[[Characters]] #Characters \ #Society-and-Culture \ #Deities-and-Spirits # 卜 bǔ to predict, to divine ## Components [[丨 (gǔn)]] [[丶 (zhǔ)]] ## Meaning Today, the character "卜" primarily means: 1. **To divine or predict**: It refers to the practice of divination or fortune-telling. In modern usage, it is often found in words and phrases related to prediction, such as: - 卜算子 (bǔsuànzi): Fortune teller - 占卜 (zhānbǔ): Divination - 卜筮 (bǔshì): Divination with tortoise shells or oracle bones ## History The character "卜" originally depicted the cracks that appear on tortoise shells or animal bones when they are heated, used for divination purposes. Its original meaning is divination. "卜" is a radical, and characters that include "卜" usually relate to divination. In ancient times, people used the cracks on tortoise shells to predict fortune or misfortune, making the future even more unpredictable. The character "卜" is a pictographic character. In oracle bone script, it resembled the cracks that appear on tortoise shells after being heated. Ancient people would heat tortoise shells over a fire and then predict fortune or misfortune based on the shape of the cracks, a practice known as "卜". Therefore, the original meaning of "卜" is divination. "卜" is one of the radicals in Chinese characters, and most characters containing "卜" are related to divination. Later, the character extended to mean guessing or estimating. In modern Chinese, idioms such as "前途未卜" (the future is unpredictable) and "吉凶难卜" (fortune is hard to predict) are frequently used. ## Evolution ### Oracular Script ![[卜 bǔ - oracular.svg]] ### Bronze Script ![[卜 bǔ - bronce.svg]] ### Seal Script ![[卜 bǔ - sello.svg]] ### Clerical Script ![[卜 bǔ - clerical.svg]] ### Regular Script ![[卜 bǔ - reg.svg]]