  In this article, we study the $S\bar{S}$ type scalar tetraquark state
$cq\bar{c}\bar{q}$ in details with the QCD sum rules by calculating the
contributions of the vacuum condensates up to dimension-10 in the operator
product expansion, and obtain the value
$M_{Z_c}=\left(3.82^{+0.08}_{-0.08}\right)\,\rm{GeV}$, which is the lowest mass
for the hidden charmed tetraquark states from the QCD sum rules. Furthermore,
we calculate the hadronic coupling constants $G_{Z_c\eta_c\pi}$ and $G_{Z_cDD}$
with the three-point QCD sum rules, then study the strong decays $ Z_c\to
\eta_c\pi\, ,\, DD$, and observe that the total width $\Gamma_{Z_c}\approx
21\,\rm{MeV}$. The present predictions can be confronted with the experimental
data in the futures at the BESIII, LHCb and Belle-II.
