祭
Zhài , jì · HSK 7
festive occasion
🍖🛐 top-left is a hand setting meat 月 onto the altar 示 below = an offering rite
祭 stacks three parts: a hand (upper left), a slab of meat 月 (upper right), and the altar 示 (bottom). A hand laying meat on an altar is exactly a sacrifice, so the meaning extends to ritual and festive ceremony.
祭 — hand 又 holding meat 月 (肉) + altar 示
Originally a pictograph showing a hand (又) offering a piece of meat (月, from 肉) onto an altar (示), depicting a ritual sacrifice. The meaning extended from 'sacrifice' to 'ceremony' or 'festival'. As a surname read Zhài, it refers to an ancient state.