Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
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The kanji "図" (zu, to) is a simplified form of the traditional character "圖". Its origin is the ancient Chinese character 啚, which itself was a compound ideograph. This original form combined "囗" (kakoi, an enclosure or boundary) and "啚" (a depiction of a stored harvest, representing planning or calculation). The core concept was "to plan or deliberate within a defined area or framework," which naturally extended to mean a drawn plan or diagram. Historically, the character evolved through various script styles. In bronze script, the enclosure and internal elements were clearly defined. The clerical script (隷書) of the Han dynasty standardized the form into "圖". The modern Japanese simplification "図" was established in the post-WWII period as part of the Tōyō Kanji reform, creating a distinct form from the traditional Chinese "圖" and the later simplified Chinese "图". The character was imported to Japan via Korea, most systematically during the Asuka and Nara periods (6th-8th centuries) alongside Buddhism and the Chinese writing system. Linguistically, the character demonstrates semantic shift. From its original meaning of "to deliberate/plan," the focus moved to the tangible output of that planning—a "map," "plan," or "diagram." This reflects in its on'yomi (Chinese reading) "ズ" (zu) as in "地図" (chizu, map) and "図面" (zumen, blueprint), and its kun'yomi (Japanese reading) "はかる" (hakaru, to plan or scheme). The kanji is a classic example of a kokuji (national character) misconception; while it feels intuitively Japanese, it is a simplification of a Chinese character, not an indigenous creation.