for the latter version is given by reference not to the traditional page numbers for individual volumes of the dictionary, but as a continuum running from 1–3671.
6 Printed Texts and the Calligraphic Tradition
The term ‘traditional form’ will be seen in many entries in this book; it is used to refer in principle to printed forms based on character shapes in Kangxi zidian, which served as an authoritative standard in mainland China and Japan until around the middle of the 20th century. These forms were favored by scholars because they tended to retain elements of the small seal character shapes in the very highly regarded Shuowen jiezi. The forms in Kangxi zidian and later mechanically produced texts sometimes differ somewhat from the corresponding shapes favored in the calli-graphic tradition, i.e., in texts that served as calligraphic models for many hundreds of years and indeed even down to the present. To illustrate this, let us consider 高 and 髙: 高 is the traditional Kangxi zidian form, reflecting the fact that 高 corresponds closely to the small seal form, while 髙 was favored in the calligraphic tradition. Another example is provided by 京 and 亰, where 京 is the traditional Kangxi zidian form, reflecting the form of this character as it appears in Shuowen jiezi, but 亰 is predominant in the calligraphic tradition.
In cases where the traditional form is noted at the beginning of an entry in this book, this is because it differs from the corresponding form in standard modern Japanese usage. For example, in the case of 乱 ‘disorder’ (entry 999), 亂 is noted as the traditional form, and for 旧 ‘old, past’ (entry 677), 舊 is noted as the traditional form. Not infrequently there is some variation (typically very minor) in the traditional form for a given character; this is a point about which readers should not be unduly concerned. In most cases in the entries in this book we give just one traditional form. In modern Japanese usage, various relatively minor earlier differences between the printed and handwritten shapes for a given character have been eliminated, leaving only a small number of instances such as 人 (printed and handwritten forms differ modestly) and 入 (again, printed and handwritten forms differ in a minor way).
Note: originally in China and Japan, printing of texts was done using the wood-block printing technique, whereby large blocks of a hard wood were engraved with text in reverse, then the blocks were inked to transfer the text onto paper. While movable type technology was invented in China at around the 11th century, xylo-graphic (woodblock) printing remained the preferred method until the latter half of the 19th century. At that period, movable metal type came into favor, following the established norm in the West; the character shapes for the new type were based (with some modification) on those in Kangxi zidian, and evolved into what became known in Japanese as 明朝体 Minchōtai ‘Ming printed form’.
7 Layout of Entries in This Book
Individual entries for the 2,136 characters vary greatly in length and other respects, but a broad general format is followed, as explained below.
7.1 Order
The 2,136 character entries in this book are set out in the order they are listed in the revised Jōyō kanji list of 2010. In the main part of this book, the sequential number for a particular character is shown in the top left of the box for each entry. The first 1,006 characters are divided into six successive grades: the first grade sets out those characters to be taught in the first year of primary schooling, the second grade those to be taught in the second year, and so on. The remaining corpus of 1,130 characters, for learning in secondary education, is not divided into grades. Within each of the six grades, and the following undivided corpus, characters are arranged according to the 五十音図 gojū onzu, a traditional framework that was a prominent part of pre-modern Japanese language theory.
7.2 Character Shapes
At the head of each entry, the character shape is given large in the standard printed shape for modern Japanese. The larger shape to the right of that represents a brush-written equivalent of aesthetic merit. When writing by hand in the modern period, the writing brush has been superseded in the everyday usage of individuals by and large by other more convenient writing instruments such as the fountain pen and ballpoint pen. Use of the writing brush is, however, still maintained very actively in the realm of calligraphy. Readers who need everyday model shapes drawn by pen are referred to A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese (see Bibliography). Regarding the process of script reform which involved many changes and led to the standard character shapes in modern Japanese, detailed information can be found in Chapters 8 and 9 of A History of Writing in Japan.
Within the text of each entry, the traditional printed form (shape) of a character is normally given where this is different from the standard printed form for modern Japanese. For example, the traditional equivalent corresponding to 旧 ‘old, past’ (entry 677) is 舊. In some cases the difference in shape between the traditional form and the modern form is very minor. One example of this is 道 ‘road’ (entry 205), for which the traditional form has 辶 as determinative in contrast to modern standard usage in which it has been changed to 辶. Another example is 者 ‘person’ (entry 314), which in the traditional form has an extra stroke in the form of a dot. In a case such as this, where the difference is judged to be insignificant for explaining the etymology, we do not always list the traditional form separately. Incidentally, treatment of characters involving a very small difference in shape between the traditional and modern forms is not always consistent in the Jōyō kanji list itself: in 箸 ‘chopsticks’ (entry 1853), for instance, 者 has a dot as in its traditional form, whereas as an independent character in the list 者 has no dot. It is worth remarking here that there is a note appended to the list to the effect that very minor variation in shape of this type (where it is also within the accepted boundaries of shape variation for a particular character) is permissible in actual usage. This appears to be mainly to allow for the fact that such minor differences are sometimes not recognized in the modern computerized printed fonts.
7.3 Readings, Meanings, Stroke Count
Each entry has the on and/or kun reading(s) given to the right of the character at the head of the entry. Beneath the readings are given the English translation and stroke count. Beneath the translation and stroke count, examples are given of compounds in which the character concerned is used. Bear in mind that the meanings given to the elements that make up the individual characters in this book are based on etymology and therefore may differ from meanings found in a modern character dictionary such as Nelson’s The Modern Reader’s Japanese-English Character Dictionary. An example of this is 壬, originally a pictograph of a spinning spool or spool-shaped toy, which is listed in Nelson’s Dictionary as the ‘9th calendar sign’; this is because Nelson is focused on the modern meaning, not the historical etymology.
7.4 OBI, Bronze, and Seal Forms
Most entries start off by giving one or more early forms consisting of OBI, bronze, and/or seal equivalents, depending on how far back a particular character can be traced. Scholars often vary as to whether they recognize an OBI or bronze form for a given character, and this can happen sometimes with the seal forms too, depending on whether a particular form is accepted as a genuine earlier equivalent. For this reason, the inclusion of an OBI, bronze, or seal form should be taken as a guide only. If such a form is given, it is included as a representative shape: it does not necessarily mean that other shapes for that character at that same stage do not exist. Rather, it reflects the reality that in this book it is not practical to list or explore all the varying early shapes identified for one and the same character.
7.5 System of Cross-Referencing
In the explanatory text to many entries, readers will see numbers immediately following character components; these are intended to serve as a system of cross-referencing. To illustrate this, let us look at 空 (character no.17). This is made up of the two elements 穴 ‘hole, cave’ and 工 ‘work’, which themselves occur as character entries 860 and 125 respectively, hence the text explaining 空 refers to those same two elements as ‘穴 860’ and ‘工 125’. Numbers such as these are the main system of referencing and cross-referencing in this book. An example of this is 夏 88 ‘summer’: in this entry the traditional form is noted as having determinative no.35 夊 as the lower element, whereas the standard modern form has a different element of