The Evolution of Kanji based in Hieroglyphs and Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Background and Origins of Kanji. On the Derivation of Kanji.

*note: Japanese pronouciation is inside the parenthesis ( ), On-yomi readings are capitalized and Kun-yomi readings are lowercase.

道(DOU, TOU, michi) is Kanji for Path. Formed from the union of the kanji for “neck”(kubi) and the chaku kanji radical. Chaku is derived from the kanji for “go” and “walk”, and carries the meaning of “to walk onward” or “walk through”. In ancient times, when moving through the lands of other nations or tribes, in order to purify evil spirits, one would walk through bearing the decapitated head of someone from another tribe. That sanctified place became the “path”.

初 (SHO, hajime, hatsu)is Kanji for Beginning, First. A combination of the kanji for “clothing” and the kanji for “sword”. The character for clothing displays the part of the collar or lapel of a kimono, and carries the meaning of a kimono being made from cloth cut with a “sword” (“scissors”). From the ceremony for the making of swaddling clothes comes the meaning of “beginnings” or “first”.

歩(HO, BU, FU, aruku, ayumu) is Kanji for Walking. The meaning “to walk” comes from the shape formed by joining the footprint shapes left from the pause in stride of each foot (left and right).

見(KEN, GEN, miru) is Kanji for Looking. Formed by combining the kanji for “eye” and the jin kanji radical, which represents the shape of a human being. With an emphasis on the human eye, it expresses the act of “watching” or “looking” at something.

手(SHU, te, ta) is Kanji for Hand. The shape of a hand. A modified form based on the shape made beginning at the wrist with all five fingers spread.

赤(SEKI, SHAKU, aka, akai) is Kanji for Red. The kanji for “large” and the kanji for “fire” are combined in this character’s shape. This character takes the form of the kanji for “large”, which resembles a person with legs and arms spread-eagled, accompanied by the kanji for “fire”, and suggests the ceremonial purification of impurities. If the kanji boku is attached, which has a shape that is holding a branch, the meaning is that of the kanji SHA, which means to be beaten and then purified of sins and forgiven your crimes. Words like akago (“baby”), sekishin (“sincerity”), akaji (“red cloth, red background”), and sekishin (“extreme poverty”), are used with the implied meaning of “nakedness is truth”. In modern times, while the general meaning of “red” is used, originally, the color of “crimson” was called by the characters for “vermillion” and “scarlet”.

神(SHIN, JIN, kami, kan, kou) is Kanji for God. In Chinese Bronze Inscriptions, 申called shin, is used to mean “god” and 申 or shin is the original Kanji for god. It represents the shape of a flash of lightning, and this flash was thought to have been an act of god. 申, Shin has come to have meanings outside of “god”, such as mousu, “to say”, and so the character ネcalled shimesu, which bears the shape of an alter, has been attached to create the kami character, 神.

利(RI, kiku) is Kanji for Profit. Formed from the combination of the ka kanji radical and the “knife” or rittou kanji radical. With the radical ka, which takes its shape from rice and other grains, being symbolically harvested by the “knife”, it carries the meaning of “profit” and “advantage” from the harvesting of a crop and reaping the rewards.

分(BUN, FUN, BU, wakeru, wakareru, wakaru, wakatsu) is Kanji for Portion. Formed from the combination of the kanji for “eight” and the kanji for “knife”. “Eight” takes a shape which shows something being divided left and right, and so the character holds the meaning of something being “divided”, or being split in two, by a knife.

取(SHU, toru, metoru) is Kanji for Take. Derived from the kanji for “ear” and the yuu kanji radical. Yuu displays the shape of a person’s hand. This kanji expresses the act of tearing off the left ear of an enemy soldier killed on the battlefield as proof of their demise. Since then, the meaning “take” or “steal” has come to refer to all things and events, not just the ear of an enemy.

酒(SHU, sake, saka) is Kanji for Alcohol. Yuu, the “Rooster” from the Chinese Zodiac, takes the shape of a wine barrel, and by adding to this the sanzui kanji radical, which refers to “water”, the meaning “alcohol” is derived. During the Yin Dynasty, when a festival was held, a great deal of alcohol would be consumed, and it is said that the dynasty fell into ruin because of this.

友(YUU, tomo, shitashimu) is Kanji for Friend. This character is formed by the overlapping of two yuu characters. Yuu takes the shape of the right hand, and has the meaning of holding hands and helping one another; the implication of cooperative human relationships, as in “tomo”, “ tomodachi”, and “nakama” all meaning a friend is also used. Because it has a meaning of friend, it has another meaning such as chumming up.

走(SOU, hashiru, omomuku) is Kanji for Running. Taking the shape of a running person with both arms moving with each stride, it expresses the action of “running”. Although the upper portion resembles the tai/ookii kanji, meaning “large” or “great”, one ‘hand’ is raised, while the other is lowered, and then with the ‘head’ inclined forward, it forms the shape of the kanji radical you. The lower half emphasizes the act of “running” through the footprint shape.

乳(NYUU, JU, chichi, chi, yashinau) is Kanji for Milk, Breast. Formed by combining the sou kanji radical and ana kanji radical. Sou indicates a finger on one’s hand, and ana is the shape of a child combined with a curve like that of shaving the hair from the back of one’s head. This kanji, which has the shape of a hand placed on the head of an infant which has yet to grow hair, has its origins in the figure of a suckling child.

食(SHOKU, JIKI, kuu, taberu) is Kanji for Food, Eating. The form is that of the word KI which was used to mean “tableware”. Kyuu, is the “bowl” shape, and above that is the “lid” which is placed on top to create the character. This kanji, SHOKU, takes the meaning of “food” within the compound for “tableware”, and from the word tabemono, meaning “food”, comes the connotation of “to eat”, as in kuu and taberu. Moreover, because we nourish or “cultivate” our bodies by consuming food, it also carries the meaning “to nourish”.

印(IN, shirushi, osaeru, han) is Kanji for Seal, Stamp. The kanji radical sou is combined with the radical setsu to create this character. Setsu suggests the shape of a person, and sou, which refers to fingertips, is added to that. It holds the meaning of pressing down on a person from above, so the meaning of “signature” (han) is derived, as in the movement used when pressing down on a hanko (a personal seal bearing the user’s name). Pressing down on something, and imprinting a mark, is indicated by this kanji.

福(FUKU, saiwai) is Kanji for Good Fortune. Combines the shape of a wine barrel on the right side, and on the left side, the shape of a table where offerings to the gods are placed. Offering and enshrining sake before the gods, and asking for happiness, is called fuku, and is used in the meaning of “happiness, divine aid, assistance”. Goods like rice and meat offered to the gods are also called fuku, and blessings from the gods are divided among family members. This is called shifuku, or “bliss”.

北(HOKU, kita) is Kanji for North. From the shape reminiscent of a person’s back, it takes the meaning of se and senaka meaning “backside” or somuku, meaning “betray”. The meaning of “north” comes from the direction a king’s back is facing when he sits facing the south, which is called kita or hoku. Attaching the nikuzuki radical (meaning “meat” or “flesh”), which identifies a part of the body, to the directional kita kanji has come to have the meaning of “back”.

民(MIN, tami) is Kanji for Nation, People. Originally, this character took the shape of an eye being pierced by something like a needle. There is a theory that this is because some slaves were blinded by their ruler, and another that the blind people who were called min or tami were seen as servants of the gods. In either case, the people who had a part of their body wounded, and thus their freedom stolen away, were “tami”. The contemporary concept of “democracy” is far removed from the origins of this character.

春(SHUN, haru) is Kanji for Spring. This is a character that has its origins in three components: kusa, ton, and hi. Ton carries the meaning of “grass roots” and has a shape like that of the fray at the end of a piece of fabric. Haru comes from the grass that sprouts forth after being bathed in sunlight.

株(SHU, kabu) is Kanji for Stock. The kanji for “scarlet color” takes the shape of the trunk of a “tree” with a dot or mark attached to it, and so the kanji kabu indicates a section near the base of a tree. In Japan, there are many instances where the meaning of kabushiki, or “stock (company)” is used. The lower section of the original kanji for “scarlet color” is a hieroglyphic.

風(FUU, kaze) is Kanji for Wind. The original character took the form of the kanji ootori, meaning “large bird” and often referring to the “Phoenix”, with the addition of the han radical. Long ago, the Wind God and other deities brought forth the wind, and this influenced people, resulting in what was thought to be the birth of all manners and customs and natural features. Instead of the kanji for “bird”, the kanji mushi, which indicated the deity that bore the shape of the “dragon”, was used and became the kanji for “wind”.

始(SHI, hajime) is Kanji for First, Start. The original kanji was written shi, using the characters for “woman” and the Serpent from the Chinese Zodiac. The Serpent, mi, takes the form of the character suki, and combined with SAI (a bowl in which Shinto prayers were put) indicated the ceremony in which farming tools were purified. This came to be a widely performed ceremony, and it was also made use of as a ritual in which women to prayed for the safe birth of their children; and so, the act of “giving birth” is called hajime and has the meaning of “to begin”.