卜筮

Chinese

		to divine; foretell; turnip	divine by stalk
trad. (卜筮)		卜	筮
simp. #(卜筮)		卜	筮

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bǔshì

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˇ ㄕˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): buk¹ sai⁶
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): puk-sṳ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bǔshì
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˇ ㄕˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bǔshìh
    • Wade–Giles: pu³-shih⁴
    • Yale: bǔ-shr̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buushyh
    • Palladius: буши (buši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: buk¹ sai⁶
    • Yale: būk saih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: buk⁷ sai⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: bug¹ sei⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʊk̚⁵ sɐi̯²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: puk-sṳ
    • Hakka Romanization System: bug` sii
    • Hagfa Pinyim: bug⁵ si⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /puk̚² sɨ⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: puwk dzyejH

Rime
Character	卜	筮
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	常 (25)
Final (韻)	屋 (3)	祭 (35)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	博木切	時制切
Baxter	puwk	dzyejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/puk̚/	/d͡ʑiᴇiH/
Pan Wuyun	/puk̚/	/d͡ʑiɛiH/
Shao Rongfen	/puk̚/	/d͡ʑjæiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/pəwk̚/	/d͡ʑiajH/
Li Rong	/puk̚/	/ʑiɛiH/
Wang Li	/puk̚/	/ʑĭɛiH/
Bernard Karlgren	/puk̚/	/ʑi̯ɛiH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bu	shì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	buk1	sai6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*pˤok  [d][e][t]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*poːɡ  djads/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	卜	筮
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bǔ	shì
Middle Chinese	‹ puwk ›	‹ dzyejH ›
Old Chinese	/*pˁok/	/*[d][e][t]-s/
English	divine (v.)	divine by Achillea stalks
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	卜	筮
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	998	11658
Phonetic component	卜	筮
Rime group	屋	祭
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	卜	逝
Old Chinese	/*poːɡ/	/*djads/

Verb

卜筮

1. to practice divination; to divine

   • 如實論之，卜筮不問天地，蓍龜未必神靈。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     如实论之，卜筮不问天地，蓍龟未必神灵。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Wang Chong, Lun Heng (Discussive Weighing), 80 CE

     Rúshí lùn zhī, bǔshì bùwèn tiāndì, shīguī wèibì shénlíng. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Usage notes

卜筮 (bǔshì) involves two different types of divination. The first is 卜 (bǔ), or 龜卜／龟卜 (guībǔ), which involves the use of 龜甲／龟甲 (guījiǎ) or 牛骨 (niúgǔ); the second is 筮 (shì), or 占筮 (zhānshì), which involves the use of 蓍草 (shīcǎo).

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (卜筮):

• → Japanese: 卜筮(ぼくぜい) (bokuzei)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
卜	筮
ぼく Jinmeiyō	ぜい Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぼくぜー [bòkúzéé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [bo̞kɯ̟ᵝze̞ː]

Noun

卜(ぼく)筮(ぜい) • (bokuzei) 

1. fortune-telling or divination using tortoise shell and bamboo divination sticks

Usage notes

卜筮(ぼくぜい) (bokuzei) involves two different types of divination. The first is 卜(ぼく) (boku), or 亀(き)卜(ぼく) (kiboku), which involves the use of tortoise shells; the second is 筮(ぜい) (zei), or 占筮(せんぜい) (senzei), which involves the use of bamboo divination sticks 筮竹(ぜいちく) (zeichiku), or 蓍(めどぎ) (medogi).

Related terms

• 卜(ぼく) (boku, “fortune-telling”)
• 筮(ぜい) (zei, “divination stick”)