U+7946 "祆" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character

U+7946 "祆" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a Chinese character that specifically refers to the veneration of the Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazda, often associated with the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism that originated in Persia. In classical Chinese texts, it is used to denote the worship of celestial beings or spirits, particularly in the context of the "Heavenly God" revered by the Sogdians and other Central Asian peoples who practiced Zoroastrianism. The character is composed of the radical for "spirit" or "deity" ("礻") on the left, indicating its religious connotation, and the phonetic component "天" (tian, meaning "heaven" or "sky") on the right. Historically, "祆" appears in Chinese historical records such as the "Shiji" and later texts to describe the foreign cults that entered China via the Silk Road, distinguishing it from native Chinese religious terms. Today, it remains a specialized character used in academic studies of ancient Chinese relations with Central Asian religions.