Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 類 (类) evolved from ancient pictographs representing 'head' and 'rice/grain', combining to convey the meaning of 'similar kinds' or 'categories'. In Liushutong, L21377 shows an early form with 頁 (head/page) and 米 (rice), suggesting the classification of things that share common characteristics like grains of the same type. Over time, it came to mean 'category', 'kind', or 'similar', reflecting how ancient Chinese organized knowledge by grouping similar entities together. Arrived in Japan: The character 類 likely arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with other Chinese characters, as part of the broader cultural transmission through Buddhist texts, Confucian classics, and administrative documents introduced via Korean peninsula and direct Chinese contacts.