How to Write 佾 (yì) — Meaning “a row of dancers in ritual ceremonies”

Imagine a person (亻) standing in the middle of two other dancers, with the three slanted strokes on the right representing three people side by side. This matches the idea of a row of dancers in a ceremony.

Write the left radical 亻 first (left-falling stroke then vertical), then the right part: two left-falling strokes followed by one right-falling stroke. A common mistake is adding a horizontal stroke to the right part — remember it has only three slanted strokes.

佾 (yì) means ritual dancers, while 仰 (yǎng) means to look up and 仲 (zhòng) means middle. Visually, 佾's right side has three slanted strokes, 仰's right side looks like a kneeling person, and 仲's right side is 中 with a square and vertical line.

佾 is very rare in daily life and appears mainly in historical or cultural discussions, especially about Confucian rituals. For example, 八佾 (bā yì) refers to a specific eight-row dance performed in ancient court ceremonies, often mentioned in classical texts.

Common words containing 佾 include: 佾舞 (yì wǔ) — ritual dance performed in rows; 八佾 (bā yì) — Eight rows of dancers (ancient ritual dance); 佾生 (yì shēng) — ritual dancer.