蔡 (Cài): surname Cai

Meanings

1 surname Cai
2 name of an ancient Zhou-dynasty state in present-day Henan

Characters

蔡

Cài

surname Cai; ancient state name

Examples

蔡老师教我们语文课。

Cài lǎoshī jiāo wǒmen yǔwén kè.

Teacher Cai teaches us Chinese language class.

蔡依林是台湾著名的流行歌手。

Càiyīlín shì Táiwān zhùmíng de liúxíng gēshǒu.

Jolin Tsai is a famous Taiwanese pop singer.

Tips

culture

蔡 is the 37th most common Chinese surname. The ancient state of Cai existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now central Henan province.

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant (top radical)

Top grass radical — the compressed three-stroke form of 艸. In 蔡 it originally marked a kind of small tortoise sheltered among reeds, used in ancient divination. Today the character lives mostly as a surname, but the plant radical persists. Same family: 花 flower, 草 grass.

phonetic

祭 jì

to sacrifice; ritual (phonetic + semantic)

Bottom 祭 supplies the sound — jì drifting to cài via historical sound change. It also adds meaning: 祭 is a sacrificial ritual with meat offered on an altar, and the original 蔡 was a divinatory tortoise used in those rituals. Today nearly synonymous with the Cai surname.