Chinese symbol for “bow”
弓
gōng
a bow (weapon); 张 (zhāng); to bend; to arch (one's back etc)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for bow is 弓 (gōng), defined as: a bow (weapon); 张 (zhāng); to bend; to arch (one's back etc).
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “bow”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 鞠躬 | jū gōng | to bow; (literary) to bend down |
| 蝴蝶结 (蝴蝶結) | hú dié jié | bow; bowknot |
| 躬身 | gōng shēn | to bow; personally |
| 琴弓 | qín gōng | bow (of a stringed instrument) |
| 鞠 | jū | to incline (one's torso); to bow; leather ball used in ancient times |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 弓.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 弓箭 | gōng jiàn | bow and arrow |
| 弹弓 (彈弓) | dàn gōng | catapult; slingshot |
| 弓箭手 | gōng jiàn shǒu | archer |
| 弓形 | gōng xíng | circular segment |
| 弓弦 | gōng xián | bowstring |
| 弓弩 | gōng nǔ | bow and crossbow |
See also: Japanese symbol for “bow”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.