Xu Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Food (shí) Character: Jun Kangxi Strokes: 16 Page 1420, Entry 14 Pronounced jun (falling tone). Yu Pian (Jade Chapters): Cooked food. Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation of Characters and Analysis of Compound Characters): Leftover food consumed after another. Book of Rites (Liji), Inner Morals: While parents are alive, sons and daughters-in-law should accompany them during daily meals to encourage them to eat. Only after the parents have finished do the sons and daughters-in-law consume the leftovers. When the father has passed away but the mother is still alive, the eldest son serves the mother, and the other sons and daughters-in-law accompany her and encourage her to eat as before; for sweet and soft foods, they consume the leftovers just as a child would. Commentary: Encouraging parents to eat more is a supportive act, after which the children begin their own meal. Jun refers to the act of finishing the meal, specifically consuming what the parents have left. Serving the imperial meal is done out of concern that the parents might be lonely eating by themselves. Sweet and soft foods, such as dates, chestnuts, maltose, and honey, can harmonize various flavors; thus, like a child eating leftovers, these are used to nourish the elderly. Also refers to consuming the remnants of a sacrificial offering after the rite is completed. Book of Rites (Liji), Record of Sacrifices: The superior men of antiquity said that the person representing the deceased (shi) also consumes the remnants of the food offered to the spirits; this is a method of bestowing grace, through which one may observe the state of politics and moral instruction. Furthermore, any act of eating leftovers from others, or eating in the evening what remained from the daytime, is called jun. Book of Rites (Liji), Jade Pattern: Food remaining from the noon meal. Commentary: Jun refers to consuming the food left over from the morning. Also, Jiyun (Collection of Rhymes): Pronounced quan (falling tone). The meaning is the same. Liushu Gu (Refinement of the Six Categories of Characters): Also written in a variant form.