Language/Mandarin-chinese/Vocabulary/弓-gōng

Welcome to our Mandarin Chinese vocabulary lesson on 弓 gōng! In this lesson, we will explore the meaning and usage of this character in the Chinese language. After mastering this character, you can also expand your vocabulary by checking out our lessons on related characters, such as 照 zhào, which means "shine" or "illuminate", 险(險) xiăn, meaning "danger", and 团(團) tuán, which refers to a "group" or "organization". Dive in and enrich your Mandarin Chinese vocabulary with us! 😊📚

弓 (gōng)

Today, we will learn the Chinese character 弓 (gōng).

It means:

• a bow (weapon)
• to bend
• to arch (one's back etc)

It is one of the 214 Chinese radicals.

You can see it in words like 弟弟 dìdi (younger brotheror) or 引 yǐn (to pull, draw out, attract).

Radical

Additional strokes	Character	Example
without additional strokes	弓	弓 (gōng) bow
1 additional stroke	弔 引 弖	弔 (diào) to condole with 引 (yǐn) to draw (a bow); to lead; to lure; to quote
2 additional strokes	弗 弘	弗 (fú) (literary) not 弘 (hóng) great
3 additional strokes	弙 弚 弛 弜	弛 (chí) to loosen; to relax
4 additional strokes	弝 弞 弟 张	弟 (dì) younger brother 张 (zhāng) simplified form of 張: to draw (a bow); to open; classifier for pieces of paper
5 additional strokes	弡 弢 弣 弤 弥 弦 弨 弩 弪	弦 (xián) bowstring; string of a musical instrument 弩 (nú) crossbow
6 additional strokes	弧 弫 弬 弭 弮 弯	弧 (hú) arch 弯 (wān) simplified form of 彎: to bend; curve
7 additional strokes	弰 弱 弲 弳	弱 (ruò) weak
8 additional strokes	弴 張 弶 強 弸 弹	張 (zhāng) traditional form of 张: to draw (a bow); to open; classifier for pieces of paper 弹 (dàn) traditional form of 彈: pellet; bullet; bomb | 弹 (tán) to pluck (a string); to flick; to play (a string instrument)
9 additional strokes	强 弻 弼 弽 弾	强 (qiáng) strong 弾 (dàn), (tán): variant of 彈/弹, currently used in Japanese
10 additional strokes	弿 彀 彁 彂
11 additional strokes	彃 彄 彅
12 additional strokes	彆 彇 彈 彉	彈 (dàn) traditional form of 弹: pellet; bullet; bomb | 彈 (tán) to pluck (a string); to flick; to play (a string instrument)
13 additional strokes	彊 彋
14 additional strokes	彌
15 additional strokes	彍
19 additional strokes	彎	彎 (wān) traditional form of 弯: to bend; curve
20 additional strokes	彏

Words

彈弓/弹弓

dàngōng

• catapult, sling

弓弦

gōng xián

• bowstring

弓腰

gōng yāo

• to bow
• to bend at the waist

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