Hai Collection, Lower Volume
Radical: Fish (yú)
Character: Fan
Kangxi Stroke Count: 23
Page 1478, Entry 20
Pronounced fan. According to the Comprehensive Glossary (Guangyun) and Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), it is pronounced fan.
In the New Edition of Characters (Yupian), it is the name of a fish.
According to the Record of Southern Yue (Nanyuezhi), the fan fish has a horizontal bone in its nose shaped like an axe. When sea ships encounter it, they are often severed.
In the Rhapsody on the Capital of Shu (Shudu Fu) by Zuo Si, it mentions the remora, tortoise, and fan. The commentary states that the fan has a horizontal bone in front of its nose shaped like an axe. People in the East call an axe a fan, hence the name of the fish.
Also according to Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), it is pronounced fan. Also pronounced fan. The meaning is the same.