Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 難 (nán) originally depicted a bird, likely a type of pheasant or turkey, with the right component 隹 representing a short-tailed bird. Over time, the character evolved to mean 'difficult' or 'hard' through phonetic loan usage. In ancient China, catching such birds was considered challenging, which may have contributed to the semantic shift. The character appears in bronze inscriptions and small seal script, eventually standardizing into its modern form during the Han dynasty. It carries connotations of hardship, trouble, and something not easily accomplished. Arrived in Japan: The character 難 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with the introduction of Chinese writing system (kanji) through Korean scholars and Buddhist texts. It was formally incorporated into the Japanese writing system during the Asuka and Nara periods (6th-8th centuries) as part of the mass adoption of Chinese characters for writing Japanese.