(More detailed information can be found on this page of the Kanji Networks online dictionary of Chinese characters site.)
The literal meaning is "characters of the Han (Chinese)."
Yes, with a slight reservation. Nearly all of the characters used in Japan originated in China. The exceptions are those characters the Japanese created themselves, modeled after the Chinese ones. Although there are some 2,000 Made in Japan characters overall, only eight are included in the 1,945 everyday use characters. For these reasons, and from the perspective of Japan studies, "kanji" and "Chinese characters" can be used interchangeably. Note that when referring specifically to the characters as used in China, it is normal not to employ the romanization "kanji" but "hanzi."
A small percentage are, but the vast majority are compound characters, composed of two or more components (or elements).
Yes. For instance, the ancient Chinese conceived of 川 (river) as
an object boring a winding path through the earth, 月 (moon)
specifically as a crescent moon (with a scooped out shape), 鳥 (bird) as
a creature with a long, curving tail, and so on. 川, 月 and 鳥 are
respectively linked to other characters sharing those senses.
Some more examples. 人 (person): A mutually interdependent human. 手 (hand):
An object used for gripping. 耳 (ear): A soft, supple object (女 woman was
also conceived of in this manner). 金 (metal, or gold): Object scattered
through the earth.
As far as current archeological evidence reveals, a minimum of 3,200 years old, but no doubt much older than that.
At least 50,000. If all alternative forms are counted as individual characters, the number is even greater. However, the total number is beside the point. Though some scholars hold out for a slightly higher number, the consensus is that the most erudite Mandarins who ever lived were acquainted with some 7,500 characters (impressive enough, but far from 50,000).
Enough to accomplish your purpose. A survey conducted by the Asahi newspaper within the past decade found that 1,000 kanji account for 95% of the characters appearing in that newspaper. If your goal is to read newspapers with minimal reliance on dictionaries, a good familiarity with the readings, meanings and major compounds of 1,000 characters will serve. After that, the more characters you know the smoother (and more enjoyable) your reading becomes.
Probably not. Aside from the 1,945 everyday use characters, there
are another few hundred kanji used frequently enough that they tend to
appear without their readings in hiragana beside them. But that's it.
Beyond that, publishers print the readings for the rarer characters
because they know their (native Japanese) readers require them. With
the readings provided, you can easily look these terms up in a
dictionary, just as you would an unfamiliar term in English.
Then, as it happens, many of the characters beyond the 3,000
level are obsolete. They include hundreds of kanji now replaced by
katakana: the names of plants, animals, fish, insects, as well as of
foreign countries, cities, historical figures and so on. (Can you write
"Napoleon" in kanji?) Other hundreds of characters pertain to tools,
implements and customs involved with traditional arts and crafts, or to
literary applications such as the names of old writers, seasonal terms
used in haiku and so on. For many other characters, their specialized
senses have been transferred to more common kanji with similar readings
and meanings.
On the lighter side, these additional characters also include
various traditional ghosts, goblins and fairies of the archipelago.
Look at it this way: there are all kinds of hobbies in the world.
Some people row boats across the Pacific; others find sublime pleasure
in collecting buttons. If the idea of mastering 6,000 kanji appeals to
you, go for it. (Napoleon: 奈破崙)
ON readings are the pronunciations of the characters as they
sounded to Japanese ears when introduced to Japan (which is not to say
that the ON readings in use today are exactly the same as their
earliest forms). KUN readings are terms, native to Japan, that were
assigned to kanji of the same or similar meanings.
Taking 水 (water) as an example, the ON reading is "SUI" and the
KUN reading "mizu." Kanji can have multiple readings, both ON and KUN.
You refer to compounds such as 負担 burden, 皮膚 skin, 恋愛 love, 希望 desire, 恐怖 fear or 印刷 printing. Chinese is loaded with homophones, and even when tonal distinctions are allowed for there remains plenty of room for confusion. Doubling up a term helps distinguish these homophones. Some say there is an aesthetic reason behind this tendency as well. Taking 負担 as an example, the first character originally meant to carry on the back, and the second to carry on the shoulder. Combining the two creates a nice semantic balance, or so proponents of this view would have us believe.
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Since 6 June 2005