Chou Collection, Middle Volume
Radical: Earth (tǔ)
Kangxi Strokes: 8
Page 227, Entry 04
Broad Rhymes (Guangyun), Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), Rhyme Compendium (Yunhui), and Orthodox Rhymes (Zhengyun) state it is pronounced fa. It is a place name. It is also pronounced ba. Explained in Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi) as to manage. Another interpretation is that using a spade to dig earth is called fa. Also, Collected Rhymes (Jiyun) states it is pronounced ba. It means to dig earth. Records in Discourses of the States (Zhouyu) state: The king ploughed one furrow. It is also written as a variant form (bo).
Textual verification: Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi) explains it as to manage. Another interpretation is that using a spade to dig earth is called fa. According to the original text, spade earth has been corrected to shovel earth.