Chou Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Mouth (kǒu) Character: ai Kangxi stroke count: 9 Page 188, Entry 11 Pronounced ai. Shuowen Jiezi (Dictionary of Explanations of Characters): Pity. Yupian (Jade Chapters): To be sorrowful or distressed. Book of Documents (Shangshu): Truly, the wailing of the widowed and solitary is mournful indeed. Book of Odes (Shijing): Pity us, our people. Also, Erya (Approaching Elegance): The term ai-ai qi-qi expresses the feeling of longing to repay a virtue. Book of Odes (Shijing): Alas, my father and mother. Also, to have compassion for, to love. Lüshi Chunqiu (Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals): How can a ruler not strive to cherish his scholars? Also, Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang): In the state of Wei, there was an ugly man named Aitai Tuo. Note: Aitai refers to an ugly appearance, and Tuo is his given name. Also, Posthumous Name System: One who is respectful, benevolent, but dies young is given the posthumous name Ai. Also, a surname. Fengsu Tong (Comprehensive Meaning of Customs): Descendants of Duke Ai of Lu adopted his posthumous name as their surname. History of the Former Han (Qianshu): Ai Zhang from Zitong. Xingpu (Genealogy of Surnames): In the Song dynasty, there was Ai Changji. Zhengzitong (True Meaning Thoroughly Explained): During the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, the scholar Ai Zhen was ordered by the Emperor to change his surname from Ai to Zhong. Also, the name of a state. Book of the Later Han (Hou Hanshu): The people of Ailao all pierce their noses and have pendulous ears. Also, rhyming with the sound yi. Book of Odes (Shijing): The road is long and slow, I am thirsty and hungry. My heart is full of sadness, no one knows my sorrow. Also: On the hills grow the ferns and vetch, in the lowlands grow the pear trees. The gentleman composes a song to make known his sorrow.