Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 歯 (tooth) evolved from ancient pictographs depicting teeth in a mouth. In oracle bone script, it appeared as 齒, showing multiple teeth aligned in a jaw. The Liushutong form L13348 represents an intermediate stage in this evolution, maintaining the essential concept of teeth while simplifying the complex bone structure. Over time, the character was simplified to its modern form 歯 in Japan, though China later adopted a different simplification 齿. The character's core meaning has always related to teeth, chewing, and by extension, age (as in 歯年 - age counted by teeth). Arrived in Japan: The character likely arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE through the introduction of Chinese writing systems, possibly via Buddhist texts and Korean scribes. It appears in early Japanese documents like the Kojiki (712 CE) and Manyoshu (759 CE), though the specific simplified form 歯 became standardized in Japan during the post-WWII period with the implementation of the Tōyō kanji list in 1946.