斎

JŌYŌ KANJI · Secondary school

purification

purification · buddhist food · room · worship

11 strokesRadical 67U+658E
01

Readings

Official Jōyō readings in table order

On’yomi 音読み

サイ

Kun’yomi 訓読み

None listed in this source.

Additional readings in the learning dataset

On’yomi

None listed in this source.

Kun’yomi

ときつつし.むものいみい.むいわ.ういつ.く

These are outside the official Jōyō list above. A listed reading is not necessarily common in modern use.

02

Origin and meaning

Verified against the direct KanjiPedia naritachi entry.

Earlier sense recorded in the sourceritual purification before serving the gods
Meanings in the learning dataset todaypurification · buddhist food · room · worship

Read the source entry ↗

03

Written form

The official Jōyō table also prints the following parenthesized form beside 斎:

斎齋
Dictionary radical文ぶん · script / writing
Stroke count11May vary for alternate forms.
UnicodeU+658EModern character encoding, not an origin date.

Compare manuscript and printed examples in the HNG historical glyph archive ↗. Where available, its dated samples document written forms; they do not establish the first use of this character in Japan.

04

Examples in the official table

  • 斎場,潔斎,書斎
05

When did it enter Japanese?

Chinese characters reached Japan through a long process of contact. Early inscribed objects and sixth-century Japanese names are documented; this is context for the writing system, not a first date for 斎.

斎 appears in the current Jōyō kanji table published on 30 November 2010. This records modern standard status, not the date the character was first used in Japan.

A dated first Japanese use for 斎 has not been verified in the sources attached to this entry.

Agency for Cultural Affairs: writing history ↗ · 2010 Jōyō notice ↗

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