Definitions

zhēng an army's marching gong

Etymology phono-semantic

bell

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character 钲 refers to an ancient percussion instrument, typically a type of bell or gong used by the military to signal troops to halt or retreat. It is a phono-semantic compound, with the metal radical "钅" on the left indicating its material, and the phonetic component "正" on the right providing its pronunciation. The traditional form, 鉦, uses the full metal radical "金" alongside the same phonetic element. Historically tied to martial contexts, 钲 is now primarily encountered in historical and archaeological discourse rather than in everyday language.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Warring States (~400 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Xin dynasty (9-23 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern