Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 布 originated from ancient Chinese pictographs depicting cloth. In oracle bone script, it showed a hand holding a cloth or tool for weaving. The character evolved through bronze script to the modern form, representing cloth, fabric, or spreading/distributing something widely. It belongs to the 'phonetic' category in Liushutong classification, combining semantic and phonetic elements. Arrived in Japan: The character 布 arrived in Japan during the Yayoi period (300 BCE - 300 CE) through cultural exchange with China, and was systematically introduced along with other Chinese characters during the Asuka period (6th-7th century) when Japan adopted Chinese writing systems and Buddhist texts.