筝 (zhēng) · zheng (Chinese plucked zither), kite (in 风筝)

Measure Word

一把筝 bǎ

Meanings

1 zheng (Chinese plucked zither)
2 kite (in 风筝)

Characters

筝

zhēng

zither; (in 风筝) kite

Examples

HSK 3

孩子们在公园放风筝。

Háizi men zài gōngyuán fàng fēngzheng.

The children are flying kites in the park.

HSK 5

她从小学习古筝。

Tā cóngxiǎo xuéxí gǔzhēng.

She has studied the guzheng since she was small.

Tips

usage

筝 rarely appears alone today. As a musical instrument it's almost always 古筝 (gǔzhēng, the long zither with movable bridges); as the toy it's 风筝 (fēngzheng, kite - note neutral tone). The kite is named after the instrument: early kites had bamboo whistles that hummed in the wind like zither strings.

Components

radical

⺮ zhú

bamboo (top radical form of 竹)

Six-stroke bamboo top, the squashed canopy form of 竹. The 筝 (Chinese zither, guzheng) has a long resonator traditionally carved from a hollowed wooden body, and the radical signals membership in the bamboo-instrument family alongside 笛 flute, 箫 vertical flute, 笙 reed pipe.

phonetic

争 zhēng

to contend; to vie

Bottom 争 supplies the sound - zhēng straight across with no shift. The same phonetic gives 铮 clang of metal and 睁 to open eyes wide - all keeping the zheng frame. The strident, clear tone of the guzheng echoes 争's contending energy.