倭

倭 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+8, 10 strokes, cangjie input 人竹木女 (OHDV), four-corner 2224₄, composition ⿰亻委)

• 䔀, 𬕥

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 109, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 796
• Dae Jaweon: page 232, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 179, character 8
• Unihan data for U+502D
• Shuowen Jiezi: volume 15, page 46, character 18

Historical forms of the character 倭
Small seal script   s05700 Transcribed ancient scripts   L34578
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Various theories suggest that 倭 was influenced by Old Japanese 我 (wa, “I, me”) or referring to the practice of bowing among the ancient Japanese.

倭

1. (historical, now derogatory) Japan; Yamato
2. (in some animal names) dwarf; pygmy

   倭蛙  ―  wōwā  ―  Nanorana pleskei

   倭河馬／倭河马  ―  wōhémǎ  ―  pygmy hippopotamus

   倭黑猩猩  ―  wōhēixīngxīng  ―  bonobo; pygmy chimpanzee

• (Japan):

• 大和 (Dàhé)
• 日本 (Rìběn)

倭

1. Used in 倭遲／倭迟, alternative form of 逶迤 (wēiyí, “winding; meandering”)

倭

1. Only used in 倭墮髻／倭堕髻 (wǒduòjì, “a hairstyle for women that was popular during the Han Dynasty in which the hair was gathered up in a lopsided bun”).

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. Yamato
2. the country of Japan

• Go-on: い (i)^{←ゐ (wi, historical)}、わ (wa)
• Kan-on: い (i)^{←ゐ (wi, historical)}、わ (wa)
• Kun: やまと (yamato, 倭)、したがう (shitagau, 倭う)

From Middle Chinese 倭 (MC 'wa). Various theories suggest that 倭 was influenced by Old Japanese 我 (wa, “I, me”) or referring to the practice of bowing among the ancient Japanese.

• (Tokyo) わ [wáꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [β̞a̠]

倭(わ) • (Wa) 

1. ancient Japan

During the Nara period, Japanese scholars believed that 倭 was derogatory as a name for their own country, because the Chinese word depicted a man bending down. Around 757 CE, Japan replaced 倭 with 和(わ) (Wa), which had the same pronunciation in Old Japanese, but instead meant "harmonious".

From a corrupted or unorthodox reading. The original reading is 와 (wa) based on Middle Chinese 倭 (MC 'wa).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [wɛ] ~ [we̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [왜/웨]

 

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

倭

Wikisource

倭 (eumhun 왜나라 왜 (waenara wae))

1. hanja form^? of 왜 (“ancient Japan, Yamato”)

From Middle Chinese 倭 (MC 'jwe).

倭 (eumhun 유순할 위 (yusunhal wi))

1. (literary Chinese) hanja form^? of 위 (“docile, obedient”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [1]

倭: Hán Nôm readings: uy, oải, nụy/nuỵ, oa

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.