箏
zhēng

stringed musical instrument

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 爭 represents the sound.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

爭
爭 Sound component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsreːŋ
Unicodejrɛng

說文解字

鼓弦竹身樂也。从竹爭聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

筝 zhēng stringed musical instrument Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 争 represents the sound. Simplified form of 箏.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

争
争 Sound component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode