Dance

舞 means dance or dancing. In Chinese, it can also describe waving or flying: 舞刀 means wielding or brandishing a blade.

Some oracle-bone forms—inscriptions carved on animal bones or turtle shells—show a dancer holding implements. A bronze inscription from the Late Shang period of China’s Shang dynasty records a dance called Wan at a ceremony for royal ancestors. As 無 was borrowed to mean “not,” 舞 took a separate form with 舛 below it for the dance meaning.

How is 舞 read in Japanese?

Japanese reads 舞 as まい (mai) or ブ (bu). The word determines which reading fits; in 舞踊, 舞 is read bu.

Traditional Japanese terminology contrasts 舞, associated with turning movements, with 踊り, associated with jumping. In present-day Japanese, the boundary is not rigid.