徏

徏 carries the “climb” or “rise” sense of 陟.

The older form 陟 appears in oracle-bone inscriptions—writing carved on animal bones or turtle shells—and on bronze vessels from the Western Zhou, an early Chinese dynasty. 徏 keeps 步 but changes 陟’s left-side component 阜 to 彳.

In ritual and classical texts, 陟 also describes ascent between the divine and human realms, advancement in office, and, respectfully, an emperor’s death. The compounds 陟降 and 黜陟 pair ascent with descent and promotion with demotion.

Is 徏 a variant of 陟?

Yes. 徏 is listed as an alternate form of 陟.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants listed 徏 under 陟 in 2024. Preserve 徏 when following a source’s spelling; for a general dictionary lookup, use 陟.