祥 means “good omen, auspicious”

しょう · shou

Also: happiness, blessedness

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

さいわい, きざし, よい, つまびらか

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ショウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

An altar (礻) and a sheep (羊), a sign of good things in ancient China: a blessing. Plaques mark the 発祥の地, birthplace, of a food or a sport, and when executives bow before the cameras they are apologizing for a 不祥事, a scandal.

Used in 発祥 (hasshou, origin/birthplace), 不祥事 (fushouji, scandal), and 吉祥寺 (kichijouji, Kichijōji)

More from Rites & Omens

• 牲 sacrifice
• 縁 bond
• 慶 celebration
• 盆 Obon
• 凶 bad luck
• 宴 banquet
• 賓 honored guest
• 崇 revere
• 禍 calamity
• 厄 misfortune
• 詣 visit a shrine
• 吉 good luck

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

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