奏 (zòu) is a Chinese character meaning “to play (a musical instrument)”. It is written from 𡗗 (the "spring top": three lines crossed by a long left sweep and a right sweep, seen on top of 春, 奉 and 奏) and 天 (sky; heaven; day), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to play music”
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Structure
𡗗 + 天
Top–bottom structure
- 𡗗 the "spring top": three lines crossed by a long left sweep and a right sweep, seen on top of 春, 奉 and 奏 unknown
- 天 sky; heaven; day · tiān unknown
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (strokes 0-4 form the 春-top 𡗗, strokes 5-8 match 天)
Memory aid
Hands sweep across the strings — that is the 𡗗 on top, three lines cut by two long sweeps — and the sound lifts into 天, the sky. Play it: 奏.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 节奏jié zòurhythm; tempo; pace奏 = zòu
- 奏乐zòu yuèto play music; to strike up the band奏 = zòu
Go deeper
All readings
to play music
to play (a musical instrument); to perform music; (formal) to present a memorial to a ruler
演奏音乐；旧时臣子向君主进言或上书。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 节奏jié zòurhythm; tempo; pace奏 = zòu
- 奏乐zòu yuèto play music; to strike up the band奏 = zòu
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 奏 mean?
奏 (zòu) means to play (a musical instrument); to perform music; (formal) to present a memorial to a ruler.
How do you pronounce 奏?
It is pronounced zòu.
What parts is 奏 made of?
𡗗 (the "spring top": three lines crossed by a long left sweep and a right sweep, seen on top of 春, 奉 and 奏) and 天 (sky; heaven; day), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (strokes 0-4 form the 春-top 𡗗, strokes 5-8 match 天). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 奏 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 奏?
大. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 奏?
Common ones are 节奏 and 奏乐. The reading of 奏 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.