尺 (chě) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

尺

chě[che3]Tone 3

a musical note in gongche notation / traditional Chinese foot (unit of length)

HSK 4

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · a musical note in gongche notation / traditional Chinese foot (unit of length)

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Single character

Strokes:4

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the vertical stroke centered and balanced, with horizontal strokes spaced evenly to maintain stability.

1. Meaning

a musical note in gongche notation

traditional Chinese unit of length (chi, roughly one-third of a meter)

NounLiterary / TraditionalBound morpheme#music#measurements#units

Sample Usage

工尺譜
gōng chě pǔ
gongche notation (traditional Chinese musical notation system)
尺碼
chǐ mǎ
size (referring to clothing or shoes, using the length sense)

2. Sound

/[t͡ʂʰɤ²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

尺

chěche3

ˇ(214)

=chě

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: ch sound with tongue curled back

AspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: Both curled tongue AND explosive puff of air! Tissue MUST fly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near the hard palate, releasing a strong burst of air

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with the 'ir' in 'sir' or 'er' in 'her'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'uh'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips down low into the vocal register before sweeping upward, exactly like asking 'Really?' in English with disbelief.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 3, chě shifts to a Tone 2 (rising 35).

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the retroflex initial 'ch' with the alveolar affricate 'c'. Ensure the tongue curls back rather than staying flat behind the teeth.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from chest level and sweep up high to the right.

3. Writing

Topology: Single character · Strokes: 4 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the vertical stroke centered and balanced, with horizontal strokes spaced evenly to maintain stability.

4. Components

Radical 尸 · corpse radical (corpse or body posture)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 尸 (represents a person stretching out or a posture)

The character historically depicts a hand stretching across a specific length, resembling a person leaning or measuring.

尸 body or posture outline
丶 dot indicating the marking point of measurement

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 尺 (chě)

5. History

Liushu category: Indicative (指事)

Origin: In oracle bone script, 尺 was drawn as an image of a human hand or arm extended to measure length, or a specific bone segment used as a standard measure.

Semantic Evolution: Originally representing a traditional forearm length measurement unit, it later expanded into musical notation (gongche notation) as a borrowed character for pitch representation.

The traditional unit 'chi' varied across dynasties, ranging from roughly 23 to 32 centimeters.
In traditional Chinese music (gongche pu), notes are named using specific characters like shang, che, gong.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a musician holding a measuring ruler (尺) to check the exact pitch length on a traditional instrument while singing musical notes in gongche notation.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

尽

jìnto exhaust / to the limitUses a different top component over a brush.

尿

niàourineAdds water/liquid elements underneath the corpse radical.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

贝(bèi)

贝 features a closed bottom box shape representing cowrie shells, whereas 尺 opens downward from the corpse radical.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

這首傳統樂曲使用了工[___]譜記譜。

Clue: chě

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the musical reading 'chě' with the more common length measurement reading 'chǐ'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 尺 used in musical contexts like 工尺譜, what is its special reading and meaning?

Production: How do you write the character for the musical note 'chě' in gongche notation?

尺chěa musical note in gongche notation / traditional Chinese foot (unit of length)

Speed:

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