祭
Symbols Memory
memorial
ㄐㄧˋ jì
Two versions of the same picture, and both are free with no account and no watermark. The first has no background at all, which is the one to send your artist — but a phone or computer photo viewer set to dark will show black strokes on dark grey and it can look like nothing downloaded. If that happens, use the second one: identical characters on a plain white background. Either way you get the characters on their own — the square and the faint guide lines you see above are not in the file. Each character is 1000px, so a two-character download is 2000×1000, and the script and layout are the ones you picked.
Script
Characters
Same in both
Layout
Rubbing mode: white on black, as a stone rubbing. The download is unaffected.
The rite or object that keeps the dead in view. Chinese uses a different word for the ceremony than for the stone.
Before you commit
Choose with care祭 is an act of ritual offering, not a building or a plaque. It also covers offerings to gods, so it is broader than memorial.
At small sizesEleven strokes in three stacked pieces over a wide base. Balanced and legible at moderate size.
Cultural note祭祖 and 祭拜 are living practice. Families still set out food and incense for their dead at 清明 and at the lunar new year.
Meaning
To make offerings to the dead or to gods; a memorial rite.
The ceremony - food, incense and bowing, not a monument.
Other characters for “memorial”
What to do next
Pick the script and layout you want above, download the PNG, and send that file to your artist. Ask them to work from the file rather than redrawing the character freehand — that is where strokes go missing.
Related concepts