弓 (gōng) is a Chinese character meaning “a bow (for shooting arrows)”. It is written from ㇕ and ㇐ and ㇉, and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “bow (for shooting arrows)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇕ + ㇐ + ㇉
Overlapping structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5F13; stroke-level decomposition derived from hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (no whole-character sub-parts)
Memory aid
Three strokes make the bow: the top bend (㇕), the grip in the middle (㇐), and the long bent hook (㇉) curving back like the drawn string.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 弓箭gōng jiànbow and arrow弓 = gōng
- 弹弓dàn gōngslingshot; catapult弓 = gōng
Go deeper
All readings
bow
a bow (for shooting arrows); anything arched or bow-shaped
射箭用的器具；也指弓形的东西。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 弓箭gōng jiànbow and arrow弓 = gōng
- 弹弓dàn gōngslingshot; catapult弓 = gōng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 弓 mean?
弓 (gōng) means a bow (for shooting arrows); anything arched or bow-shaped.
How do you pronounce 弓?
It is pronounced gōng.
What parts is 弓 made of?
㇕ and ㇐ and ㇉. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5F13; stroke-level decomposition derived from hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (no whole-character sub-parts). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 弓 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 弓?
弓. 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 弓?
Common ones are 弓箭 and 弹弓. The reading of 弓 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.