Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 憂 (yōu) originally depicted a person with a troubled heart, representing sorrow, worry, and melancholy. In its earliest oracle bone script forms, it showed a person with something heavy on their mind. The character evolved through bronze script and seal script periods, gradually standardizing into its modern form. The top component represents a head with flowing hair (夂), the middle shows a heart (心), and the bottom indicates feet - together symbolizing someone pacing anxiously with a heavy heart. Throughout Chinese history, this character has maintained its core meaning of deep concern, grief, and anxiety. Arrived in Japan: The character 憂 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, likely through the introduction of Chinese classics and Buddhist texts. It was adopted into the Japanese writing system as part of the kanji importation that occurred during the Asuka and Nara periods. In Japanese, it's read as 'yū' or 'ure' and appears in words like 憂い (urei - sorrow) and 憂鬱 (yūutsu - melancholy).