锣 (luó): gong

Measure Word

一面锣 miàn

Meanings

1 gong

Characters

锣

luó

gong

Examples

HSK 5

他敲了一下锣，比赛就开始了。

Tā qiāo le yīxià luó, bǐsài jiù kāishǐ le.

He struck the gong and the competition began.

HSK 7-9

舞狮的时候要敲锣打鼓。

Wǔshī de shíhou yào qiāoluó-dǎgǔ.

When performing the lion dance, you beat gongs and drums.

Tips

culture

锣鼓 (gongs and drums) are essential instruments in Chinese festivals, opera, and lion/dragon dances. The phrase 敲锣打鼓 means to celebrate with great fanfare.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal (radical form of 金)

Side-metal radical on the left - compressed five-stroke form of 金. Indexes 锣 in the metal-object family with 锅, 锤, 锯, 钢. 锣 names the bronze gong - a flat circular plate struck with a padded mallet at festivals and operas - so the metal radical names the booming substance.

phonetic

罗 luó

to gather; net; surname Luo

Right side 罗 supplies the sound luó exactly. 罗 (a bird-net over silk, simplified from 羅) contributes no semantic flavour to 'gong'; it is a pure phonetic loan. The same phonetic appears in 萝 (radish), 啰 (chatter), 箩 (bamboo basket) - a tight luó family clustered around this convenient sound peg.