Mao Collection, Middle Volume. Radical: Hand (shǒu). Kangxi strokes: 8. Page 420, Entry 21. Pronounced ba (rising tone). Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation of Simple and Compound Characters): To hold or grasp. Mencius (Mengzi): A paulownia or catalpa tree that can be encircled by two hands or grasped fully by one hand. Discourses of the States (Chu Yu): Sacrificial offerings used in rites should not exceed one handful. Also, Guangyun (Broad Rhymes): To hold or carry. Zengyun (Expanded Rhymes): To grasp or hold. Strategies of the Warring States (Zhan Guo Ce): With the left hand, he grasped his sleeve; with the right hand, he pierced his chest. Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji): Tang personally held a great axe to attack Kunwu. Book of Han (Hanshu): He selected strong and daring officials from the commandery to act as assistants, holding their secret major crimes over them while letting them oversee thieves. Also, Shiming (Explanation of Names): Ba, meaning to sow/spread. A tool used to sweep things. Pronounced pa (level tone). Interchangable with the character pa. Book of Han (Hanshu): Farmers pulling grass and using their hands to rake the soil. Commentary: Ba means using the hands to rake open. Also, Treatise on Suburban Sacrifices (Jiao Si Zhi): Using the hands to rake through the soil and discovering a tripod vessel. Commentary: Pou means to use the hands to rake through soil. Also, Pipa, a musical instrument. Pushing the hand forward is called pi, pulling the hand backward is called ba. See the entry for pi for further details. Also a surname. Guangyun (Broad Rhymes): Originally the descendants of Duke Donglou, who changed their surname to avoid trouble. During the Western Wei dynasty, there was a Ba Xiu, Inspector of Xiang Prefecture. Pronounced ba (falling tone). Interchangeable with the character ba (the grip of a bow). Book of Rites (Liji): The left hand supports the middle of the bow. Sub-commentary: Fu is the part of the bow held by the hand. Glossary: Pronounced ba (falling tone). It refers to the part where the hand grips the bow. Zhengzitong (Correction of Character Errors): The characters ba and pa are different. The Yunhui Xiaobu (Supplementary Notes to the Rhyme Compendium) incorrectly treats them as interchangeable. Citing erroneous versions of the Book of Han (Hanshu) to combine ba and pa into one character is incorrect.