You Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Pig (shǐ) Kangxi Strokes: 11 Page 1195, Entry 05 Pronounced bā. According to the Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen), it refers to a female pig. Another interpretation is that at two years old, it is able to grasp or claw at things. According to the Augmenting Elegantia (Piya), the term for grasping (bana) implies a sense of proliferation. In the Book of Odes (Shijing), in the section of the Odes of Shao (Shaonan), it says: One arrow, five female pigs. The commentary states: A female pig is called a ba. In the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), section of the Summer Offices, Great Minister of War (Xia Guan, Da Sima), the commentary states: A two-year-old is called a ba. Furthermore, according to the Small Erya (Xiao Erya), the large ones are called ba. According to He Chengtian in the Compilation of Writings (Zuanwen), in Yuyang, a large pig is called a ba. Additionally, according to the Rhyme Collection (Yunhui), it is also used interchangeably with the character for dried meat (ba). It belongs to the category of dried meats. In the Appendix on the Four Barbarians in the History of the Five Dynasties (Wudai Shi), when Yelü Deguang died, the Khitan cut open his abdomen, stuffed it with salt, and transported it away; the people of the Jin dynasty referred to this as the Imperial Dried Pig (diba). In the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), it is sometimes written in a variant form.