DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

彈琴

简弹琴 · 繁彈琴

Mandarin · pinyin tán qín

to play or strum a lute or other stringed instrument

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

彈: Look up this written character
琴: qín · Chinese lute or guitar
弹: dàn · pellet, bullet, shot, shell

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2 · tan2 qin2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

彈琴 · find source passages ↗ · 弹琴 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

(music) to play certain musical instruments that can be described as 琴 (qín), such as some stringed instruments (guzheng, guqin, etc.), or a keyboard instrument (piano, electric piano, accordion, pipe organ, etc.)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack