Wei Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Ear (ěr) 耻 Kangxi Stroke Count: 10 Page 385, Entry 01 Zhengzitong: This is the vulgar form of the character for shame. 耻 Tangyun: Pronounced chi (rising tone). Jiyun: Pronounced chou (rising tone), with a sound identical to the rising tone of the character for to strip (chi). Shuowen Jiezi: Defined as to humiliate. The character structure is composed of the Heart radical, with Ear as the phonetic component. Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), Earth Office, Ministry of Correction: Records to humiliate those on the penal stone. Annotation: Interpreted as causing someone to suffer humiliation. Zuo Tradition (Zuozhuan), Year 5 of Duke Zhao: Records that an ordinary person cannot be without preparedness, how much more so a state. Annotation: Interpreted as cannot be humiliated. Guangyun: Defined as ashamed. Mencius (Mengzi): States that a person cannot be without shame. Annotation: Interpreted as a person cannot be without a heart of shame. Sometimes also written in a variant form (e). Liushu Zongyao: The character shape is formed by the ideographic combination of Heart and Ear. It derives from the meaning of feeling ashamed upon hearing of one's own faults. Generally, when a person feels inner shame, their ears become hot and their face turns red; this is the proof. The vulgar form is incorrectly written as 耻.