Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 千 (qiān) originally meant 'thousand' in ancient Chinese. It evolved from a pictographic representation where the character 人 (person) was combined with an additional stroke to indicate multiplication or abundance. The character symbolizes 'ten hundred' or a large quantity. Over time, its form simplified from more complex bronze script variations to the modern three-stroke character, maintaining its core numerical meaning across Chinese, Japanese, and Korean writing systems. Arrived in Japan: The character 千 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, along with the broader introduction of Chinese writing systems (kanji) through cultural exchange with Korea and China. It was formally incorporated into the Japanese writing system during the Asuka and Nara periods as part of the mass adoption of Chinese characters for writing Japanese.