Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 駒 evolved from ancient pictographs depicting a horse (馬) with markings indicating a specific type - the colt or small horse. In Liushutong, the character shows variations where the 'horse' radical is combined with elements suggesting youth or small size. Over time, the standardized form 駒 emerged, maintaining the horse radical while simplifying the phonetic component. The character carries meanings of a colt, pony, or young horse, and by extension something small but spirited or valuable, much like the Japanese use for a shogi piece. Arrived in Japan: The character 駒 likely arrived in Japan during the Yayoi period (300 BCE - 300 CE) through cultural exchange with China, or more systematically during the Asuka period (538-710 CE) when Japan adopted Chinese writing systems and Buddhist texts. It became firmly established in the Japanese writing system by the Nara period (710-794 CE) when the Manyōshu, Japan's oldest poetry anthology, was compiled using Chinese characters.