Wei Collection, Upper Volume
Radical: Bamboo (zhú)
Kangxi stroke count: 11
Page 881, Entry 04
According to the Guangyun, the pronunciation is ji. According to the Jiyun, the Yunhui, and the Zhengyun, the pronunciation is ji. It is pronounced the same as the character for younger brother. It indicates order or sequence.
In the Zuo Tradition (Zuo Zhuan), year 16 of Duke Ai, Zixi said: If the order of the state of Chu reaches me after my death, who other than Sheng could hold the positions of Lingyin or Sima? Annotation: This refers to the order of appointing scholars.
It also indicates merely or only.
In the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), biography of Chancellor Chen: Your Majesty, just feign a hunting excursion to Yunmeng. Annotation: Di means for the time being, or only.
It also refers to a residence or mansion.
In the Book of the Former Han (Qian Hanshu), annals of Emperor Gao: Those enfeoffed as marquises were granted large mansions. Annotation: Meng Kang stated: There are grades and sequences of first, second, and so on, which is why they are called di.
In Sima Xiangru’s Proclamation to the People of Ba and Shu: His rank is that of a Tonghou marquis, residing in a mansion arranged on the eastern side.
It is also a double-character surname.
In the Book of the Later Han (Hou Hanshu), biography of Diwu Lun: Many of the Tian clan of the state of Qi were relocated to the imperial tombs, so they took their sequence numbers as surnames, such as Diwu, Di-ba, and others.
It is also identical to the character for younger brother.
In the Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi): Di was originally written as the character for younger brother, representing the order of lashing leather straps together. It is now used for the younger brother character.
According to the Jiyun, one theory suggests it indicates obedience.
According to the Yunhui, the old annotation wrote this as a variant form, which is incorrect. The variant form refers to a type of grass.
Textual research: In the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), biography of Chancellor Chen, the text reads Your Majesty, merely feign an excursion to Yunmeng. I have carefully added the two characters for feign under the character di as per the original text.
