拱 (gǒng) is a Chinese character meaning “to cup one hand in the other before the chest as a salute”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 共 (together; in common), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to arch; arched”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 共
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰扌共；笔画核验 扌3 + 共6 = 9）
Memory aid
The hand radical 扌 plus 共 "together": your hands come together in front of your chest to bow — and that same joined curve is the shape of an arch.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 拱门gǒng ménarchway; arched door拱 = gǒng
- 拱手gǒng shǒuto cup one hand in the other before the chest (a salute)拱 = gǒngspoken asgóng shǒu
Go deeper
All readings
to arch; to cup the hands in salute
to cup one hand in the other before the chest as a salute; to arch; arched; to push or shove upward
两手在胸前相合行礼；也指呈弧形的结构，或向上顶起。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 拱门gǒng ménarchway; arched door拱 = gǒng
- 拱手gǒng shǒuto cup one hand in the other before the chest (a salute)拱 = gǒngspoken asgóng shǒu
Sound component
共 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 拱 mean?
拱 (gǒng) means to cup one hand in the other before the chest as a salute; to arch; arched; to push or shove upward.
How do you pronounce 拱?
It is pronounced gǒng.
What parts is 拱 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 共 (together; in common), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰扌共；笔画核验 扌3 + 共6 = 9）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 拱 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 拱?
扌. 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 拱?
Common ones are 拱门 and 拱手. The reading of 拱 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.