Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 房 originally depicted a building or chamber, composed of 户 (door) and 方 (square/region). In ancient China, it referred to a side room or compartment within a larger structure. Over time, it evolved to mean 'room,' 'chamber,' or 'house,' and later extended to botanical meanings like the segmented 'pod' of plants (e.g., lotus seedpod) and anatomical 'lobes' (e.g., lung lobes). In Liushutong, L09139 represents an early seal script form that closely mirrors the modern 房, showing the door radical with 方 below, symbolizing a partitioned space. Arrived in Japan: The character 房 likely arrived in Japan during the Yayoi period (300 BCE–300 CE) or early Kofun period (3rd–7th centuries CE) via cultural exchange with China and the Korean Peninsula, and was formally systematized in the Japanese writing system by the Nara period (710–794 CE) through the adoption of Chinese classics and Buddhist texts.