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 虚 (xū) originally depicted a 'mound' or 'hill' (丘) with the 'tiger stripes' pattern (虍) on top, suggesting a 'tiger's lair' - an empty, abandoned place where tigers dwell. Over time, its meaning evolved from a physical empty space to abstract concepts of emptiness, void, falsehood, and weakness. In ancient Chinese philosophy, it came to represent the Daoist ideal of 'emptiness' or 'vacuity' - the receptive state of mind free from preconceptions. The character appears in classical texts like the Dao De Jing, where 'emptiness' is praised as the source of ultimate potential. Arrived in Japan: The character 虚 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, primarily through the introduction of Chinese Buddhist scriptures and classical texts. It was formally adopted into the Japanese writing system during the Asuka period (538-710 CE) as part of the comprehensive importation of Chinese characters (kanji) along with Buddhism and Confucian classics.