Kaō
| Kaō | |||||||
 Kaō of Toyotomi Hideyoshi | |||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 花押 | ||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||
| Kanji | 花押 | ||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||
| Hangul | 화압 | ||||||
| Hanja | 花押 | ||||||
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kaōs of members of Council of Five Elders.
A kaō or huāyā is a stylized signature or a mark used in east Asia in place of a true signature.
History
Kaō first appeared in China during the Tang Dynasty, and began to be used in Japan during the Heian period.[1] Though their use became far less widespread after the Edo period, they continue to be used even by some contemporary politicians and other famous people.[2] The reading and identification of individual kaō often requires specialist knowledge; whole books devoted to the topic have been published.[3]
Often used by Japanese swordsmith on sword tang (nakago).
See also
- Chinese calligraphy
- Japanese calligraphy
- Korean calligraphy
- Tughra, stylised Arabic signatures used by Ottoman sultans
- Khelrtva, stylised Georgian calligraphic signatures
References
- ↑ 望月 鶴川 [Kakusen Mochizuki] (June 2005), 花押のせかい [The World of Kaō], 朝陽会 [Chōyōkai], ISBN 978-4-903059-03-7
- ↑ 佐藤 進一 [Satō Shin'ichi] (September 2000), 花押を読む [Reading Kaō], 平凡社 [Heibonsha], ISBN 978-4-582-76367-6
- ↑ 上島 有 [Tamotsu Kamishima] (December 2004), 中世花押の謎を解く―足利将軍家とその花押 [Cracking the Riddle of Kaō from the Middle Ages: The Ashikaga Shogunate and their Kaō], 山川出版社 [Yamakawa Shuppansha], ISBN 978-4-634-52330-2, NDL 20717189
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