琴 (qín): guqin 古琴 (a type of zither), musical instrument in general
琴 (qín) is a Chinese character meaning “guqin 古琴 (a type of zither).” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 玨 (structural) and 今 (structural). It ranks #1686 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 琴 two guitar strings 玨 suggest the meaning; 今 provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 王 (jade) appears in many related characters such as 玩 (wán, to play), 现 (xiàn, to appear), 班 (bān, team).
Definitions
- guqin 古琴 (a type of zither)
- musical instrument in general
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTwo guitar strings 玨 suggest the meaning; 今 provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿱玨今 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 琴 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 琴
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小提琴 | xiǎo tí qín | fiddle |
| 弹琴 | tán qín | to play or strum a lute or other stringed instrument |
| 大提琴 | dà tí qín | cello () |
| 钢琴家 | gāng qín jiā | pianist |
| 竖琴 | shù qín | harp |
| 口琴 | kǒu qín | harmonica |
| 风琴 | fēng qín | pipe organ (musical instrument) |
| 中提琴 | zhōng tí qín | viola |
| 钢琴师 | gāng qín shī | pianist |
| 手风琴 | shǒu fēng qín | accordion |
| 小提琴手 | xiǎo tí qín shǒu | violinist |
| 管风琴 | guǎn fēng qín | organ |
| 提琴 | tí qín | instrument of the violin family (violin, viola, cello or double bass) |
| 琴弦 | qín xián | string (of a stringed instrument) |
| 木琴 | mù qín | xylophone |
琴 appears in 80 compound words: 21 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 19 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 琴 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
floating between zither and sword (idiom); fig. wandering aimlessly with no tenured position
the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar (i.e. qin, go, calligraphy, and painting)
carrying very little luggage (idiom); honest and incorruptible (government officials)
out of tune; marital discord, cf qin and se 琴瑟, two string instruments as symbol of marital harmony
floating between zither and sword (idiom); fig. wandering aimlessly with no tenured position
the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar (i.e. qin, go, calligraphy, and painting)
Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 琴.
Example Sentences
这个琴字的意思与它的部首有关。
zhè gě qín zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .
The meaning of the character "琴" is related to its radical.
日本311大地震将届满15周年 “海啸提琴”来台演奏
rì běn 3 1 1 dà dì zhèn jiāng jiè mǎn 1 5 zhōu nián hǎi xiào tí qín lái tái yǎn zòu
The 15th anniversary of the 311 earthquake in Japan "Tsunami Violin" came to Taiwan to perform
历史上的今天/法国小提琴家波芳 1959年来台演出
lì shǐ shàng de jīn tiān fǎ guó xiǎo tí qín jiā bō fāng 1 9 5 9 nián lái tái yǎn chū
Today in history / French violinist Bo Fang came to Taiwan to perform in 1959
怕发福?萧美琴发福袋顺便“练深蹲” 网赞:诚恳就在细节...
pà fā fú ? xiāo měi qín fā fú dài shùn biàn liàn shēn cún wǎng zàn : chéng kěn jiù zài xì jié . . .
Afraid of getting fat? Xiao Meiqin sent a lucky bag and "practiced squats" by the way.
发福袋一蹲再蹲!萧美琴笑曝:顺便练深蹲
fā fú dài yī cún zài cún ! xiāo měi qín xiào pù : shùn biàn liàn shēn cún
Squatting and squatting again and again! Xiao Meiqin smiled and revealed: By the way, practice squats
外卖骑手黄晓琴:做骑手与社会连接的纽带|在春天许一..
wài mài qí shǒu huáng xiǎo qín : zuò qí shǒu yǔ shè huì lián jiē de niǔ dài zài chūn tiān xǔ yī . .
Takeaway rider Huang Xiaoqin: Be the link between riders and society|In the spring, Xu Yi:
你会弹都塔尔二弦琴吗？
Nǐ huì tán dūtǎ'ěr èrxiánqín ma?
Can you play the dutar?
汤姆有一架钢琴吗？
Tāngmǔ yǒu yījià gāngqín ma?
Does Tom have a piano?
我的手指冻僵了，以至于无法弹钢琴了。
Wǒ de shǒuzhǐ dòngjiāng le, yǐzhìyú wúfǎ tán gāngqín le.
My fingers are so numb with cold that I can't play the piano.
我想学钢琴，吉它或长笛。
Wǒ xiǎng xué gāngqín, jítā huò chángdí.
I would like to learn to play the piano, guitar or flute.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 琴 (qín) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 琴 have?
What is the radical of 琴?
What are the components of 琴?
What are common words containing 琴?
What characters sound the same as 琴 (qín)?
Is 琴 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 琴 with real-time feedback
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