Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 奴 evolved from ancient pictographs showing a woman (女) with a hand (又) grasping or controlling her, originally meaning 'slave' or 'servant.' In bronze inscriptions, it depicted a kneeling female figure with hands bound, emphasizing subjugation. Over time, the structure simplified to the modern form with 女 (woman) and 又 (hand), reflecting its historical association with servitude. The meaning expanded to denote derogatory terms like 'fellow' or 'guy,' often used contemptuously, yet also appearing in terms like 奴隷 (slave) and 奴国 (an ancient Japanese kingdom). Arrived in Japan: The character 奴 arrived in Japan by the 5th century CE, likely through Korean peninsular intermediaries and Chinese written texts. It appears in early Japanese records such as the 'Weizhi' (3rd century CE), which references the 'Na Kingdom' (奴国) in Kyushu. By the Nara period (710–794 CE), it was used in documents like the 'Kojiki' and 'Nihon Shoki' to denote servants or regions, embedding into the Japanese lexicon.