弓

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

See images of
Radical 57 弓

弓 (Kangxi radical 57, 弓+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 弓 (N), four-corner 1720₇, composition ⿱コ㇉)

1. Kangxi radical #57, ⼸.

Derived characters

• Appendix:Chinese radical/弓
• 𰁣, 𭇂, 𡉖, 𫝳, 𢁠, 𢖸, 㧈, 𬇗, 杛, 𰎉, 𭨧, 𧘏, 𥸲, 𥾏, 𮓶, 𧢺, 躬, 䩑, 𩨙, 𩾫
• 𢀶, 矤, 𫾰, 𬶿, 𧱶, 𡗝, 宆, 𡰬, 芎, 𥝙, 穹, 𥫤, 𩁽, 𪎔, 𦦎, 夷, 粥, 䰜, 𠰀, 𤵶, 虇

See also

• 發, 雋

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 356, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9692
• Dae Jaweon: page 671, character 22
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 987, character 11
• Unihan data for U+5F13

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 弓
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States		Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) – a bow.

Etymology

Possibly related to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *kuːŋ (“tree, branch, stem”) (Coblin, 1986), semantically connected with the shape of a bent tree branch. Cognate with Burmese ကိုင်း (kuing:, “to bend over; to be bent”), အကိုင်း (a.kuing:, “stalk; branch”), Tedim Chin (kung¹, “tree”), Jingpho kung (“to branch; to grow”), lakung (“branch; limb”), Lepcha ᰀᰩᰵ (kóng, “branch”), ᰀᰫᰵ (kúng, “tree”) (STEDT).

Schuessler (2007) proposes that both Old Chinese 弓 (OC *kʷɯŋ) and Proto-Tibeto-Burman *kuːŋ are derived from Proto-Mon-Khmer *koŋ, whence Nyah Kur (kóoŋ, “bent (in the middle)”), Mon ကိုၚ် (“to be bent”), Khmer កោង (kaong, “to bend; to be bent”), Khasi pyrkhung (“to bend; to arch”), Pear kuŋ (“bend”), Vietnamese cong (“to be bent, curved”).

Also compare Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ku(ː)m (“arched; vaulted”)

Derivatives are 肱 (OC *kʷɯːŋ, “(upper) arm”) and 穹 (OC *kʰʷɯŋ, “arched; vault; sky”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

弓

1. bow (weapon) (Classifier: 張／张)
2. bow (of a stringed instrument, or a cotton bow, or catapult) (Classifier: 張／张)
3. curved; arched
4. to arch; to bend
5. (Jiexi Hakka) rainbow
6. (obsolete) Synonym of 步 (bù) (a traditional Chinese unit of length and area)
7. a surname: Gong

Synonyms

• (bow of a stringed instrument, or a cotton bow, or catapult) 弓子 (gōngzi)
• (to arch): 彎曲／弯曲 (wānqū)
• (rainbow):

Compounds

See also

• 箭 (jiàn)
• 矢 (shǐ)

References

• “弓”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: く (ku); くう (kū)
• Kan-on: きゅう (kyū, Jōyō)^{←きゆう (kyuu, historical)}
• Kun: たらし (tarashi, 弓); ゆ (yu, 弓); ゆみ (yumi, 弓, Jōyō)
• Nanori: こ (ko); ゆ (yu)

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. In modern Japanese, only found as a prefix in compounds.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Prefix

弓(ゆ) • (yu-) 

1. a bow, a bow shape

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

弓 (楽器)

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Bow (music)

Wikipedia

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

弓 (武器)

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Bow and arrow

Wikipedia

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Yumi

Wikipedia

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū (c. 759 CE). A surface analysis suggests a combination of Old Japanese yu (see above) + suffixing element mi, itself of uncertain derivation.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ゆみ​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

弓(ゆみ) • (yumi) 

1. a bow:
   1. (weaponry) a bow for shooting arrows
   2. (music) a bow for playing a stringed instrument such as a violin or cello
2. archery
3. (Shinto) a type of kagura (sacred Shinto song and dance) intended to drive away evil
4. short for 破(は)魔(ま)弓(ゆみ) (hama yumi): a ceremonial archery bow with the power to dispel evil
5. a bow shape, a curve
6. a bow-shaped tool used to beat ginned cotton into a softer and finer textile

Coordinate terms

• (archery): 仗(つえ) (tsue)/杖(つえ) (tsue): yumi stave; 弦(つる) (tsuru): yumi bowstring; 矢(や) (ya): an arrow (鏃(やじり) (yajiri): arrowheads; 簳(やがら) (yagara): arrow-shafts; 羽(はね) (hane): arrow-fletchings); 靫(うつぼ) (utsubo)): an quiver; 胸当(むねあ)て (muneate): kyudo plastron/chestguard; 弽(ゆがけ) (yugake): kyudo gloves; 弩(いしゆみ) (ishiyumi): a crossbow

Derived terms

See also

• ロングボウ (rongubō, “longbow”)

Further reading

• 弓_(武器) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja (archery)
• Yumi (Japanese archery bow) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 弓_(楽器) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja (music)
• Bow_(music) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 3

Alteration from torashi, 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb torasu, from tora as the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete form”) of verb 取る (toru, “to take”) + す (su, honorific suffix in Old Japanese). Original meaning was “something kept to hand”.

Alternative forms

• 執

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

弓(たらし) • (tarashi) 

1. (rare, honorific) an archery bow, particularly one belonging to a noble

Synonyms

• 御(み)執(たらし), 御(み)弓(たらし) (mitarashi)

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese 弓 (MC kjuwng). Compare modern Mandarin 弓 (gōng).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) きゅ​う (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

弓(きゅう) • (kyū) 

1. (rare) a bow
2. (obsolete) in ancient Chinese archery, a unit of length for measuring the distance between the archer and the target; one kyū was equal to six 尺 (shaku), roughly six feet or 182 centimeters
3. (obsolete) in ancient China, a unit of length for surveying land; one kyū was equal to eight 尺 (shaku), roughly eight feet or 242 centimeters

Usage notes

In modern Japanese, the reading kyū is most often found in compounds.

Derived terms

References

Korean

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

弓

Wikisource

弓 (eumhun 활 궁 (hwal gung))

1. Hanja form^? of 궁 (“bow (for shooting arrows”).

Compounds

• 궁도 (弓道, gungdo, “archery”)

Vietnamese

Han character

弓: Hán Nôm readings: cung, cong, củng

1. a bow

Compounds

hình cung (形弓): an arc