Everyone, Here, Leciel explains the sounds of Kanji, Bow-Wow.
There were no written words in ancient Japan.
People at that time memorized and passed down myths and traditions by words. Their memory is amazing!!
Then, Kanji came from the Chinese continent via the Korean Peninsula.
It's said to be around the 4th century to the beginning of the 5th century.
Later, Chinese characters were introduced into Japan in different periods and through various channels, so there are some types of sounds, such as the 呉音【Goon(Wu pronunciation)】, 漢音【Kannon (Han pronunciation)】, and 唐音【Toon (Tang pronunciation)】.
By the way, there is a Japanese original sound, which is called 慣用音【Kanyoon(Traditional pronunciation】.
Here is a brief introduction to these sounds, Bow-Wow.

 

①呉音【Goon(Wu pronunciation) 】
From the 5th century to the 6th century, the southern sounds of the Konan area (= Wu) from 439 to 589 during the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in China came through Baekje on the Korean Peninsula, which was close to the Southern Dynasty.
That's why it's called Wu pronunciation. By the way, Wu is not the sound of the era of Wu, which is famous for the Three Kingdoms.
At that time, many Kanji characters related mainly to Buddhism and medicine came in, so they are still used in this 呉音"Wu pronunciation".

 

For example, in the case of Buddhism,
Kyo (経) of Kyoten【Sacred Scripture(経典) 】, Sho (精) of Shojin【Desperate Spirit(精進) 】, Sho (聖) of Shotoku【Holy Virtue(聖徳) 】.
Rai (礼) of Raihai【Worship service(礼拝) 】, and Nin(人) of Ninshinukegatashi（「人身受け難し...」）.

 

In the case of medicine,
Ge (外) of Geka【the surgery department(外科) 】, Nai(内) of Naika【the internal medicine department(内科) 】, Ni(児) of Shoni 【the tot (小児) 】, Jyo(静) of Jyomyaku【the venous stasis(静脈) 】, Byo(病) of Byonin 【the patient(病人) 】...

 

Have you heard of this before, haven't you?
The sounds of everyone entering Japan in this age is 呉音【Goon(Wu pronunciation)】(^_-)-☆

 

②漢音【Kannon (Han pronunciation)】
From the 7th to the 9th century in China, the sounds of the northern and western sides around Changan, the capital of Tang (618 – 907) were brought to Japan by foreign students and monks who went to Tang as Kento-shi(Japanese envoys to Tang China).
The most famous Buddhist monk of this time was 弘法大師"Kobo Daishi": 空海"Kukai" [774 – 835].
He went to Tang as a Japanese envoy to Tang Dynasty China and brought back many precious things related to Shingon Esoteric Buddhism to Japan.
Kukai is called a Japanese calligrapher and one of the three Heian calligraphy brushes.
Toshu-sensei eagerly read Kukai's books and copied his calligraphy. (* ^ ^) v
That's beside the point.
Back to the main topic:
The name 漢音【Kannon (Han pronunciation)】 comes from the Chinese standard pronunciation after the Chinese dynasty, Han.
But the Han Dynasty is from 202 B.C. to 220 A.D., so it has nothing to do with the actual Han Dynasty.

 

Here I have summarized the examples of the differences between 呉音【Goon(Wu pronunciation)】 and 漢音【Kannon (Han pronunciation)】 in a table.

呉音(Wu pronunciation)	万	man	馬	me	美	mi	木	moku
漢音(Han pronunciation)		ban		ba		bi		boku
呉音(Wu pronunciation)	内	nai	男	nan	女	nyo	奴	nu
漢音(Han pronunciation)		dai		dan		jyo		do
呉音(Wu pronunciation)	二	ni	児	ni	人	nin	柔	nyu
漢音(Han pronunciation)		ji		ji		jin		jyu

 

③唐音【Toon (Tang pronunciation)】
It is the sounds that was introduced into Japan from the middle of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to the middle of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), from the middle Heian period to the late Edo period in Japan.
Just calling the sounds that came from China by the Chinese representative dynasty "Tang" does not mean the sound of the Tang Dynasty 618-907.
For example, 茶(Sa) of Kissa【enjoying tea(喫茶) 】, 鈴(Rin) of Rin【bell(鈴) 】, 行脚(Angya) of Angya【pilgrimage】, etc.

 

④ 慣用音【Kanyoon(Traditional pronunciation】
Unlike 呉音【Goon(Wu pronunciation)】 and 漢音【Kannon (Han pronunciation)】, which are related to the pronunciation of Chinese characters, 慣用音【Kanyoon(Traditional pronunciation）】is those which were created through various changes after being introduced to Japan.
For example, some of them have longer sounds such as 贔屓【Hiki → Hiiki（illegitimate favor)】, 披露【Hiro →Hirou (presentation)】, and so on, and others are misread because they are influenced by 偏【the left-hand side of the Kanji(Hen)】 or旁【the right-hand side of the Kanji(Tsukuri)】such as 消耗(Shoko →Shomo) and 口腔 (Koukou → Kouku)!
接 is "Sho" in 呉音【Goon(Wu pronunciation)】 and 漢音【Kannon (Han pronunciation)】, but it is "Setsu" in 慣用音【Kanyoon(Traditional pronunciation】.
立 is "Ryu" in 呉音【Goon(Wu pronunciation)】 and 漢音【Kannon (Han pronunciation)】, but "Ritsu" in 慣用音【Kanyoon(Traditional pronunciation】.
There are so many.

 

Lastly, the breakdown of all 2352 characters in the Joyo Kanji table is summarized in a table, so please take a look!!

 

漢音・呉音同音(Han pronunciation・Wu pronunciation -The same pronunciation)	950 characters
漢音(Han pronunciation)	752 characters
呉音(Wu pronunciation)	538 characters
唐音(Tang pronunciation)	14 characters
慣用音(Traditional pronunciation)	98 characters
Total	2352 characters

If you would like to know more, please check here.