柷 (chù) - An ancient wooden percussion instrument used in Chinese & to begin or start.

柷Tone 4

chù ｜ 9 strokes ｜ radical:

志

柷 · chù

An ancient wooden percussion instrument used in Chinese ritual music;

to begin or start.

An ancient wooden percussion instrument used in Chineseto begin or start.

Usage highlights

Ancient percussion instrumentRitual music instrumentWooden zhu instrumentZhu and yu instrumentsStart the music

Synonyms

  • 木鱼— wooden fish (Buddhist percussion instrument)
  • 开始— to begin, start

Antonyms

  • 敔— yu (ancient percussion instrument that ends music)
  • 结束— to end, conclude

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The ancient musician played the zhu (柷).
  • The ritual began with the sound of the zhu (柷).
  • He studied ancient Chinese musical instruments like the zhu (柷).

Collocations

  • Ancient percussion instrument(柷)
  • Ritual music instrument(柷)
  • Wooden zhu instrument(木柷)
  • Zhu and yu instruments(柷敔)
  • Start the music(柷始)

Idioms

  • The zhu starts and the yu stops(柷始敔止)
  • Ritual music instruments(钟鼓柷敔)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • The zhu was one of the eight sounds in ancient Chinese music classification, representing wooden instruments.
  • Used in Confucian temple ceremonies and imperial court rituals during the Zhou dynasty.
  • The instrument was trapezoidal with a hammer used to strike the interior to mark the beginning of music.

FAQ