宫商角徵羽 gōng shāng jué zhǐ yǔ

five notes of Chinese pentatonic scale

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. pre-Tang names of the five notes of the pentatonic scale, corresponding roughly to do, re, mi, sol, la

Characters

Character Meaning
宫 gōng HSK 6
palace; temple; surname Gong
商 shāng HSK 1
commerce; merchant; to consult
角 jué HSK 3
corner; angle
徵 zhǐ
to levy (taxes); to recruit; to draft (troops)
羽 yǔ HSK 4
feather; 5th note in pentatonic scale