祠 (cí) is a Chinese character meaning “ancestral hall”. It is written from 礻 (spirit / altar (radical form of 示)) and 司 (to take charge of; to manage; a department), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “ancestral temple”
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Structure
礻 + 司
Left–right structure
- 礻 spirit / altar (radical form of 示) · shì meaning
- 司 to take charge of; to manage; a department · sī sound
Structure from: 说文解字：祠，春祭曰祠。从示司聲。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（礻4 + 司5 = 9 笔）
Memory aid
礻 on the left is the altar radical — offerings to spirits and ancestors. 司 on the right mostly carries the sound (compare 词 cí). An altar building where a family honours its ancestors: 祠, an ancestral temple.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 祠堂cí tángancestral hall; clan temple祠 = cí
- 宗祠zōng cíclan ancestral hall祠 = cí
Go deeper
All readings
ancestral temple
ancestral hall; ancestral temple; shrine (memorial temple for a person)
供奉祖先或有功德的人的房屋；祠堂。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 祠堂cí tángancestral hall; clan temple祠 = cí
- 宗祠zōng cíclan ancestral hall祠 = cí
Sound component
司 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 祠 mean?
祠 (cí) means ancestral hall; ancestral temple; shrine (memorial temple for a person).
How do you pronounce 祠?
It is pronounced cí.
What parts is 祠 made of?
礻 (spirit / altar (radical form of 示)) and 司 (to take charge of; to manage; a department), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：祠，春祭曰祠。从示司聲。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（礻4 + 司5 = 9 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 祠 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 祠?
示. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 祠?
Common ones are 祠堂 and 宗祠. The reading of 祠 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.