Wei Collection, Middle Volume
Radical: Feather (yǔ)
翰
Kangxi strokes: 16
Page 958, Entry 43
Guangyun, Jiyun, and Yunhui dictionaries state it is pronounced han (falling tone), same as the pronunciation for drought.
Shuowen Jiezi states: refers to the red feathers of the celestial chicken. Lost Book of Zhou (Yizhoushu) records: the wenhan resembles a colorful pheasant and is also known as the shenfeng. It was presented as a tribute during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou.
Yupian states: refers to flying. Book of Changes (Yijing), Hexagram Zhongfu: The sound of the han rises to the heavens. Commentary: han refers to flying high.
Also, Book of Changes, Hexagram Bi: The white horse is han-like. Sub-commentary: The horse is clean and its coat is as bright as the han.
Book of Rites (Liji), Tan Gong section: For military affairs, ride a han. Commentary: han refers to a white horse.
Book of Odes (Shijing), Daya: Zhou is the support (han). Erya, Interpreting Gu: han refers to a main trunk or pillar.
Book of Han (Qian Hanshu), Biography of Yang Xiong: Therefore, use the Hanlin (Forest of Brushes) as the host, and Zi Mo as the guest minister to provide criticism. Commentary: han refers to a writing brush.
Selections of Refined Literature (Wenxuan), Li Shan commentary: Hanlin refers to the abundance of writings, like a forest of trees.
Guangyun states it is pronounced han (level tone), and Jiyun, Yunhui, and Zhengyun dictionaries state it is pronounced han (level tone), same as the pronunciation for cold. The meaning is the same.
Zhengyun states: han has two pronunciations, the level tone and the falling tone. Whenever referring to written correspondence (shuhan), it refers to writing using a brush made of feathers. Both the level and falling tones are commonly used.
Zhengzitong states: The Erya writes it as han, and it is also written in a variant form.
Textual research: Shuowen Jiezi states: the red feathers of the celestial chicken. Lost Book of Zhou states: dahan is like a colorful pheasant. According to the original text, dahan has been corrected to wenhan.
