Ideographic Annotation Earth Mark

It marks the Earth step in a deeper return. Kaeriten are Japanese return marks. In kanbun, ㆞ follows number, position and 甲乙丙丁 (first through fourth) levels in the 天・地・人 tier.

Japanese reading notes called kunten helped readers reorder Classical Chinese. The practice probably came through Korea in the seventh and eighth centuries; Japanese annotated manuscripts survive from the late eighth century. Temple glosses supported oral reading. By the tenth century, academy manuscripts used marks for syntax and reading order. More elaborate return points emerged in the Edo period.