ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

to dance; dance

14 strokes · A dancer with long sleeves in both hands, 舛 (opposing feet) below · HSK 2

Where 舞 comes from

The oracle-bone form of 舞 is unmistakable: a person holding ox-tails or long sleeves in each hand, mid-ceremony. The two feet at the bottom (舛) were added to keep the dancing on the ground after the top half was borrowed to write 无 'nothing'.

舞 in Chinese culture

Dance opened communication with heaven: shamans danced for rain (求雨舞). Today 舞龙 dragon dances and 舞狮 lion dances still open every major festival — the same idea, joy as ritual, three thousand years on.

Example

跳舞 tiàowǔ — to dance

我们一起去跳舞吧。
Wǒmen yìqǐ qù tiàowǔ ba.
Let's go dancing together.

How to remember it

Sleeves swirling on top, two feet 舛 stepping below — a DANCER frozen mid-move.

The character danced away from its own meaning once: its top half was borrowed for 无 'nothing', so ancient scribes added feet to 舞 to bring the dance back.

Same sound, different tones

1st wū
room
2nd wú
nothing
3rd wǔ
dance
4th wù
thing

Words unlocked by 舞

跳舞 tiàowǔ
to dance
舞台 wǔtái
stage
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