Kaō

For other uses, see Kao (disambiguation).

Kaō
Kaō of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Chinese name
Chinese	花押
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin huāyā
Japanese name
Kanji	花押
Transcriptions Romanization Kaō
Korean name
Hangul	화압
Hanja	花押
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Hwaap McCune–Reischauer Hwaap

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. 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. The reading and identification of individual kaō often requires specialist knowledge; whole books devoted to the topic have been published.

Often used by Japanese swordsmith on sword tang (nakago).

See also

• Chinese calligraphy
• Japanese calligraphy
• Korean calligraphy
• Monogram
• Tughra, stylised Arabic signatures used by Ottoman sultans
• Khelrtva, stylised Georgian calligraphic signatures