弦 means “string (instrument)”

げん · gen

Also: bowstring, chord, hypotenuse

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

つる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ゲン

Taught in secondary school · 8 strokes

The story

A bow (弓) drawn taut with a dark thread (玄): 弦 is the vibrating string that turns tension into beauty. The 三味線 (shamisen) and 琴 (koto) define Japan's stringed instrument heritage, their resonant 弦 producing sounds found nowhere else on Earth.

Used in 弦楽器 (gengakki, string instrument), 三弦 (sangen, three strings), and 弓弦 (yuzuru, bowstring)

More from Music & Arts

• 笛 flute
• 鼓 drum
• 音 sound
• 曲 melody
• 唱 chant
• 演 perform
• 芸 art
• 美 beauty
• 歌 song
• 楽 music
• 踊 dance
• 奏 play (music)

Learn 弦 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

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