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 character 的 evolved from ancient forms depicting a bright white target. Its earliest forms in oracle bone and bronze scripts showed an archer's target, combining 日 (sun, representing brightness) with 勺 (ladle, representing something aimed at). During the Han dynasty, it developed its modern meaning as a possessive particle. The character's core meaning shifted from 'bright target' to 'clear, evident,' and eventually to the grammatical particle marking possession that we use today in both Chinese and Japanese. Arrived in Japan: The character 的 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with the broader introduction of Chinese writing system through Buddhist texts and cultural exchange. It was adopted into Japanese as both a kanji and the grammatical particle てき (teki) used to form adjective-like expressions from nouns.