You Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Walk (chuò) Entry: Er Kangxi Strokes: 21 Page 1255, Entry 01 Ancient form. Pronounced er (rising tone). Shuowen Jiezi (Shuowen): Near. Book of Documents (Shangshu): Treat the distant with kindness and be able to approach the near. Book of Odes (Shijing): Parents are very near. Zuo Tradition (Zuozhuan): Because Cai is very close to Chu. Also used interchangeably with the character er (proximal). Book of Odes (Shijing): Nothing is distant, all is near. Commentary: Er means near. Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial (Yili): The ruler faces south and approaches the ministers; the ministers face west with the highest-ranking on the north and approach the grandees. Commentary: This means to bow and move closer to them. Shuowen Jiezi (Shuowen): A separate variant is written with the component for arrive; common abbreviated form is written as er. The character is formed using the component for arrive. Verification: In the Zuo Tradition (Zuozhuan), it says, "Because Chen and Cai are very close." According to the original text, the two characters "to Chu" have been added after the character for near.