Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 没 (mò/méi) originated in ancient China with the core meaning of 'to sink' or 'to submerge.' Its earliest forms in oracle bone and bronze inscriptions depicted a hand reaching into water to retrieve something, or a person/object being engulfed by water. The character consists of the water radical (氵) combined with 殳 (a hand holding a tool/weapon), suggesting action involving water. Over time, its meaning expanded metaphorically to include 'to disappear,' 'to die,' 'to confiscate,' and in modern usage, 'not have' (méi) as a negative particle. The character represents the concept of something being immersed or vanishing beneath the surface. Arrived in Japan: The character 没 arrived in Japan during the early cultural exchanges with China, likely between the 5th and 7th centuries CE as part of the introduction of Chinese writing and Buddhism. It was incorporated into the Japanese writing system as a kanji, reading as 'botsu' or 'motsu' in on'yomi (Chinese reading) and 'shizumu' in kun'yomi (Japanese reading), maintaining similar meanings of sinking, disappearing, or dying.