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Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...
readings borrowed from Chinese during the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
, from the 7th to the 9th centuries; a period which corresponds to the Japanese
Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...
. They were introduced by, among others, envoys from
Japanese missions to Tang China The were Japanese efforts to learn Chinese culture and civilization from Tang China, in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. The nature of those contacts evolved gradually from political and ceremonial change into cultural exchanges, and the process ...
. ''Kan-on'' should not be confused with , which were later phonetic loans. ''Kan-on'' are based on the central
Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
pronunciation of
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...
. The syllable ''Kan'' is a reading of
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...
: 漢 (''xanH'') as per
Japanese phonology Japanese phonology is the system of sounds used in the pronunciation of the Japanese language. Unless otherwise noted, this article describes the standard variety of Japanese based on the Tokyo dialect. There is no overall consensus on the nu ...
, referring to the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
, which had Chang'an as its
capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...
. Furthermore, ''Kan'' ( 漢) has also become a description for all things Chinese, e.g.,
kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...
('Chinese characters'). Kan'on partly displaced the earlier ''
go-on are Japanese kanji readings based on the classical pronunciations of Chinese characters of the historically prestigious eastern Jiankang (now Nanjing) dialect. ''Go-on'' are the earliest form of , preceding the readings. Both ''go-on'' and ...
'', which were "just imitations of Korean imitations, but ''Kan-on'' were imitations of the real thing." A minority of characters never had their ''kan-on'' transmitted to Japan; their ''kan-on'' are sometimes reconstructed in
Japanese dictionaries have a history that began over 1300 years ago when Japanese Buddhist priests, who wanted to understand Chinese sutras, adapted Chinese character dictionaries. Present-day Japanese lexicographers are exploring computerized editing and electronic ...
although not specifically marked as such. A few dictionaries go as far as to discard attested ''kan-on'' in favour of more systematic pronunciations.


Characteristics as compared to ''go-on''


In consonants


In vowels


See also

* ''
On'yomi , or the Sino-Japanese vocabulary, Sino-Japanese reading, is the reading of a kanji based on the historical Chinese pronunciation of the character. A single kanji might have multiple ''on'yomi'' pronunciations, reflecting the Chinese pronuncia ...
'': Sino-Japanese readings ** ''
Go-on are Japanese kanji readings based on the classical pronunciations of Chinese characters of the historically prestigious eastern Jiankang (now Nanjing) dialect. ''Go-on'' are the earliest form of , preceding the readings. Both ''go-on'' and ...
'': an earlier type of reading ** ''
Tō-on are Japanese kanji readings imported from China by Zen monks and merchants during and after the Song dynasty, as a form of . See also * ''On'yomi'': Sino-Japanese readings ** '' Kan-on'': an earlier type of reading ** ''Go-on are Japanes ...
'': a later type of reading *
Checked tone A checked tone, commonly known by the Chinese calque entering tone, is one of the four syllable types in the phonology of Middle Chinese. Although usually translated as "tone", a checked tone is not a tone in the western phonetic sense but rathe ...


References

Kanji {{vocab-stub