How to Write 祆 (xiān) — Meaning “Zoroastrianism / Sun god”

Think of the left side 礻 as a small altar for worship, and the right side 天 as the sky or heaven. Imagine a sun god in the sky being honored at an altar—this combines to mean Zoroastrianism and its focus on fire and the sun.

The left radical 礻 has four strokes: start with the dot, then the horizontal stroke with a slight hook down, then a vertical stroke, and finally a right-falling stroke. The right part 天 has five strokes: the first two are horizontals (the top shorter), then a left-falling stroke, a right-falling stroke, and a final dot. Make sure the left and right parts are balanced and not too close together.

祆 (xiān) has 天 (tiān) on the right, while 社 (shè) has 土 (tǔ, earth) on the right, meaning 'society' or 'god of earth', and 祀 (sì) has 巳 (sì) on the right, meaning 'to sacrifice'. Visually, 祆 has the open shape of 天, whereas 社 has the flat top of 土 and 祀 has a closed square on top of 巳.

Common words containing 祆 include: 祆教 (xiān jiào) — Zoroastrianism; 祆祠 (xiān cí) — Zoroastrian temple; 祆神 (xiān shén) — Zoroastrian deity.