You Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Speech (yán) Kangxi Strokes: 16 Page 1171, Entry 03 Pronounced shen (level tone). Shuowen Jiezi (Shuowen): Truthful, sincere, and cautious. Erya: Explaining Glosses: Indicates trustworthiness and honesty. Book of Documents (Shangshu): The mandate of heaven is difficult to trust, and fate is fickle. Commentary: Shen means trustworthiness. Songs of Chu (Chuci): My heart is truly weak and difficult to rely upon. Annotation: Shen refers to honesty. Also refers to a country name. Book of Han (Hanshu): Geography Treatise: There is the country of Shenli. Also refers to a personal name. Zuo Tradition (Zuo Zhuan): Bi Shen was a high official of the Zheng state. Annotation: Shen is sometimes written in a variant form (zhàn). Also refers to a surname. Genealogy of Ten Thousand Surnames (Wanxing Tongpu): Chen Zhong, the Inspector of Jingzhou during the Han dynasty, was a native of Nanchang. Also identical to the character chen. Book of Documents (Shangshu): Heaven supports the words of those who are truthful. Commentary: Chen means trustworthiness. Shuowen Jiezi (Shuowen): Quotes this as shen. Also used interchangeably with the character chen. Erya (Erya): Explaining Glosses: Annotation: In the regions of Yan, Dai, and eastern Qi, the word for trust is shen. Sub-commentary: According to the Regional Speech (Fangyan), it is written as chen. Chen and shen are identical in sound and meaning. Also pronounced rong. Book of Odes (Shijing): Heaven gave birth to the masses of people, but their fates are not constant. There is no one who does not have a good beginning, but few are able to persist until the end. Collected Rhymes (Jiyun): Sometimes written in a variant form (màn).