鼓盆

Chinese

		convex; drum; to rouse convex; drum; to rouse; to beat	basin
trad. (鼓盆)		鼓	盆
simp. #(鼓盆)		鼓	盆

Etymology

From Zhuangzi's reaction to his wife's death:

莊子妻死，惠子弔之。莊子則方箕踞，鼓盆而歌。惠子曰：『與人居，長子，老，身死，不哭，亦足矣，又鼓盆而歌，不亦甚乎！』 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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庄子妻死，惠子吊之。庄子则方箕踞，鼓盆而歌。惠子曰：『与人居，长子，老，身死，不哭，亦足矣，又鼓盆而歌，不亦甚乎！』 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

Zhuāngzǐ qī sǐ, huìzǐ diào zhī. Zhuāngzǐ zé fāng jī jù, gǔ pén ér gē. Huìzǐ yuē: ‘Yǔ rén jū, zhǎng zǐ, lǎo, shēn sǐ, bù kū, yì zú yǐ, yòu gǔ pén ér gē, bù yì shèn hū!’ [Pinyin]

When Zhuangzi's wife died, Hui Shi came to offer condolences to him. (He saw that) Zhuangzi was squatting with his knees out, and singing while drumming on his pan. Hui Shi said, “You've lived with her, she raised your children, and you grew up together. When she died, you didn't cry. That's already enough. Now you're just singing while drumming on your pan, isn't that too far?”

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gǔpén

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨˇ ㄆㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gu² pun⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gǔpén
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨˇ ㄆㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gǔpén
    • Wade–Giles: ku³-pʻên²
    • Yale: gǔ-pén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guupern
    • Palladius: гупэнь (gupɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰən³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gu² pun⁴
    • Yale: gú pùhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gu² pun⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: gu² pun⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kuː³⁵ pʰuːn²¹/

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• Middle Chinese: kuX bwon

Rime
Character	鼓	盆
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	並 (3)
Final (韻)	模 (23)	魂 (55)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	公戸切	蒲奔切
Baxter	kuX	bwon
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kuoX/	/buən/
Pan Wuyun	/kuoX/	/buon/
Shao Rongfen	/koX/	/buən/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kɔX/	/bwən/
Li Rong	/koX/	/buən/
Wang Li	/kuX/	/buən/
Bernhard Karlgren	/kuoX/	/bʱuən/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gǔ	pén
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gu2	pun4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[k]ˤaʔ  [b]ˤə[n]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kʷaːʔ  bɯːn/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	鼓	盆
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	gǔ	pén
Middle Chinese	‹ kuX ›	‹ bwon ›
Old Chinese	/*[k]ˁaʔ/	/*[b]ˁə[n]/
English	drum (n. & v.)	bowl, basin
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	鼓	盆
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	4337	3144
Phonetic component	鼓	分
Rime group	魚	文
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	古	盆
Old Chinese	/*kʷaːʔ/	/*bɯːn/
Notes	亦同皷

Verb

鼓盆

1. (literary, literally) to drum on a bowl
2. (literary, figuratively) to grieve for one's deceased wife

See also

• 喪妻／丧妻 (sàngqī)