Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 立 depicts a person standing upright on the ground. In its oracle bone script form from the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE), it clearly showed a human figure with legs apart, firmly planted on a horizontal line representing the earth. This pictograph evolved through bronze script, seal script, and clerical script before becoming the modern 立. The character carries meanings of 'to stand,' 'to establish,' 'to set up,' and 'to be immediate.' It represents both the physical act of standing and the abstract concepts of founding or instituting something, reflecting how ancient Chinese characters often connected concrete images with philosophical ideas. Arrived in Japan: The character 立 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, primarily through the introduction of Chinese writing systems via Korean peninsula. It was part of the early wave of kanji imported before the systematic missions to Tang China began in the 7th century. The character was incorporated into the Japanese writing system and appears in some of Japan's oldest extant texts, including the Kojiki (712 CE) and Man'yōshū (8th century).