Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 呼 evolved from ancient pictographs depicting a person exhaling breath with their mouth. In oracle bone script, it showed a mouth (口) with breath lines emerging, representing the act of exhaling or calling out. By the bronze script era, the component 乎 was added, which itself represented exhaled air. Together, 口 (mouth) and 乎 (exhaled air) created the meaning 'to call out,' 'to exhale,' or 'to shout.' The character maintains this core meaning in modern Chinese and Japanese, representing vocal expression from the mouth. Arrived in Japan: The character 呼 likely arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with the broader introduction of Chinese writing systems. It was incorporated into the Japanese writing system as part of the kanji imported during the Kofun and Asuka periods, when Japanese scholars and diplomats were actively studying Chinese texts and bringing writing technology back to Japan.