鼓 (gǔ) · drum

Measure Word

一面鼓 miàn

Meanings

1 drum
2 to beat a drum; to play (a drum)
3 to rouse; to pluck up (courage)

Examples

HSK 2

他在打鼓。

Tā zài dǎgǔ.

He is playing the drum.

HSK 6

鼓起勇气说出真相。

Gǔqǐ yǒngqì shuō chū zhēnxiàng.

Pluck up the courage to tell the truth.

HSK 7-9

过年的时候，人们敲锣打鼓。

Guònián de shíhou, rénmen qiāoluódǎgǔ.

During New Year, people beat gongs and drums.

Tips

culture

Drums have deep cultural significance in China. 锣鼓 (luógǔ, gongs and drums) are essential for festivals, lion dances, and dragon boat races. The 鼓楼 (gǔlóu, Drum Tower) was historically used to mark time in Chinese cities.

usage

As a verb, 鼓 often means 'to rouse/inspire': 鼓起勇气, 鼓舞 (inspire/uplift). 打鼓 means to beat a drum, but 心里打鼓 means 'to feel nervous/uncertain.'

Components

pictograph

鼓 gǔ

drum

Self-component. 鼓 is itself Kangxi radical 207. The left half 壴 is a tall drum on a stand (lid + body + base, drawn from above and the side); the right half 支 is a hand holding a stick. Together: a hand striking a drum. Decomposing further loses the picture, so it's taught as one whole. The same image lives on in idioms like 鼓掌, 打鼓 and 一鼓作气.

Radical

Drum Kangxi #207

An ideogram of a drum (left side) being struck by a hand holding a stick (右 / 攴 on the right). As an indexing radical 鼓 is unproductive in modern Chinese - its derivatives (鼕 winter drumbeat, 鼙 cavalry drum) are archaic. The character itself remains central to festival vocabulary and idioms about rousing courage.