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筮

shì
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) to divine with milfoil stalks
  2. 2 (classical) milfoil divination

Examples

古人用蓍草来筮吉凶。
Gǔrén yòng shīcǎo lái shì jíxiōng.
In ancient times people used milfoil stalks to divine good or bad fortune.

Tips

history
筮 is not used independently in modern Chinese. It survives in classical pairings like 卜筮 (divination by shell-cracking and by stalks) and 筮仕 (to take up one's first official post, after the divination once cast for it).
register
Archaic and literary only, seen in old ritual texts and etymology notes, not in everyday speech.

Components

semantic
⺮ zhú
bamboo
⺮ is the bamboo radical in top form. Divining stalks (and the counting rods) were bamboo or milfoil, so the rite takes the bamboo top.
semantic
巫 wū
shaman; sorcerer
巫 (a shaman) sits below: bamboo stalks plus a diviner equals casting the milfoil oracle, exactly what 筮 names.

Stroke Order

筮 shì