zhǐ
noun #22,323

Meanings

  1. 1 the 4th note of the ancient Chinese pentatonic scale (corresponding to sol)
  2. 2 zhi (musical note)

Examples

Wǔyīn shì gōng, shāng, jué, zhǐ, yǔ.
The five pentatonic notes are gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu.
Zhè shǒu gǔqǔ yǐ zhǐ diào wéi zhǔ.
This ancient piece is primarily in the zhi mode.

Tips

history
(zhǐ) is the 4th of the (five tones) of the classical Chinese pentatonic scale: . It roughly corresponds to 'sol' in solfège. When read as zhēng, the same character means 'to levy/summon' — two completely separate words sharing one character.
usage
In modern simplified Chinese, as 'to levy' is simplified to . But in the musical sense retains the traditional form.

Stroke Order

zhǐ