Mao Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Tapping (pū) Character: 敗 Kangxi strokes: 11 Page 471, Entry 01 Ancient script form includes variants. Pronounced bai (falling tone). Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation of Simple and Compound Characters): To destroy. Erya (Approaching Elegance), Interpretation of Words: To overturn. Shiming (Explanation of Names): To collapse. Also, to ruin. Yupian (Jade Chapters): To break. Zengyun (Augmented Rhymes): To damage. Also, to decline. Book of Changes (Yijing), Xu Hexagram: Respectful and cautious, one will not be defeated. Book of Documents (Shangshu), Counsels of the Great Yu: To oppose the Way and ruin virtue. Zuo Tradition (Zuo Zhuan), tenth year of Duke Wen, commentary on Si Bai: In the state of Chu, the official title Si is known as Si Bai. Analects of Confucius: The Si Bai asked if Duke Zhao understood the rites. Erya, Interpretation of Vessels: Regarding meat, it is called bai. Commentary: To spoil or putrefy. Analects of Confucius: If the fish is spoiled or the meat is rotten. Pronounced bai (falling tone). To break something else is called bai. Zengyun: When an object does not ruin itself, but is ruined by another, it is pronounced bei (falling tone). When an object ruins itself, it is pronounced bei (falling tone). Book of Odes (Shijing), Shao Nan: Do not prune, do not destroy. Pronunciation guide: bai, pronounced bai (falling tone). Zuo Tradition, eleventh year of Duke Zhuang: In general, when an army has not yet met the enemy, it is called bai; when it collapses completely, it is called baiji (major defeat). Yanshi Jiaxun (Family Instructions of Master Yan): Scholars in Jiangnan reading the Zuo Tradition have passed down a tradition of oral rules. They claim that when an army destroys itself it is called bai, and when one destroys another's army it is called bai (pronounced with a rising tone). However, this distinction is not found in historical records or chronicles. Xu Xianmin, in his reading of the Zuo Tradition, only encountered this pronunciation in one instance. Furthermore, the distinction between self-destruction and defeating others is an artificial construction. Rhyme Supplement (Yunbu): Rhymes with bei (falling tone). Xunzi, Fu Pian: Merit is established but the body is cast aside, the task is accomplished but the family is ruined. Abandoning the elders and harvesting the descendants.