How to Write 祓 (fú) — Meaning “to cleanse; to perform an exorcism”

Picture a dog (犮) standing by an altar (礻) performing a cleansing ritual. The dog represents the forceful driving away of evil spirits, and the altar shows it is a sacred act. This image helps link the form to the meaning of exorcism and purification.

The radical 礻 has four strokes: dot, horizontal stroke, vertical stroke, and another dot — be careful not to add an extra stroke. On the right side, write 犮 with five strokes: the first two are dot and horizontal hook, then dot, then an extra dot? Actually 犮 is dot, horizontal hook, dot, left-falling stroke, dot. Common mistake is confusing 犮 with 友 (friend) — 犮 has an extra dot above the left-falling stroke.

祓 focuses on cleansing and driving away evil, while 社 means shrine or society and is about community worship (radical 土 meaning earth). 祀 means to offer a sacrifice and uses the component 巳 (snake) instead of 犮. Visually, 祓 has a right side that looks like a dog, while 社 has 土 and 祀 has 巳.

祓 is not common in everyday speech and appears mostly in classical or literary contexts, such as 祓除 (fú chú) meaning to dispel bad luck or evil influences. It is also seen in 祓禊 (fú xì), an ancient water purification ritual held in spring. Understanding it helps when reading historical or Taoist texts about spiritual cleansing.

Common words containing 祓 include: 祓除 (fú chú) — to dispel; to drive away (evil or bad luck); 祓禊 (fú xì) — ritual purification (by water); 祓饰 (fú shì) — to cleanse and adorn.