570]]-[[1655]]), representing perhaps a significant antecedent to the modern systems of marking ''kanbun'' for Japanese readers.<ref>Takatsu Takashi, “Ming Jianyang Prints and the Spread of the Teachings of Zhu Xi to Japan and the Ryukyu Kingdom in the Seventeenth Century,” in Angela Schottenhammer (ed.), ''The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture'', Harrassowitz Verlag, 2008. 255-260.</ref>

 

 

===Medieval===

 

 

 

In the realm of ''kanbun'', [[Keian Genju]] ([[1427]]-[[1508]]), founder of the [[Satsunan school]] of Japanese [[Neo-Confucianism]], developed in the 15th century his own system of ''kundoku'' notation for reading classical Chinese as Japanese. This system, called Keian-ten, was later adapted by Satsunan leader [[Nanpo Bunshi]] ([[1555]]-[[1620]]), whose Bunshi-ten texts were then distributed more widely by his student [[Tomari Jochiku]] ([[1570]]-[[1655]]), representing perhaps a significant antecedent to the modern systems of marking ''kanbun'' for Japanese readers.<ref>Takatsu Takashi, “Ming Jianyang Prints and the Spread of the Teachings of Zhu Xi to Japan and the Ryukyu Kingdom in the Seventeenth Century,” in Angela Schottenhammer (ed.), ''The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture'', Harrassowitz Verlag, 2008. 255-260.</ref>

 

===Modern===

===Modern===

While it was common up through the Meiji period to use ''katakana'' for all the particles, ''okurigana'', and ''furigana'' in certain forms of writing, without any ''hiragana'', in the modern era it has become standard to use ''hiragana'' for all these purposes. ''Katakana'' is today reserved largely for foreign words and onomatopoeia.

While ''hiragana'' are standardized today into a single form for each ''kana'', e.g. あ being the only ''hiragana'' character for the sound "a", up until the Meiji period there was no singular standard character. While many of the ''kana'' standard today were in use in the pre-modern period, they were used alongside calligraphically abbreviated forms of a number of other ''kanji'' as well, with no particular preference given to the ''kana'' we now take as standard. For example, と, the standard ''kana'' for the sound "to" today, is derived from an abbreviation of the ''kanji'' 止 (''tomaru'', "to stop"). But in pre-modern and early modern texts, this と is used interchangeably with calligraphically abbreviated forms of the ''kanji'' 登、東、斗、度、土、and 刀.<ref>Kasama eiin sôkan kangyôkai, ''Jiten kana: shahon wo yomu tanoshimi'' 字典かな～写本をよむ楽しみ, Kasama shoin, 2010, 33-34.</ref> It was only from the Meiji period onwards that と developed any special prominence over these other ways of conveying the sound "to."

 

''Hiragana'' was used extensively up through the early modern period, as it still is today, for particles, ''okurigana'', and ''furigana''; however, up through the Meiji period, it was quite common to use ''katakana'' for these purposes as well. Today, by contrast, ''katakana'' is reserved largely for foreign words and onomatopoeia. One of the few exceptions is seen in the use of the ''katakana'' "ke" (ケ) to denote the sound "ka" when counting, or in certain placenames, where it derives from the use of "ga" as a possessive particle, for example in the placename Ichigaya 市ヶ谷 (lit. "valley of the market"), or in the phrase ''sankagetsu'' 三ヶ月 ([a length/duration of] three months).

In the 1940s, the government undertook two major spelling reforms. They established new, simplified standard forms, known as ''shinjitai'' ("new character forms") for many of the ''kanji'', eliminating the old character forms (''kyûjitai'') from standard usage. To give just a few examples, the characters for "country" (''kuni''), "etiquette" (''rei''), and "body" (''karada'') changed from 國、禮、and 體 to 国、礼、and 体, respectively. They also eliminated a few ''kana'', and their corresponding sounds, from the language, including the ''ye'' (ゑ or ヱ, as in Yedo, now [[Edo]], though still used by Yebisu Beer), ''wi'' (ゐor ヰ, still used today by Nikka Whiskey), and ''kwa'' and ''gwa'' (as in Kwannon and Hongwan-ji, now [[Kannon]] and [[Hongan-ji]]).

In the 1940s, the government undertook two major spelling reforms. They established new, simplified standard forms, known as ''shinjitai'' ("new character forms") for many of the ''kanji'', eliminating the old character forms (''kyûjitai'') from standard usage. To give just a few examples, the characters for "country" (''kuni''), "etiquette" (''rei''), and "body" (''karada'') changed from 國、禮、and 體 to 国、礼、and 体, respectively. They also eliminated a few ''kana'', and their corresponding sounds, from the language, including the ''ye'' (ゑ or ヱ, as in Yedo, now [[Edo]], though still used by Yebisu Beer), ''wi'' (ゐor ヰ, still used today by Nikka Whiskey), and ''kwa'' and ''gwa'' (as in Kwannon and Hongwan-ji, now [[Kannon]] and [[Hongan-ji]]).

==References==

==References==

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[[Category:Resource Articles]]

[[Category:Resource Articles]]