Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 遷 (qiān) originally depicted movement and transition. Its earliest forms in oracle bone script showed a footprint or foot (辵/辶) component combined with elements suggesting migration or transfer. Over centuries, it evolved through bronze script and seal script, eventually stabilizing into its modern form during the Han dynasty standardization. The character carries meanings of moving, changing, relocating, or transferring - often implying a significant or official move. It appears in words like 遷移 (migration), 變遷 (transition), and 遷都 (moving the capital), reflecting its core concept of substantial change of position or state. Arrived in Japan: The character 遷 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE as part of the broader introduction of Chinese writing systems (kanji) through Buddhist texts, Confucian classics, and official documents. It was formally incorporated into the Japanese writing system and appears in early Japanese works like the Manyōshū (8th century), where it was used both for its meaning and in man'yōgana phonetic usage.