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The character 觋 refers to a male shaman or sorcerer, serving as the counterpart to the female shaman denoted by 巫. It is a phono-semantic compound: the left component 巫 establishes the core meaning of shamanism, while the right component 见 provides the pronunciation and contributes the semantic notion of seeing. Its traditional form is 覡, with the radical 見. The inclusion of the element for seeing implies a conceptual link to clairvoyance or spiritual perception, reflecting the perceived abilities of male ritual specialists in historical China.
Etymology Hide
