About
The character "倭", structurally composed of the human radical and the component "委" which conveys a sense of bending or entrusting, originally served as a neutral designation for the Wa people, an early term for the inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago as recorded in Chinese historical documents. Its etymology, blending semantic and phonetic elements, reflected contemporary Chinese views of foreign cultures as distant or subordinate, without initial derogatory intent. Over centuries, however, the term's connotations gradually shifted due to evolving political and cultural dynamics between China and Japan, acquiring pejorative implications of inferiority and becoming a derogatory label in certain contexts. This semantic evolution led to the character's decline in polite usage for referring to Japan, where it was largely replaced by the more neutral "日本", though "倭" persists in classical texts and historical terminology.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
历史上倭寇曾侵扰沿海。
这把倭刀很锋利。
古代中国称日本为倭国。
倭寇的活动在明朝时期很频繁。
研究倭寇历史有助于理解东亚海洋史。
倭刀的制作工艺体现了日本传统的锻造技术。
尽管倭寇在历史上造成了破坏，但也促进了沿海防御的发展。
学者们对倭寇的组成及其与当时日本政权的关系存在不同看法。