How to Write 祉 (zhǐ) — Meaning “blessing; happiness”

Imagine a stop sign (止) placed at a temple (礻) because blessings make you pause in gratitude. So you stop at the altar to receive happiness.

Start with the radical 礻: write the dot first, then horizontal stroke, left-falling, and dot inside. Then write 止: vertical, horizontal, vertical, and a long final horizontal. A common mistake is making the left radical too wide or misplacing the dot inside 礻.

祉 has 止 (stop) on the right and means 'blessing.' 社 has 土 (earth) and means 'society' or 'company.' 祀 has 巳 (snake) and means 'sacrifice' or 'worship.' Focus on the right-side component to distinguish each character.

祉 is used in formal or literary contexts, especially in the phrase 福祉 (fúzhǐ) meaning 'well-being' or 'welfare' in official documents. It also appears in blessings like 祉猷 (zhǐyóu) for good fortune, but is rarely used alone in casual speech.

Common words containing 祉 include: 福祉 (fú zhǐ) — Well-being; welfare; bliss.; 康祉 (kāng zhǐ) — happiness and well-being; 祉猷 (zhǐ yóu) — blessing and prosperity; good fortune.