Chinese symbol for “shrine”
祠
cí
shrine; to offer a sacrifice
The closest CC-CEDICT match for shrine is 祠 (cí), defined as: shrine; to offer a sacrifice.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “shrine”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 神殿 | shén diàn | shrine |
| 神龛 (神龕) | shén kān | shrine; niche; household shrine |
| 神祠 | shén cí | shrine |
| 龛 (龕) | kān | (bound form) niche; shrine |
| 寺庙 (寺廟) | sì miào | temple; monastery |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 祠.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 祠堂 | cí táng | ancestral hall; memorial hall |
| 宗祠 | zōng cí | ancestral temple; clan hall |
| 武侯祠 | wǔ hóu cí | temple dedicated to the memory of Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮 (Zhū gě Liàng) (There is one in Chengdu, and many others in various parts of China.) |
| 神祠 | shén cí | shrine |
| 祠庙 (祠廟) | cí miào | ancestral hall; temple to one's forebears |
| 祖祠 | zǔ cí | shrine dedicated to one's ancestors |
See also: Japanese symbol for “shrine”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.