Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 印 evolved from ancient pictographs depicting a hand pressing down on a kneeling person, originally meaning 'to press' or 'to restrain.' Over time, it came to represent 'seal' or 'stamp' - the tool used to press impressions onto documents. In bronze script, the character showed a hand above a kneeling figure, symbolizing authority and authentication. By the small seal script period, it had transformed into the recognizable form with 㔾 (the kneeling person) and 爪 (the hand), representing the act of stamping or sealing documents. Arrived in Japan: The character 印 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with the broader introduction of Chinese writing systems, likely through Korean peninsula intermediaries and Buddhist texts. It was formally adopted into the Japanese writing system during the Asuka and Nara periods (6th-8th centuries) as part of the mass importation of Chinese culture, technology, and bureaucratic systems.