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瑟 (sè) — ancient twenty-five-stringed plucked instrument; rustling sound (literary)

Definition

瑟 is an ancient 25-stringed plucked zither used in classical Chinese music. The character also appears in literary onomatopoeia for a rustling, soughing sound (e.g. 瑟瑟秋风).

noun
ancient twenty-five-stringed plucked instrumentrustling sound (literary)
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 瑟。
    Tā yòng sè tán le yì shǒu gǔ qǔ.
    He played an ancient tune on the se.
  • 瑟。
    Zhè bǎ sè yǐ jīng yǒu shàng qiān nián de lì shǐ le.
    This se has a history of over a thousand years.
  • 瑟。
    Bó wù guǎn lǐ chén liè zhe yì bǎ gǔ dài de sè.
    The museum displays an ancient se.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
珡珡qínmusical instrument
Sound part声符shēngfú
必
必bì瑟sè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape of 瑟 combines 珡, a musical-instrument part, with 必 to give the sound.

Appears in
Music

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