笙

笙 U+7B19, 笙 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7B19 ← 笘 [U+7B18] CJK Unified Ideographs 笚 → [U+7B1A]

Translingual

Han character

笙 (Kangxi radical 118, 竹+5, 11 strokes, cangjie input 竹竹手一 (HHQM), four-corner 8810₄, composition ⿱𥫗生)

1. a sheng; a hand-held free-reed mouth organ made from a dried gourd and 13 or more bamboo pipes

Derived characters

• 𪡾

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 879, character 29
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 25913
• Dae Jaweon: page 1307, character 21
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 2955, character 6
• Unihan data for U+7B19

Chinese

trad.		笙
simp. #		笙

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (生) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
猜	*sʰlɯː
輤	*sʰleːns
綪	*sʰleːns, *ʔsreːŋ
倩	*sʰleːns, *sʰleŋs
棈	*sʰleːns
蒨	*sʰeːns
篟	*sʰeːns
生	*sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs
牲	*sreŋ
笙	*sreŋ
甥	*sreŋ
鉎	*sreŋ, *sleːŋ
珄	*sreŋ
鼪	*sreŋ, *sreŋs
猩	*sreŋ, *seːŋ
狌	*sreŋ
眚	*sreŋʔ
貹	*sreŋs
崝	*zreːŋ
精	*ʔsleŋ, *ʔsleŋs
菁	*ʔsleŋ
鶄	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleːŋ
蜻	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleːŋ
鼱	*ʔsleŋ
婧	*ʔsleŋ, *zleŋs, *zleŋʔ
睛	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleŋʔ
箐	*ʔsleŋ
聙	*ʔsleŋ
旌	*ʔsleŋ
清	*sʰleŋ
圊	*sʰleŋ
請	*sʰleŋʔ, *zleŋs, *zleŋ
凊	*sʰleŋs
䝼	*zleŋs, *zleŋ
靚	*zleŋs
情	*zleŋ
晴	*zleŋ
夝	*zleŋ
靜	*zleŋʔ
靖	*zleŋʔ
睲	*seŋʔ, *seːŋs
惺	*seŋʔ, *seːŋ
性	*sleŋs
姓	*sleŋs
靗	*l̥ʰeŋs
鯖	*ʔljeŋ, *sʰleːŋ
青	*sʰleːŋ
靘	*sʰleːŋ, *sʰleːŋs
掅	*sʰleːŋs
胜	*sleːŋ
曐	*sleːŋ
星	*sleːŋ
鮏	*sleːŋ
腥	*seːŋ, *seːŋs
鯹	*seːŋ
醒	*seːŋ, *seːŋʔ, *seːŋs
篂	*seːŋ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sreŋ) : semantic 竹 (“bamboo”) + phonetic 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mriŋ (“sound; noise; animal cry”); cognate with 鳴 (OC *mreŋ, “to make a sound”), 鈴 (OC *reːŋ, “bell”), Burmese မြည် (mrany, “to make a sound”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shēng (sheng¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saang¹ / sang¹
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): sên

  (Meixian, Guangdong): sên¹

• Eastern Min (BUC): sĕng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): sng / seng

  (Teochew, Peng'im): sêng¹

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹sen

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sheng
    • Wade–Giles: shêng¹
    • Yale: shēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheng
    • Palladius: шэн (šɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: saang¹ / sang¹
    • Yale: sāang / sāng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saang¹ / sang¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sang¹ / seng¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːŋ⁵⁵/, /sɐŋ⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sên
    • Hakka Romanization System: sen^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sen¹
    • Sinological IPA: /sen²⁴/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: sên¹
    • Sinological IPA: /sɛn⁴⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: sĕng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɛiŋ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sng
    • Tâi-lô: sng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sngf
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sŋ̍³³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: seng
    • Tâi-lô: sing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sefng
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /siɪŋ⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: sêng¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: seng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /seŋ³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹sen
    • MiniDict: sen^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹sen
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /sən⁵³/

---

• Middle Chinese: sraeng

Rime
Character	笙
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	生 (21)
Final (韻)	庚 (109)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	所庚切
Baxter	sraeng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃˠæŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃᵚaŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃaŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂaɨjŋ/
Li Rong	/ʃɐŋ/
Wang Li	/ʃɐŋ/
Bernard Karlgren	/ʂɐŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shēng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sang1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*sreŋ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	笙
Reading #	1/1
No.	11314
Phonetic component	生
Rime group	耕
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	生
Old Chinese	/*sreŋ/

Definitions

笙

笙

1. (music) sheng (a Chinese mouth-blown free reed instrument consisting of vertical pipes)

See also

• 樦 (zhù)

Compounds

• 玉帛笙歌
• 笙歌 (shēnggē)
• 笙歌匝地
• 笙歌鼎沸
• 笙磬同音
• 笙簧 (shēnghuáng)
• 笙詩／笙诗
• 葫蘆笙／葫芦笙 (húlúshēng)
• 蘆笙／芦笙 (lúshēng)
• 鳳笙／凤笙

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (笙):

• → Japanese: 笙(しょう) (shō); 笙(そう) (sō)

References

• “笙”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

笙

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: しょう (shō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kan-on: そう (sō)^{←さう (sau, historical)}
• Kan’yō-on: せい (sei)
• Kun: ふえ (fue, 笙)^{←ふえ (fue, 笙, historical)←ふ𛀁 (fuye, 笙, ancient)}

Compounds

• 蘆笙(ろしょう) (roshō)
• 笙歌(せいか) (seika)

Etymology 1

Chinese shēng (left) & Japanese shō (right)

Kanji in this term
笙
しょう Jinmeiyō
goon

/ɕau/ → /ɕɔː/ → /ɕoː/

From Middle Chinese 笙 (MC sraeng). The goon reading, so likely the original reading as first borrowed from Middle Chinese. Compare modern Mandarin 笙 (shēng).

The shō was developed from the Chinese shēng that was introduced to Japan during the Nara period.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しょー [shóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ː]

Noun

笙(しょう) • (shō) ^{←しやう (syau)?}

1. a free-reed woodwind musical instrument used in Japanese court music, consisting of a mouthpiece and seventeen pipes, each similar to an organ pipe

   Synonym: 鳳管 (hōkan)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 笙(しょう)の笛(ふえ) (shō no fue, “type of simplified sho used as a toy”)
• 笙歌(しょうか) (shōka, “singing to a sho accompaniment; to sing to a sho accompaniment; song sung to a sho accompaniment”)
• 笙(しょうの)岩(いわ)屋(や), 笙(しょうの)窟(いわや) (Shō no Iwaya, “cave and pilgrimage destination in central Nara Prefecture”)
• 鳳笙(ほうしょう) (hōshō, “sho”)

Descendants

• → English: sho

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
笙
そう Jinmeiyō
kan'on

/sau/ → /sɔː/ → /soː/

From Middle Chinese 笙 (MC sraeng). The kan'on, so likely a historically later reading.

Compare modern Cantonese 笙 (saang1, sang1).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [so̞ː]

Noun

笙(そう) • (sō) ^{←さう (sau)?}

1. (obsolete) a free-reed woodwind musical instrument consisting of a mouthpiece and seventeen pipes, each similar to an organ pipe

See also

• Gagaku on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Korean

Hanja

笙 • (saeng) (hangeul 생, revised saeng, McCune–Reischauer saeng, Yale sayng)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Compounds

• 笙簧

Vietnamese

Han character

笙: Hán Nôm readings: sanh

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.