鼓 (gǔ): drum, CL:通,面, to drum

鼓 (gǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “drum.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 壴 (semantic) and 支 (phonetic). It ranks #1121 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 鼓 drum. Its radical form 鼓 (drum) appears in many related characters.

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 4 Radical: 鼓 drum13 strokesFrequency #1121壴 semantic 支 phonetic

Definitions

drum
CL:通,面
to drum

Etymology & Origin

鼓

pictophoneticdrum

Decomposition: ⿰壴支 (layout: left-right)

Components:壴semantic 支phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 鼓 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 鼓

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
鼓励verb	gǔ lì	to encourage	4
鼓掌verb	gǔ zhǎng	to applaud	5
鼓舞verb/adjective	gǔ wǔ	to inspire	6

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
蒙在鼓里phrase	méng zài gǔ lǐ	variant of 蒙在鼓裡\|蒙在鼓里
鼓手noun	gǔ shǒu	drummer
鼓动verb	gǔ dòng	to urge (an activity that may be beneficial, harmful or neutral)
打鼓verb	dǎ gǔ	to beat a drum
鼓声noun	gǔ shēng	sound of a drum
鼓吹verb	gǔ chuī	to agitate for
欢欣鼓舞phrase	huān xīn gǔ wǔ	(idiom) elated and excited
打退堂鼓verb	dǎ tuì táng gǔ	lit. to beat the return drum (idiom)
重整旗鼓phrase	chóng zhěng qí gǔ	lit. to reorganize flags and drums (idiom)
鼓鼓的	gǔ gǔ de	bulging
捣鼓verb	dǎo gu	to fiddle with sth
鼓点noun	gǔ diǎn	drumbeat
大张旗鼓phrase	dà zhāng qí gǔ	(idiom) with great fanfare
旗鼓相当phrase	qí gǔ xiāng dāng	lit. two armies have equivalent banners and drums (idiom)
鼓捣verb	gǔ dao	to tinker with

100

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

鼓 appears in 100 compound words: 38 as the first character, 40 as the last, and 22 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 鼓 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

励lì

0.74915,891 co-occurrences

吹chuī

0.5235,479 co-occurrences

楼lóu

0.5086,818 co-occurrences

屿yǔ

0.4921,472 co-occurrences

舞wǔ

0.4556,504 co-occurrences

手shǒu

0.43112,736 co-occurrences

掌zhǎng

0.4242,230 co-occurrences

敲qiāo

0.418734 co-occurrences

噪zào

0.412599 co-occurrences

钟zhōng

0.4101,878 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (18)

晨钟暮鼓chénzhōngmùgǔHSK 7+

lonely life of monks and nuns; passage of time

phrase

打退堂鼓dǎ tuìtánggǔHSK 5+

to beat the drum before the magistrate withdraws from the court; to beat a retreat; to give up halfway

verb

大张旗鼓dàzhāngqígǔHSK 6+

on a grand scale; in a big way; with great fanfare

phrase

鼓鼓囊囊gǔgunāngnāngHSK 7+

inflated; bloated; stuffed; bulging

adjective

欢欣鼓舞huānxīngǔwǔHSK 5+

elated and excited; overjoyed; to dance with joy; to rejoice

phrase

紧锣密鼓jǐnluómìgǔ

to carry out an intense publicity campaign

phrase

开台锣鼓kāitáiluógǔ

beating the gongs and drums before a theatrical performance; curtain-raiser

phrase

蒙在鼓里méngzàigǔlǐHSK 7+

to be kept in the dark

phrase

暮鼓晨钟mùgǔchénzhōngHSK 7+

alternative form of 晨鐘暮鼓 /晨钟暮鼓 (chénzhōngmùgǔ)

phrase

旗鼓相当qígǔxiāngdāngHSK 6+

to be well-matched; to match in capabilities

phrase

为爱鼓掌wèi ài gǔzhǎngHSK 5+

to make love; to have sex

phrase

掀风鼓浪xiān fēng gǔ làngHSK 7+

to raise a storm; to stir up trouble; to instigate

phrase

Showing 12 of 18 idioms containing 鼓.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

老师教我们鼓字的发音和笔顺。

lǎo shī jiào wǒ men gǔ zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .

The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "鼓."

EttodayFeb 2026

压力山大却有近半人放心里南投卫生局鼓励隐形压力族勇于求助

yā lì shān dà què yǒu jìn bàn rén fàng xīn lǐ nán tóu wèi shēng jú gǔ lì yǐn xíng yā lì zú yǒng yú qiú zhù

The pressure is great, but nearly half of the people are at ease Nantou Health Bureau encourages invisible stressors to have the courage to ask for help

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

火鹤花田改种洋香瓜父亲鼓励8年级生姊妹“不务正业”

huǒ hè huā tián gǎi zhǒng yáng xiāng guā fù qīn gǔ lì 8 nián jí shēng 姊 mèi bù wù zhèng yè

Fire Crane Flower Field Changed to Cantaloupe Father Encouraged 8th Grade Sisters to "Not Do Their Job"

Hk01.comFeb 2026

LUNA SEA官方公布鼓手真矢不敌病情离世享年56岁

L U N A S E A guān fāng gōng bù gǔ shǒu zhēn shǐ bù dí bìng qíng lí shì xiǎng nián 5 6 suì

LUNA SEA officially announced that drummer Maya passed away at the age of 56

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

神韵展现对神的信仰令牙医“深受鼓舞”

shén yùn zhǎn xiàn duì shén de xìn yǎng lìng yá yī shēn shòu gǔ wǔ

Shen Yun shows faith in God and makes dentists "deeply encouraged"

Tatoeba

我？鼓励你去工作？不可能！

Wǒ? gǔlì nǐ qù gōngzuò? bù kěnéng!

Me? Encourage you to work? Blasphemy!

Tatoeba

汤姆鼓励玛丽再去尝试一次。

Tāngmǔ gǔlì Mǎlì zài qù chángshì yīcì.

Tom encouraged Mary to try again.

Tatoeba

今天我终于鼓起勇气对她说：“我爱你！”。

Jīntiān wǒ zhōngyú gǔqǐyǒngqì duì tā shuō:"wǒ ài nǐ!".

Today I finally worked up the bravery to say to her "I love you!"

Tatoeba

我们为表演者鼓掌。

Wǒmen wèi biǎoyǎnzhě gǔzhǎng.

We gave the performer a round of applause.

Tatoeba

我伤心的时候，我的朋友会鼓励我。

Wǒ shāngxīn de shíhou, wǒ de péngyou huì gǔlì wǒ.

When I'm sad, my friends encourage me.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 壴 (drum) component

嘉jiā

Homophones — Characters pronounced gǔ

故gù 古gǔ 股gǔ 顾gù 姑gū

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 鼓 (gǔ) mean in Chinese?

鼓 (gǔ) primarily means "drum." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #1121 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 鼓 and 技?

鼓 (gǔ) and 技 (jì) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 鼓 vs 扌 (same 支 component).

How many strokes does 鼓 have?

鼓 is written with 13 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 鼓?

The radical associated with 鼓 is 鼓 (drum). This radical appears in many characters related to drum.

What are the components of 鼓?

鼓 is composed of: 壴 (semantic), 支 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰壴支 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 鼓?

Common words with 鼓 include: 鼓励 (gǔ lì, "to encourage"); 鼓掌 (gǔ zhǎng, "to applaud"); 鼓舞 (gǔ wǔ, "to inspire"); 蒙在鼓里 (méng zài gǔ lǐ, "variant of 蒙在鼓裡|蒙在鼓里"); 鼓手 (gǔ shǒu, "drummer"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 鼓 (gǔ)?

Several characters share the pronunciation gǔ: 故 (happening), 古 (ancient), 股 (thigh), 顾 (to look after), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 鼓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 鼓 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 鼓 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play