醮

jiào
noun #90,234

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) a Daoist sacrificial rite
  2. 2 (classical) the libation ritual at a capping or wedding ceremony

Examples

HSK 7-9
Dàoshi men zuò le sān tiān de jiào, qífú rángzāi.
The Daoist priests held a three-day ritual to pray for blessings and ward off disaster.

Tips

history
醮 is not used independently in modern Chinese. It survives in the religious term 打醮 (to hold a Daoist rite) and 建醮 (to stage a temple ritual), still seen at folk festivals.
register
Classical and religious vocabulary, appears in old ritual texts and at temple events, not in everyday speech.

Components

radical
酉 yǒu
wine vessel
酉 is the wine-jar radical. A 醮 centred on pouring offered wine, so the rite takes the wine radical.
phonetic
焦 jiāo
scorched; anxious
焦 supplies the sound, drifted to jiào. The same phonetic appears in 礁 (reef) and 蕉 (banana).

Stroke Order

醮 jiào