拱 meaning and stroke order
To cup one's hands in salute; to surround; to arch
How to write 拱, stroke by stroke
9 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Meaning of 拱
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to cup one's hands in salute
- to surround
- to arch
- to dig earth with the snout
- arched
How 拱 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Hand.
扌 gives the meaning and 共 hints at the sound.
Radical: 扌 (hand), shared by 342 characters on this site.
How to remember 拱
拱 combines the hand radical 扌 with 共 (gòng), which gives the sound. Picture two hands brought together 共 in front of you, cupped in a polite salute that curves like an arch.
拱 appears mostly in compounds like 拱门 (gǒngmén, arched door) and 拱手 (gǒngshǒu, to cup one's hands in greeting). As a verb it can also mean to arch the body or to push with the snout, as pigs do. Example: 小猪在地里拱土。(Xiǎo zhū zài dì lǐ gǒng tǔ.) The piglet is digging up the soil with its snout.
Common mistake: Learners often read 拱 as gòng because of its phonetic part 共, but 拱 is third tone, gǒng. Also do not confuse it with 供 (gōng/gòng, to supply), which has the person radical 亻 instead of the hand radical 扌.
Common words with 拱
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 拱门 | gǒngmén | arched door | |
| 拱手 | gǒngshǒu | to cup one's hands in obeisance or greeting; (fig.) submissive |
Questions about 拱
How many strokes are in 拱?
拱 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 拱 mean?
拱 (gǒng) means to cup one's hands in salute; to surround; to arch. A common word with it is 拱门 (gǒngmén), meaning "arched door".
How do you pronounce 拱?
拱 is pronounced gǒng, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 拱?
The radical of 拱 is 扌, which carries the idea of "hand". Dictionaries list 拱 under this radical.
Is 拱 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 拱 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 拱手让人 mean?
拱手让人 (gǒngshǒu ràng rén) means to hand something over to others without a fight. It is usually critical, suggesting someone gave up an advantage too easily.
How do you say arch bridge in Chinese?
An arch bridge is 拱桥 (gǒngqiáo). The famous Zhaozhou Bridge 赵州桥 is a classic example of a stone 拱桥.