(zhēng): see 古箏|古筝

(zhēng) is a Chinese character meaning “see 古箏|古筝.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #2914 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, bamboo. Its radical form (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as (xiào, to laugh), (, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth")), (děng, to wait for).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. see 古箏|古筝

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticbamboo

Decomposition: ⿱⺮争 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
fēng zhengkite (lit. "wind zither", traditionally explained as being named after kites fitted with bamboo whistles that produce...
线duàn xiàn fēng zhēnga kite that is lost after its string breaks (metaphor for sb one never hears from anymore)
fēng zheng chōng làngkitesurfing
cháo xiǎn zhēnggayageum (Korean 12-stringed zither)
gǔ zhēngguzheng (large zither with 13 to 25 strings, developed from the guqin 古琴[gu3 qin2] during Tang and Song times)
5
Total compounds
0
As first character
80
As last character
20
As middle character

appears in 5 compound words: 0 as the first character, 80 as the last, and 20 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

fēng
0.5814,779 co-occurrences
bǎn
0.431726 co-occurrences
0.3971,182 co-occurrences
xián
0.379126 co-occurrences
dàn
0.361186 co-occurrences
yīng
0.34842 co-occurrences
zòu
0.340198 co-occurrences
míng
0.33436 co-occurrences
fēi
0.333180 co-occurrences
zhuī
0.329234 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

线duànxiànfēngzhengHSK 7+

drop off the radar; go with the wind

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

字虽然难写,但意思很有趣。

zhēng zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

Although the character for zither is difficult to write, its meaning is quite interesting.

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Apr 2026

国内外22支风代表队竞逐第十四届北京国际风

guó nèi wài 2 2 zhī fēng zhēng dài biǎo duì jìng zhú dì shí sì jiè běi jīng guó jì fēng zhēng jié

SmzdmMar 2026

初学古推荐,5000+的古长什么样?

chū xué gǔ zhēng tuī jiàn , 5 0 0 0 de gǔ zhēng cháng shén má yàng ?

Recommendations for Beginners: What Do Guzhengs Costing Over 5,000 Look Like?

Intimes NewsFeb 2026

中国两会期间 北京禁放气球风等“影响飞行安全物体”

zhōng guó liǎng huì qī jiān běi jīng jīn fàng qì qiú fēng zhēng děng yǐng xiǎng fēi háng ān quán wù tǐ

During China's two sessions, Beijing banned balloons and kites and other "objects that affect flight safety"

Tatoeba

每年滨松有风节。

Měinián Bīnsōng yǒu fēngzhēng jié.

Each year Hamamatsu has a kite festival.

Tatoeba

汤姆把线拴在了风上。

Tāngmǔ bǎ xiàn shuān zài le fēngzhēng shàng.

Tom attached the string to the kite.

Tatoeba

咱们到田园去放风怎么样?

Zánmen dào tiányuán qù fàngfēng zhēng zěnmeyàng?

Let's go to the field and fly kites, what do you say?

Tatoeba

我买了一个风给你。

Wǒ mǎi le yī gè fēngzhēng gěi nǐ.

I bought a kite to give to you.

Tatoeba

放风可以是危险的。

Fàngfēng zhēng kěyǐ shì wēixiǎn de.

Flying kites can be dangerous.

Tatoeba

他和他的儿子放风了。

Tā hé tā de érzi fàngfēng zhēng le.

He flew a kite with his son.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhēng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 筝 (zhēng) mean in Chinese?
筝 (zhēng) primarily means "see 古箏|古筝." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2914 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 筝 and 净?
筝 (zhēng) and 净 (jìng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 竹 vs 冫 (same 争 component).
How many strokes does 筝 have?
筝 is written with 12 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 筝?
The radical associated with 筝 is 竹 (bamboo). This radical appears in many characters related to bamboo.
What are the components of 筝?
筝 is composed of: ⺮ (semantic), 争 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱⺮争 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 筝?
Common words with 筝 include: 风筝 (fēng zheng, "kite (lit. "wind zither", traditionally explained as being named after kites fitted with bamboo whistles that produce..."); 断线风筝 (duàn xiàn fēng zhēng, "a kite that is lost after its string breaks (metaphor for sb one never hears from anymore)"); 风筝冲浪 (fēng zheng chōng làng, "kitesurfing"); 朝鲜筝 (cháo xiǎn zhēng, "gayageum (Korean 12-stringed zither)"); 古筝 (gǔ zhēng, "guzheng (large zither with 13 to 25 strings, developed from the guqin 古琴[gu3 qin2] during Tang and Song times)"). There are over 5 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 筝 (zhēng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhēng: 睁 (to open (one's eyes)), 争 (to strive for), 征 (journey), 挣 (to struggle to get free), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 筝 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 筝 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.