龠

Specifically, it refers to a very ancient bamboo flute with three holes that was played by blowing air through it. This type of instrument is sometimes still used in performances of ancient music.

As a radical, it generally conveys meanings related to music, musical instruments, or harmonies.

Interestingly, although 龠 already has 17 strokes, it is sometimes written with an added 竹 (bamboo) radical on top, resulting in the character 籥 (U+7C65), which also means a flute.

In ancient China, 龠 was also used as a unit of measurement in the system of weights and measures, but in modern times, it has almost entirely fallen out of use, except as a radical in Chinese characters. Even then, characters using it as a radical are extremely rare in everyday life.

Despite this, 龠 has survived in simplified Chinese, mainly because it is the radical with the most strokes (17 strokes). The character is a pictograph, modeled after a set of bamboo pipes with holes, arranged side by side like a pan flute.

Examples of characters with this radical include:

龥 (yu, "to play a wind instrument"),

龡 (chui, "to blow"),

龢 (he, "to harmonize") — rarely used except as an archaic or calligraphic variant of 和 ("harmony").

Among all radicals, 龠 is the one with the most strokes (17), making it one of the most complex and least commonly used radicals today.