祭

祭 is an associative compound composed of:

肉 (meat, flesh) – representing the sacrificial offering of meat;

又 (right hand) – showing the hand placing the offering;

示 (altar, spirit, ritual) – symbolizing the altar where sacrifices are performed.

Together, the image is “placing meat with the hand upon the altar as an offering,” thus denoting sacrifice, ritual, and worship.

Semantic range:

- ritual sacrifice, ancestral rite – as in 祭祀 (jesa, rites to honor ancestors).

- ceremony, festival, feast – by extension from ritual banquets.

- religious or shamanistic rites – in premodern Korea, sometimes the shamanic 굿 (gut) was replaced in official records by 祭, e.g., 당산제 (village guardian ritual).

Other readings:

채 when used in a country name;

좨 in 좨주 (祭酒), the official who offered the ritual wine in Confucian ceremonies.

It remains central in East Asian vocabulary for religious and cultural ceremonies.

제사 (祭祀) – ancestral rites

제전 (祭典) – ritual, festival

축제 (祝祭) – festival, celebration

당산제 – Korean village guardian ritual, recorded using 祭

傺, 㗫, 㡜, 憏, 摖, 漈, 際 (际), 暩, 㻮, 䄞, 磜, 穄, 縩 (𮉯), 䏅, 鰶 (𬶭), 察, 蔡, 瘵