遡

JŌYŌ KANJI · Secondary school

go upstream

go upstream · retrace the past

13 strokesRadical 162U+9061
01

Readings

Official Jōyō readings in table order

On’yomi 音読み

ソ

Kun’yomi 訓読み

さかのぼる

Additional readings in the learning dataset

On’yomi

サク

Kun’yomi

None listed in this source.

These are outside the official Jōyō list above. A listed reading is not necessarily common in modern use.

02

Origin and meaning

The original form combines water 水 with phonetic 㡿; tracing back through time is a figurative extension.

Earlier sense recorded in the sourceto travel against a current
Meanings in the learning dataset todaygo upstream · retrace the past

Read the source entry ↗

03

Written form

No parenthesized form is given in the official Jōyō index for this character.

Dictionary radical辵みち · walk / road
Stroke count13May vary for alternate forms.
UnicodeU+9061Modern character encoding, not an origin date.

Compare manuscript and printed examples in the HNG historical glyph archive ↗. Where available, its dated samples document written forms; they do not establish the first use of this character in Japan.

04

Examples in the official table

  • 遡及,遡上
  • 遡る

Official notes

  • [遡]=許容字体,
  • *[(付)第2の1参照]
05

When did it enter Japanese?

Chinese characters reached Japan through a long process of contact. Early inscribed objects and sixth-century Japanese names are documented; this is context for the writing system, not a first date for 遡.

遡 appears in the current Jōyō kanji table published on 30 November 2010. This records modern standard status, not the date the character was first used in Japan.

A dated first Japanese use for 遡 has not been verified in the sources attached to this entry.

Agency for Cultural Affairs: writing history ↗ · 2010 Jōyō notice ↗

← Search all kanji