A design pattern which represents flowing water. One of the oldest designs in Japan, it appears as parallel 'S' lines incised on early Yayoi period earthenware, but it is uncertain whether this design was intended to depict running water. Later in the period, however, bronze bells dōtaku 銅鐸 were manufactured with geometric designs judged by some experts to be early ryūsuimon. The design appears on the miniature Buddhist shrine of Lady Tachibana Tachibana Fujin no Zushi 橘夫人の厨子 in Hōryūji 法隆寺 (late 7th century), but rarely appears on textiles during this period. From the middle ages it was used on picture scrolls *emaki 絵巻 and clothing such as *Noh 能 garments, but was not combined with other motifs until the 16th-17th century. In the Edo period, it often appeared on *kosode 小袖 in conjunction with landscapes, bridges, ships and bird-and-flower motifs kachōmon 花鳥文. Later these were expanded and elaborated upon to include scenes from stories, poems or famous beauty spots. The design was also used in other applied arts, especially lacquer and ceramic work. A particularly well-known type of ryūsuimon is the kanzemizumon 観世水文 (a design of gentle oblong whirlpools). Another, the tatsutagawamon 竜田川文 (combines water with floating autumn maple leaves).