Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 車 (chē) originally depicted a chariot or cart in ancient China, with its earliest forms showing a top-down view of a chariot with two wheels, an axle, and a carriage. Over time, the character simplified to its current form while retaining the wheel imagery. In the Liushutong, various historical variants show the evolution from pictorial representation to stylized script. The character's meaning expanded from specifically 'chariot' to encompass all wheeled vehicles, and by extension, things related to vehicles or machinery. Arrived in Japan: The character 車 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 'kuruma' meaning wheeled vehicle or car, becoming part of the Japanese writing system during the Asuka and Nara periods when Japan systematically imported Chinese culture and writing.