modern Mandarin and meaning "tin") is used, rather than the expected 賜 (cì, meaning "bestowment"), is that 錫 was used as a jiajie (假借, 'rebus') character for "bestowment", interchangeably with 賜 during the times when the ceremonies were first established in the Classic of Rites. Thus, the semantically correct modern reading should be jiǔ cì and not jiǔ xī. List of recipients of the Nine Bestowments See also Number nine in Chinese culture Nine familial exterminations References History of Imperial China Orders, decorations, and medals of Imperial China