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The character 浅 (qiǎn/shallow) evolved from ancient forms depicting water and a phonetic component. In Liushutong, L16178 shows an early variant with the water radical (氵) combined with elements suggesting 'small' or 'little,' conveying the meaning of shallow waters or something of little depth. Over time, the character standardized to its current form 浅, maintaining the water radical while simplifying the phonetic component. The character carries meanings of superficiality, simplicity, and ease throughout Chinese literary history. Arrived in Japan: The character 浅 arrived in Japan during the Yayoi period (300 BCE-300 CE) or early Kofun period (300-538 CE) through cultural exchange with China, likely via Korean peninsula. It was systematically introduced with other Chinese characters during the 5th-6th centuries when Japanese scholars began studying Chinese writing systems, and was incorporated into the Japanese writing system as a kanji character, reading as 'asanai' in native Japanese reading and 'sen' in Sino-Japanese reading.