kanji (n.)

Chinese dynasty, 206 B.C.E.-220 C.E., its rule was marked by prosperity, military success, and the introduction of Buddhism.

pictorial character, by 2008, from Japanese e "picture" + moji "character" (compare kanji), coined 1999 in Japanese by Shigetaka Kurita, NTT DoCoMo employee. Its adoption in English was driven by Apple iPhone's inclusion of the feature in 2008. The similarity to native emoticon is a happy coincidence.