Péng (drum sound)

In Chinese, 𪔍 is péng, the sound of a drum. In this dictionary form, 鼓 (“drum”) sits above 丰, which cues the sound. The Kangxi Dictionary traces this reading to the Song-era rhyme dictionaries Jiyun and Le Pian; rhyme dictionaries group characters by pronunciation. A parallel entry under 韸 lists 𪔍 as a variant form, and glosses 韸 as a harmonious drum sound.

Why does 𪔍 have two readings?

Because one code point has been used for two distinct source forms. The Chinese form places 鼓 above 丰; a Japanese-made character places 手 (“hand”) there instead and reads うつ (utsu, “to strike”). An early-modern Japanese verse uses it in a phrase about a doll beating drums. The shared code point hides a real difference in composition, reading, and meaning.

A 2024 Unicode proposal argued that the forms should be encoded separately. In a 2025 recommendation, Japan agreed to use the 鼓丰 form as its representative glyph; the proposed adjusted character data also preserves the Japanese 手 form as a variation sequence.