琴 means “koto, stringed instrument”

こと · koto

Also: harp

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

こと

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

キン, ゴン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Two jewels (王王) over now (今): picture strings stretched over a long body, ready to sound. 琴 is the koto, plucked with picks on three fingers, 木琴 is a xylophone, and 琴線に触れる is to touch the heartstrings.

Used in 琴 (koto, koto), 琴線 (kinsen, heartstrings), and 木琴 (mokkin, xylophone)

More from Poems & Songs

• 墨 ink
• 譜 musical score
• 叙 narrate
• 吟 chant
• 詠 compose (a poem)
• 唄 song
• 韻 rhyme
• 喩 metaphor
• 彙 collection
• 楷 standard script
• 諧 harmony
• 響 echo

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.