The modern form of し comes from the cursive form of the kanji 之 (し, shi, i.e. “of”, “this”). Follow the progression of the different scripts shown in Figures 1 to 3 to understand its origin.

figure_1_2_hiragana_shi-horz

Figure 1. Standard script (楷書, かいしょ, kaisho) of the kanji 之.

Figure 2. Semi-cursive script (行書, ぎょうしょ, gyōsho) of the kanji 之.

figure_3_4_hiragana_shi-horz

figure_5_hiragana_shi

Figure 3. Cursive script (草書, そうしょ, sōsho) of the kanji 之.

Figure 4. Calligraphy of the hiragana character し. Note the corresponding shape with the cursive form of the character 之.

Figure 5. The word すし (sushi, i.e. “sushi”) written in Japanese kana (かな) script. The hiragana character す is based on the cursive form of the kanji 寸 (す(ん), su(n), i.e. “approximately 3.03cm”), which is explained in this article.

Ponte Ryūrui

Ponte Ryuurui (品天龍涙, ぽんてりゅうるい, Ponte Ryūrui) is the pen name of Piotr Ponte L. Sypniewski. He began studying calligraphy in 2001 under Japanese Master Kajita Esshuu (梶田越舟, かじたえっしゅう, 1938 – present).

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