PPS: Another thought struck me: you can also see 人格 and 性格 as ‘frameworks’ closer to a figurative ‘structure’, which I think better fits certain traditional ideas in Chinese culture (which may also be shared by Japanese culture). After all, we tend to say that character (人格) defines a person, and that’s why it’s important to be an upright, upstanding member of society (and so on). So you could also see 人格 and 性格 as the ‘skeleton’ holding up a ‘complete’ person and helping him or her to function. Alternatively, you could say that they’re the ‘basis’ for how people behave as ‘human beings’ (人格) or as unique individuals with a certain ‘essence’ (性格).
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