Wu Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Grain (hé) Gan Kangxi stroke count: 12 Page 849, Entry 10 Pronounced gan Identical to the form used for pole (gan). In the broad lexicographical work Collection of Rhymes (Jiyun), it is noted that the stalk of rice is called gan. According to the dictionary Explaining Simple and Analyzing Compound Characters (Shuowen Jiezi), it refers to the stem of a grain plant. It cites the Chronicle of Zuo (Zuozhuan) as saying, Or throw one sheaf of stalks. In the present edition of the Chronicle of Zuo (Zuozhuan), specifically the twenty-seventh year of Duke Zhao, it is written with a different variant character.