In ancient China, sacrificial worship was of great importance. Ancient Chinese sacrificial events were held every year and were grand in scale. Many people took part in these events, from the emperor to the common people. Objects included the God of Heaven, the God of Earth, the God of wealth, as well as people’s ancestors.

 示(shì)
The meaning of the character “示” is “(memorial) spirit tablet”. The character resembles a spirit tablet made from a wooden or stone pillar. A worship sit dating back about 6,000 years was found at the Xi’an Banpo Ruins. In the middle of the site, there is a shallow crater. In the middle of the crater is a stone pillar, measuring about 70cm in height. The top is over-shaped, and the northern end of the stone has two small pits, in which dozens of pieces of small pottery were found. All of them were used for sacrificial purposes. This stone pillar may be a spirit tablet.

Since the ancient Chinese people believed that deities could help people to obtain wealth and thwart the occurrence of calamities, they frequently worshipped these deities. “示” thus became a spiritual object that symbolized that the deity or deities had accepted the sacrifice. When “示” is written as a radical, it is “礻”. Most Chinese characters with this radical are related to veneration, well-wishing, ghosts and gods, and sacrificial worship. For example, “福fú—luck”, “神shén—gods” etc.