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Originally Posted by dragonsthree
Thanks, that's a great help. I guess
5. Why do they actually keep using Kanji in their writing system? It seems like one of the most impractical things, considering everything should be able to be represented using their two alphabets. I'll still learn, but it seems like they have an unnecessary hurdle to learning their language, for native citizens as well as anyone learning as a second language.
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hehe, that is actually an interesting question. The answer lies in history. See, when Chinese started to write in kanji (recent archeological excavation near Bunpo village and discovery of Yangshao culture suggest 7000 years ago) it was not extraordinary as nealry any culture art starts with primitive drawings.
These became charatcers. Now, the reason why kanji have prevailed (and thank the sexy Buddha for that) is because they were a part of culture, religion, plitics, etc. But most importantly they were derived from nature and had abstract forms. The philosophy and way of seeing surrounding world is very different in China or Japan and Western countries. We went from real to abstract concept and Orient from abstract to real. The untold and not precise nature of Chinese charatcers is perfectly attuned to mind set up of Far Eastern Asian cultures.
One opf the famous Chinese painters one said that he who percieves the world in realistic way has a mind setup of a 6 years old. And I could not agree more. That is why ancient Chinese paintings, as well as their writing, have symbolic meanings, and are so alluring.
In Japan there were tries of switching to roma ji after the war (i think) but luckily it failed. I find Chinese characters one of the most poetic and incredible creations of human mind. It is with no doubt a world's wonder. Treat them with respect and they will return the favour.