Taxonomy of meanings for 鐘 / 鍾:　　

  • 鐘 zhōng (OC: tjoŋ MC: tɕioŋ) 職容切 平 廣韻：【樂器也吕氏春秋云黄帝命伶倫鑄十二器丗本曰垂作鐘 】 康熙字典：頁1323第02【唐韻】職容切【集韻】【韻會】諸容切，𠀤音鍾
    • BELL
      • nlarge suspended bell without a clapper; bell without a clapper
      • action: strike bell> STRIKE
        • time struck by bell> TIME
      • 鍾 zhōng (OC: tjoŋ MC: tɕioŋ) 職容切 平 廣韻：【當也酒器也又量名左傳曰釡十則鍾亦姓出頴川又漢複姓有鍾離氏丗本云與秦同祖其後因封爲姓職容切十八 】 康熙字典：頁1316第05【唐韻】職容切【集韻】【韻會】諸容切，𠀤音鐘。

        Additional information about 鐘

        說文解字: 【鐘】，樂鐘也。秋分之音，物穜成。 〔小徐本「音」下有「也」。〕 从金、童聲。古者垂作鐘。 【職茸切】 【銿】，鐘或从甬。 〔小徐本此字次於「鈁」之後。〕

          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.

        • MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

          1. Perhaps the most current traditional general term for musical instruments is bā yīn 八音.

          2. Jīn shí 金石 refers not only to bells and stone chimes, but can apparently refer more generally and collectively to musical instruments.

          3. Zhōng gǔ 鐘鼓 can be used to refer collectively to musical instruments and not specifically to bells and drums only.

          4. Yuè 樂 is occasionally used to refer to musical instruments, as in the phrase zhū yuè 諸樂 "the various musical instruments".