Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 安 depicts a woman (女) under a roof (宀), representing the concept of 'peace' and 'tranquility.' In ancient China, when women were safely indoors, the household was considered secure and at peace. This character evolved from oracle bone script, where the pictorial elements were more pronounced, to the standardized form we see today. Over centuries, the composition remained consistent while the strokes became more regularized, reflecting the evolution from pictographic to modern script forms. Arrived in Japan: The character 安 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, primarily through the introduction of Chinese writing systems via Korean peninsula. It was adopted as part of the kanji system and appears in early Japanese texts like the Kojiki (712 CE) and Manyoshu (8th century). The character maintained its meaning of 'peace' and 'safety' in Japanese, and is used in common words like 安心 (peace of mind) and 安全 (safety).