Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 通 (tōng) evolved from ancient pictographs showing movement through a passage. Its earliest forms in oracle bone script depicted a foot or leg (辵/辶) combined with a 'yong' (甬) element representing a pathway or channel. Over centuries, the character simplified while maintaining its core meaning of 'to pass through,' 'to connect,' or 'to communicate.' In Liushutong, L00040 shows an intermediate form where the walking radical and pathway component are clearly recognizable as the precursor to modern 通. The character embodies the concept of unobstructed flow - whether of people, information, or energy - and appears in words like 交通 (transportation), 通信 (communication), and 通る (to pass through). Arrived in Japan: The character 通 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, primarily through the introduction of Chinese writing systems via Korean peninsula. It became firmly established during the Asuka period (538-710 CE) when Japan systematically adopted Chinese characters (kanji) along with Buddhism and other elements of Chinese culture. The character maintained similar meanings in Japanese, appearing in early texts like the Kojiki (712 CE) and Manyoshu (8th century).