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The character 鳩 (jiū) depicts a bird, specifically a pigeon or dove. In ancient oracle bone script, it showed a bird with a curved beak and plump body. The character consists of two components: 九 (nine) which primarily provides phonetic value, and 鳥 (bird) which indicates the meaning category. Throughout Chinese history, doves and pigeons have symbolized peace, harmony, and marital fidelity. The character appears in classical texts like the Book of Songs and has maintained its core meaning across millennia of script evolution. Arrived in Japan: The character 鳩 arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with the broader introduction of Chinese writing system (kanji) through Korean scribes and Buddhist texts. It appears in early Japanese works like the Man'yōshū (8th century) and has been used in Japanese ever since, retaining both its meaning as 'pigeon/dove' and its phonetic reading 'hato'.