Wei Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Silk (mì) Character: Jian Kangxi Stroke Count: 16 Page 933, Entry 14 Guangyun: Pronounced jian Jiyun: Pronounced jian Yunhui: Pronounced jian Zhengyun: Pronounced jian The phonetic value is jian. Shuowen Jiezi: A type of double-stranded silk fabric. Shiming: Jian means to combine. Its threads are fine and dense, and its thread count is doubled compared to ordinary plain-woven silk or cloth. It is fine and dense, dyed in five colors, and is so tight that it does not leak water. Book of Han (Hanshu), Biographies of Imperial Relatives: The old woman made a single-layered jian garment for Wengxu. Annotation: Jian is what is known today as juan silk.