Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
Historical forms are not available yet. The current form is shown as a reference.
The kanji "猟" is a phono-semantic compound character, formed by combining the semantic component "犭" (the kemono-hen or "beast" radical) with the phonetic component "䒑" (a simplified form of "龸," representing an animal's horns or a tool). The original form in ancient Chinese oracle bone script depicted a hand holding a tool or weapon to capture animals, emphasizing the act of hunting. Over time, this evolved into the seal script form, which standardized into the modern "猟." Historically, "猟" derives from the Chinese character 獵 (liè in Mandarin), which meant "to hunt" or "hunting." In seal script, the character clearly showed the "犬" (dog) radical combined with "巤" (representing capture or pursuit), reflecting the use of hunting dogs in the chase. During the Han dynasty, the character was simplified in clerical script, eventually leading to the Japanese shinjitai form "猟," which omits the complex "巤" component for a more streamlined shape. The character arrived in Japan around the 5th century CE, imported alongside Buddhism and Chinese writing systems via Korean peninsula. It was adopted into the Japanese language as part of the on'yomi reading system, with the pronunciation "ryō." In Japan, "猟" retained its core meaning of hunting but also expanded into metaphorical uses like "漁猟" (fishing and hunting) or "猟師" (hunter). Culturally, it reflects Japan's historical practices of subsistence hunting and the later formalization of hunting as a profession under the samurai class, where it served both as practical sustenance and martial training.