Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 流 (liú) depicts 'flowing water.' Its earliest forms in oracle bone and bronze scripts showed a child or infant (子) born headfirst with amniotic fluid, representing the 'flow' of birth. Later, it evolved to combine 水 (water) and a component suggesting movement or continuation. In Liushutong, L11918 shows a transitional form where the water radical is clearly present alongside elements that would standardize into the modern 流. The character embodies meanings of flowing, moving liquid, circulating, spreading, and by extension, things that flow like currents, trends, or schools of thought. Arrived in Japan: The character 流 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, primarily through the introduction of Chinese writing systems and Buddhist texts. It was adopted into Japanese as the kanji 流, reading as 'ryū' (as in school/style) or 'nagareru' (to flow), and became integrated into many compound words and cultural concepts including martial arts schools (bujutsu ryūha) and artistic traditions.