Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 早 evolved from ancient pictographs depicting the sun rising over the horizon with plants or grass below, symbolizing 'early morning.' In oracle bone script, it showed the sun (日) above vegetation, representing dawn when the sun appears above the grass. Over time, the vegetation element simplified, and by the small seal script period, it had transformed into the modern form with 日 (sun) above 十 (originally representing plants). The character carries the core meaning of 'early' or 'morning,' extending to concepts of promptness and precedence. Arrived in Japan: The character 早 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, introduced alongside other Chinese characters through cultural exchange with Korea and China, primarily via Buddhist texts and diplomatic missions during the Kofun and Asuka periods.