占卜

zhānbǔ
verb HSK 7 #14,138

Meanings

  1. 1 to divine
  2. 2 to foretell
  3. 3 divination
  4. 4 fortune-telling

Characters

Both characters relate to divination — depicts cracks in oracle bones used for fortune-telling

Examples

Gǔrén yòng guījiǎ zhānbǔ jíxiōng.
Ancient people used tortoise shells to divine good and bad fortune.
Tā qù zhǎo rén zhānbǔ wèilái.
She went to find someone to tell her fortune.

Tips

history
is one of the oldest Chinese characters, representing the cracks that appeared on heated oracle bones () during the Shang dynasty. The cracks were interpreted as messages from ancestors.
mistakes
has two pronunciations: zhān (to divine) and zhàn (to occupy). In 占卜 it is read zhān, not zhàn.

Stroke Order

zhàn