Reference mark

Reference mark
In UnicodeU+203B REFERENCE MARK (komejirushi, chamgopyo)
Different from
Different fromU+205C DOTTED CROSS
U+1360 ETHIOPIC SECTION MARK
Related
See alsoU+002A * ASTERISK (*, *)
Handwritten notice in Japanese. Note the komejirushi at the bottom of each page, preceding the footnotes.

The reference mark or reference symbol "" is a typographic mark or word used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) writing.

The symbol was used historically to call attention to an important sentence or idea, such as a prologue or footnote.[1] As an indicator of a note, the mark serves the same purpose as the asterisk in English. However, in Japanese usage, the note text is placed directly into the main text immediately after the reference mark, rather than at the bottom of the page or end of chapter as is the case in English writing.

  1. ^ Jan M. Ziolkowski (2018). The Juggler of Notre Dame and the Medievalizing of Modernity. p. 47. ISBN 978-1783744367. […] The Japanese komejirushi ("rice symbol"), so called for its similarity to the kanji for kome ("rice") and used in Japanese writing to denote an important sentence or thought.