Hiragana and katakana
Also called: Kana · Topic: Paths to Modernisation: Japan, China, Korea · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Paths to Modernisation"
Meaning
Hiragana and katakana are two Japanese syllabaries, together called kana. A syllabary is a set of signs in which each sign stands for a sound. The Japanese borrowed Chinese characters (kanji) in the sixth century, but these did not fit the Japanese language well, so the two kana scripts grew up. Hiragana was called "feminine" because women writers of the Heian court, such as Murasaki Shikibu, used it. Modern Japanese mixes Chinese characters with both kana. The kana helped reading and writing spread quickly in Meiji Japan.
Example
Murasaki Shikibu wrote the Tale of Genji (c. 1000 CE) in Japanese script rather than in Chinese. When the Meiji government made schooling compulsory from the 1870s, children learnt Chinese characters along with the kana. By 1910 almost every child was in school, and Japan had very high literacy.
Don't confuse with
- Kanji: Kanji are the Chinese characters borrowed by Japan, and each one stands for a meaning. Hiragana and katakana are home-grown signs that each stand for a sound.
Related concepts
- Commodore Perry
- Treaty of Kanagawa
- Unequal treaties
- Meiji restoration
- Charter Oath 1868
- Fukoku kyohei
- Emperor system
- Meiji education system
- Imperial Rescript on Education
- Satsuma Rebellion 1877