Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 沈 evolved from ancient pictographs depicting sinking or submerging in water. In oracle bone script, it showed a cow or sheep being submerged in water as a sacrificial offering. The character combines 氵(water) with 冘(which originally meant 'heavy' or 'sinking'). Over time, it came to mean 'sink', 'submerge', 'deep', or 'heavy'. It also developed the meaning of 'Chen' as a surname, representing one of the oldest Chinese family names dating back to the Zhou Dynasty. Arrived in Japan: The character 沈 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with the introduction of Chinese writing system (kanji) through Korean scribes and Buddhist texts. It was formally incorporated into the Japanese writing system during the Asuka period (538-710 CE) as part of the broader cultural exchange with China.