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佾

yì
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) a row of dancers in ancient ritual dance
  2. 2 (classical) a column of eight dancers in a ceremonial troupe

Examples

按周礼，天子用八佾，共六十四人。
Àn Zhōu lǐ, tiānzǐ yòng bā yì, gòng liùshísì rén.
By Zhou ritual the Son of Heaven used eight rows of dancers, a total of sixty-four.

Tips

history
Not used in modern Chinese except in the classical phrase 八佾 (eight rows of dancers), famous from a chapter of the Analects. Each 佾 is one rank of dancers; rank count signaled rank of nobility.
culture
Confucius condemned the Ji clan for using eight rows — a privilege reserved for the king — calling it a grave breach of ritual order.

Components

radical
亻 rén
person
The person radical 亻 fits the meaning directly — rows made up of human dancers in a ritual troupe.
semantic
八 bā
eight
The top of the right side, 八 (eight), echoes the canonical eight dancers per rank in the highest-ranking troupe.
phonetic
月 yuè
flesh; here a graphic element
The lower right 月 acts mainly as a graphic and sound element supporting the reading yì, not contributing its own flesh meaning here.

Stroke Order

佾 yì