Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 行 originated as a pictograph of a crossroads in ancient oracle bone script, depicting intersecting paths. Over centuries, it evolved through bronze script and seal script forms before standardizing into its modern form. The character carries meanings related to movement, action, and travel - reflecting its origin as a representation of roads and intersections where people would walk and meet. It can mean 'to go', 'to travel', 'to perform', or 'behavior', and appears in many compound words related to movement and conduct. Arrived in Japan: The character 行 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, when the Japanese writing system was developing and adopting Chinese characters (kanji) along with Buddhism and other cultural elements from China via the Korean peninsula.