Does the etymology of 星 suggest the japanese/chinese knew the sun was a star?


星 contains the radical 日 meaning sun/day. This makes sense from a modern
understanding, as it is well known that the sun was a star. However, it
appears this has only been known since the 19th century, suggesting that the
connection is not so intuitive.

How did the 日 radical come to be used here? Was there an understanding that
the sun was the same/similar to a star, or was there another reason for this?




No, because「星」was not the original character for the word meaning _star_.

* * *

「星」was originally written「晶」:

[![!\[enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uCM38.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uCM38.png)

These are [oracle bone
script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script) samples, and by that
stage stars were already characterised as being **more numerous and smaller
than the sun and moon** , hence the appearance.「晶」now means
_sparkling/crystal/radiant_ , and this is a semantic extension from the
original meaning _twinkling stars_.

Later on, a sound hint「生」was added (note, the common _On'yomi_ for
both「星」and「生」, which are both **しょう** and **せい** , are identical).

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KEptd.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KEptd.png)

The number of stars depicted ranged from 2-5, but eventually settled on to 3:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NJVnP.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NJVnP.png)

_The right hand side is the modern representation of the form on the left._

A [Warring States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period)
innovation simplified it to one star,

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dKXd.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dKXd.png)

and this is what we're left with today.

To clarify, there was a clear recognition that「星」and「日」were both celestial
bodies shining in the sky, as seen by the structural composition of「晶」,
but「星」is also the same term given to planets and comets, and the
philosophical/cultural/religious significance of the sun itself, seen in words
like「太陽」(literally _Grand[Yang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang)_,
by far the more pervasive word for _sun_ in Chinese), is not accorded to「星」.

* * *

## References

  * 裘錫圭《文字學概要》
  * 季旭昇《說文新證》
  * [小學堂](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/)




No, because「星」was not the original character for the word meaning _star_.

* * *

「星」was originally written「晶」:

[![!\[enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uCM38.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uCM38.png)

These are [oracle bone
script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script) samples, and by that
stage stars were already characterised as being **more numerous and smaller
than the sun and moon** , hence the appearance.「晶」now means
_sparkling/crystal/radiant_ , and this is a semantic extension from the
original meaning _twinkling stars_.

Later on, a sound hint「生」was added (note, the common _On'yomi_ for
both「星」and「生」, which are both **しょう** and **せい** , are identical).

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KEptd.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KEptd.png)

The number of stars depicted ranged from 2-5, but eventually settled on to 3:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NJVnP.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NJVnP.png)

_The right hand side is the modern representation of the form on the left._

A [Warring States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period)
innovation simplified it to one star,

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dKXd.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dKXd.png)

and this is what we're left with today.

To clarify, there was a clear recognition that「星」and「日」were both celestial
bodies shining in the sky, as seen by the structural composition of「晶」,
but「星」is also the same term given to planets and comets, and the
philosophical/cultural/religious significance of the sun itself, seen in words
like「太陽」(literally _Grand[Yang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang)_,
by far the more pervasive word for _sun_ in Chinese), is not accorded to「星」.

* * *

## References

  * 裘錫圭《文字學概要》
  * 季旭昇《說文新證》
  * [小學堂](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/)

