Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 麦 (mài) originally meant 'wheat' in Chinese. Its earliest forms in oracle bone and bronze scripts depicted a wheat plant with drooping ears. The top component represents the wheat ears bending under their weight, while the bottom component 夊 suggests downward movement or coming, possibly indicating the harvest. Over time, the character evolved through various script styles until stabilizing in its current form. In Japanese, it retains the same meaning of 'wheat' or 'barley'. Arrived in Japan: The character 麦 likely arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with other Chinese characters and agricultural knowledge, as part of cultural exchanges through Korean peninsula intermediaries. It was incorporated into the Japanese writing system during the period when Chinese characters (kanji) were adopted for writing Japanese.