Xu Collection, Lower Volume
Radical: Wind (fēng)
Entry: 颿
Kangxi Strokes: 19
Page 1414, Entry 09
Pronounced fàn (falling tone).
Yu Pian (The Jade Chapters): The swift gait of a horse; the wind blowing a boat forward.
Guang Ya (Expanded Glosses): Fanfan, meaning to run.
Also, pronounced fān (level tone). The meaning is the same.
Zuo Si, Rhapsody on the Capital of Wu (Wudu Fu): The tall ships raise their sails and pass the market.
Commentary: The sail of a boat originally used this character; today it is written separately as fan.
Zhou Boqi stated: It refers to the swift gait of a horse. It is composed of horse and wind to suggest the meaning, and borrowed to represent the sail of a boat.
Also, Cui Bao, Records of Past and Present (Gujin Zhu): The name of Cao Zizhen's horse was Jingfan, implying it was as swift as a sail.
Sometimes written in a variant form, and also written in a variant form.