锣 (luó): gong

锣 (luó) is a Chinese character meaning “gong.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 罗 (phonetic). It ranks #3627 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 锣 bell. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 金 (jīn, metal, gold), 钱 (qián, money), 银 (yín, silver, bank).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. gong

Etymology & Origin

锣

pictophoneticbell

Decomposition: ⿰钅罗 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
铜锣nountóng luógong
紧锣密鼓phrasejǐn luó mì gǔ(lit.) urgent beating of gongs and drums (idiom)
锣鼓nounluó gǔgongs and drums
听话听声,锣鼓听音tīng huà tīng shēng , luó gǔ tīng yīnto understand the unspoken implications (idiom)
当面锣,对面鼓dāng miàn luó , duì miàn gǔlit. gong facing gong, drum opposite drum (idiom)
开锣喝道kāi luó hè dàoto clear a street by banging gongs and shouting loudly (idiom)
终场锣声zhōng chǎng luó shēngthe final bell (esp. in sports competition)
开台锣鼓phrasekāi tái luó gǔopening gong
鸣锣开道míng luó kāi dàoto beat the gong to clear the way
敲锣边儿qiāo luó biān rto strike the edge of a gong
锣齐鼓不齐luó qí gǔ bù qí(idiom) not well coordinated
锣鼓点luó gǔ diǎnChinese percussion fixed pattern
开锣kāi luóto beat the gong to open a performance
锣声luó shēngsound of gong
敲打锣鼓qiāo dǎ luó gǔlit. to beat a gong
20
Total compounds
20
As first character
25
As last character
55
As middle character

锣 appears in 20 compound words: 20 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 55 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

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
鸣锣开道míng luó kāi dào

to beat the gong to clear the way; (fig.) to pave the way for sth

phrase
敲锣边儿qiāo luó biān r

to strike the edge of a gong; (fig.) to stir up trouble from the sidelines

phrase

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

如刘欢一贯的作风,来时不用锣鼓,走时不要排场。

rú liú huān yī guàn de zuò fēng , lái shí bù yòng luó gǔ , zǒu shí bù yào pái chǎng .

True to Liu Huan’s usual style, he arrived without fanfare and left without any pomp and circumstance.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

百戏团圆大舞台将鸣锣开演 好戏连台再燃昆山

bǎi xì tuán yuán dà wǔ tái jiāng míng luó kāi yǎn hǎo xì lián tái zài rán kūn shān

The "Reunion Grand Stage" Festival Is Set to Kick Off with a Bang; A Series of Spectacular Performances Will Once Again Set Kunshan Ablaze

爱范儿Aug 2026

每一步都密锣紧鼓,直逼芯片设计速度的上限。

měi yī bù dōu mì luó jǐn gǔ , zhí bī xīn piàn shè jì sù dù de shàng xiàn .

Every step is being carried out at a breakneck pace, pushing the limits of chip design speed.

中国新闻网·体育Jun 2026

随着激昂的锣鼓声响起,参赛者一个接一个上场,现场不时爆发出欢呼声。

suí zhe jī áng de luó gǔ shēng xiǎng qǐ , cān sài zhě yī gè jiē yī gè shàng chǎng , xiàn chǎng bù shí bào fā chū huān hū shēng .

As the rousing sounds of gongs and drums rang out, the contestants took the stage one after another, and cheers erupted from the audience from time to time.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

晋南威风锣鼓非遗传承人张勇在社交媒体上发布视频,详细介绍中国大鼓和日本太鼓的区别。

jìn nán wēi fēng luó gǔ fēi yí chuán chéng rén zhāng yǒng zài shè jiāo méi tǐ shàng fā bù shì pín , xiáng xì jiè shào zhōng guó dà gǔ hé rì běn tài gǔ de qū bié .

Zhang Yong, a master of the Southern Shanxi "Weifeng" Drum and Gong tradition and a holder of intangible cultural heritage, posted a video on social media providing a detailed explanation of the differences between the Chinese big drum and the Japanese taiko.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (bell) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced luó

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 锣 (luó) mean in Chinese?
锣 (luó) primarily means "gong." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3627 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 锣 have?
锣 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 锣?
The radical associated with 锣 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.
What are the components of 锣?
锣 is composed of: 钅 (semantic), 罗 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅罗 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 锣?
Common words with 锣 include: 铜锣 (tóng luó, "gong"); 紧锣密鼓 (jǐn luó mì gǔ, "(lit.) urgent beating of gongs and drums (idiom)"); 锣鼓 (luó gǔ, "gongs and drums"); 听话听声,锣鼓听音 (tīng huà tīng shēng , luó gǔ tīng yīn, "to understand the unspoken implications (idiom)"); 当面锣,对面鼓 (dāng miàn luó , duì miàn gǔ, "lit. gong facing gong, drum opposite drum (idiom)"). There are over 20 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 锣 (luó)?
Several characters share the pronunciation luó: 逻 (patrol), 萝 (radish). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 锣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 锣 and the traditional form is 鑼.

Practice writing 锣 with real-time feedback

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

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.