Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 虎 (hǔ) depicts a tiger, one of the earliest animals represented in Chinese oracle bone script. In its earliest forms, it showed a fierce creature with sharp claws, striped body, and gaping jaws. Over centuries, the pictographic representation became more stylized and abstract, evolving through bronze script into the modern standard form. The character has always maintained its core meaning of 'tiger' and carries connotations of courage, power, and military prowess. In Chinese culture, the tiger is revered as the king of beasts and represents one of the four cardinal directions (West). Arrived in Japan: The character 虎 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with the broader introduction of Chinese writing system (kanji) through cultural exchange with Korea and China. It was formally incorporated into the Japanese writing system and appears in early Japanese texts like the Manyōshū (8th century).