奉 means “offer up, serve”

ほう · hou

Also: observance, offer, present, dedicate

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

たてまつる, まつる, ほうずる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ホウ, ブ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 8 strokes

The story

Picture hands lifting a tray high: 奉 wears the same crown as 春 and 奏, and the oldest dictionary reads it as hands raising something up. 奉仕 is service, and 奉納 an offering to a shrine, like the sake barrels stacked at Meiji Jingu.

Used in 奉仕 (houshi, service), 奉納 (hounou, shrine offering), and 奉行 (bugyou, Edo-period magistrate)

More from Give & Receive

• 享 receive
• 賜 grant
• 頒 distribute
• 授 grant
• 献 offer
• 恵 blessing
• 譲 hand over
• 納 pay
• 呈 present

Learn 奉 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.