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歃

shà
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to sip; to drink (especially blood, when swearing an oath)

Examples

HSK 7-9
诸侯歃血为盟。
Zhūhóu shàxuè wéi méng.
The lords smeared blood on their lips and swore an alliance.
HSK 7-9
古代盟誓时歃少许血以示诚意。
Gǔdài méngshì shí shà shǎoxǔ xuè yǐ shì chéngyì.
In ancient oath ceremonies people drank a little blood to show sincerity.

Tips

culture
歃 lives almost entirely in 歃血为盟: parties to an alliance would sip (or smear on their lips) the blood of a sacrificed animal to seal a binding oath.

Components

radical
欠 qiàn
to open the mouth; to lack
欠 is the radical showing an open mouth breathing out. It links 歃 to drinking and sipping, the act of taking blood into the mouth in an oath.
phonetic
臿 chā
phonetic element (a pestle in a mortar)
The left side 臿 supplies the sound, drifted to shà. It originally pictured pounding in a mortar, a faint echo of taking something into the mouth.

Stroke Order

歃 shà