簭 (divination variant)

Its main reading is divination with yarrow stalks.

簭 is a classical variant of 筮: both refer to divination with yarrow stalks, sorted to seek an auspicious or inauspicious outcome. In the Zhouli (“Rites of Zhou”), 簭人 names an official who managed the Three Changes (three divination systems) and distinguished their methods.

Classical Chinese reference works record 簭 as a variant of 筮 in 五經文字, 玉篇, 廣韻, and 集韻; the Shuowen character dictionary defines 筮. Japanese references use 筮 for the same practice, including 筮竹, a term for divining stalks.

Why can 簭 mean “bite”?

Only as a classical loan for 噬.

A Zhouli craft passage describes animals seizing with claws and biting with their mouths. There, 簭 stands for 噬; dictionaries treat it as a borrowing, not a general synonym for “bite.” Read the sentence: divination points to 筮, while an animal biting points to 噬.