Chou Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Mouth (kǒu) Page 198, Entry 06 The Classificatory Dictionary (Leipian) gives the pronunciation as gong (level tone). It is pronounced the same as hong (level tone). It is identical to the character written as a variant form (kuai), meaning to make a loud sound. In the Explication of Blindness chapter of the Xunzi (Xunzi), it is written as being like gong gong. The Spring and Autumn of Mr. Lu (Lu shi chun qiu) mentions: accomplishments are difficult to establish, likely all because of the gong gong. Therefore, in a state of gong gong, one must not fail to examine the situation carefully. A mediocre ruler is halted by gong gong and stops performing virtuous acts, whereas an enlightened ruler is able to establish great achievements even while amidst gong gong. The Collected Rhymes (Jiyun) records that this character is sometimes also written in a variant form (xiong).