Taxonomy of meanings for 磬:　　

Additional information about 磬

說文解字: 【磬】，樂石也。从石、殸，象縣虡之形，殳、擊之也。 〔小徐本「殸」下有「聲」。〕 古者毋句氏作磬。 【苦定切】 【殸】，籒文省。 〔小徐本無「省」。〕 【𥓕(硜)】， 〔小徐本古文作「【硜】」】，。〕 古文从(巠)[㸒]。

Criteria
• BELL
  

  SEE ILLUSTRATIONS

  1. The current general word for a bell of any kind is zhōng 鐘 / 鍾. When hung up singly, it is called tè zhōng 特鐘, with round opening as in illustration SUN JI. Rhythmic instrument. Also, hung up in a series of tuned bells, in two rows of eight bells each. Note that these bells were already rare by Han times. [In use mainly from the Western Zhou till the Warring States.]

  [GENERAL]

  2. Qìng 磬／罄 refers to music stones rather than bells, however, these "stones" could also be made of bronze.

  3. Náo 鐃 small handbell with handle which is held in one hand and beaten with the other hand.

  4. Zhēng 鉦 is a small bell with a handle like a náo 鐃, but somewhat larger, and not held in the hand but set up on a stand. It is used to order an army into retreat. (The gǔ 鼓 is used to order an army to attack.)

  5. Líng 鈴 refers to a small bell with a handle at the top.

  6. Duó 鐸 refers to a bell with a tongue which is similar to líng 鈴 but larger.

  7. Chuí 棰 refers to a metal or wooden stick with which to strike bells of any kind from the outside in order sound the bell. See STICK

  8. Yǔ 敔 is a rare word referring to a bell in the shape of a crouching tiger which is beaten using a bamboo stick. Apparently, this bell was only struck towards the end of a musical piece. [Mentioned in the YIJI chapter of the SHANGSHU. Description of the shape dates from the SONG. For a Chinese antiquity, I have not found any archaeological or pictorial evidence.]

  9. Bó 鎛 refers to a kind of suspended bell which is similar to zhōng 鐘 / 鍾 but even larger. Bó 鎛 were suspended not in sets, but alone or in pairs.

  10. Chún yú 錞于 refers to a special kind of bell.

  11. Luán 鸞 is a bell fixed on vehicles and knives which was supposed to make a sound like a luán-bird or phoenix.

  12. Luán 鑾 refers to a harness bell; probably identical with luán 鸞 : see LIJI.

  13. Zhù 柷 refers in SHI to some kind of resonance box used in music, an instrument which was struck in the beginning of a musical piece.

• STONE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
  

  1. Qìng 磬 refers to the musical instrument made of stone which was suspended on the wooden construction (usually in a set) and beaten with a wooden stick. This kind of instrument came into use already in the 3rd millenium B.C. Qìng 磬 was together with bells and drums the core instrument of ritual musical assemblages, and it is quite often found in aristocratic tombs dating from the Shang to the Warring States period (most remarkable being an assemblage of 32 pieces from the grave of Marquis Yi of Zeng who died in 433 B.C.). By Han times it was already rare.

  2. Qìng 罄 is another way of writing qìng 磬.

Word relations
• Object: (STONE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)擊/KNOCK1 Attribution
• Assoc: (STONE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)玉/JADE1 Attribution
• Assoc: (STONE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)鍾/BELL The current general word for a bell of any kind is zhōng 鐘/鍾. When hung up singly, it is called tè zhōng 特鐘, with round opening as in illustration SUN JI. Rhythmic instrument. Also, hung up in a series of tuned bells, in two rows of eight bells each. Note that these bells were already rare by Han times. [In use mainly from the Western Zhou till the Warring States. 3 Attributions