p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Translate Flashcards Sign in

躬

gōng
verb #14,872

Meanings

  1. 1 to bow
  2. 2 body (literary)
  3. 3 oneself; personally (literary)

Examples

他向老师鞠躬致敬。
Tā xiàng lǎoshī jūgōng zhìjìng.
He bowed to the teacher in respect.
事必躬亲才能做好。
Shì bì gōng qīn cáinéng zuòhǎo.
Only by attending to things personally can they be done well.

Tips

usage
躬 is literary and rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in set compounds: 鞠躬 (jūgōng, to bow), 躬亲 (gōngqīn, to attend to personally), 躬身 (gōngshēn, to bend one's body).

Components

radical
身 shēn
body
Left-side body radical — pictograph of a person in profile, the rounded belly originally emphasising a pregnant body (curve still visible). The indexing radical: 躬 is to bow deeply, bend the body in respect (鞠躬). Also used metaphorically for 'in person, oneself' (躬亲). Same body-family: 躯 trunk, 躺 to lie down.
phonetic
弓 gōng
bow (weapon)
Right side 弓 supplies the sound exactly: gōng → gōng, identical pinyin and tone. 弓 itself is a pictograph of an unstrung bow — the curve of the wooden weapon. The picture reinforces meaning: bowing the body curves it like a strung bow. Same phonetic family: 穹 vault of sky, 宫 palace. Bow-shape doubles as sound and mnemonic.

Stroke Order

躬 gōng