DebunKanji: Chinese Glyphs Used in Japanese

Exploring the fundamentals of more than 500 Chinese kanji glyphs used in the Japanese language, derived as an abridged listing from over 13,500 glyphs, with an explanation of origin and meaning; JIS pronunciations displayed in both kana syllabaries and rōmaji; the meanings published by Japanese, Chinese, and Unicode external sources for comparison and verification; vocabulary examples from Japanese and Chinese selected from over 375,000 dictionary entries; stroke count, Japanese grade level, Japanese Language Proficiency Test level; display of glyph using Ming Liu, Mincho, and Gothic fonts; pronunciation when used in names; and mouseover display of pronunciation, given meanings, and description of glyph elements.

Each glyph includes hyperlinks to: elements comprising the glyph, with various combinations; other glyphs in which the entry appears as an element; similar and related glyphs, by meaning or usage; and compound glyphs used in vocabulary. Furthermore, conjugated inflection tables for 900 Japanese verbs are included.

Have you ever wondered what each individual part means within a kanji glyph? Or, why meanings listed in dictionaries for each element often make no sense when combined, seemingly unrelated to the glyph as a whole?

Did the ancient Chinese sages who designed kanji know exactly what they were doing, or, do the individual strokes have no meaning as the pundits claim today? Is it even possible that 9/10 of 47,000 glyphs were created in China for pronunciation only and not for meaning?

The how and why behind the creation of Chinese glyphs generally have been forgotten, and along with it the individual elements which comprise each glyph forming the resultant meanings as an integrated whole. Yet, these glyphs remain a treasure-trove of Chinese cultural anthropology that has been preserved despite millennia of meticulous efforts to eradicate the details. As modern society evolved, fundamental meanings behind the glyphs became toxic. To perpetuate, they had to be disguised while trying to hide the past, all those old-wired instincts of humans graphically depicted within these ancient glyphs. This is an area where most students do not want to go, not daring to venture into the bowels of the beast—it is nevertheless, the ugly truth, with the problem being that these glyphs are so outrageous, most people no longer can believe the meanings of elements from their modern moral perspective.