Wei Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Bamboo (zhú) Kangxi stroke count: 8 Page 877, Entry 04 Pronounced le. Bamboo root. Also a type of bamboo. Zhaoqing Prefecture Gazetteer (Zhaoqing fuzhi): Le is a type of bamboo, commonly known as thorn bamboo. It has thorns and is firm, suitable for making fences. In the past, the city of Zhaoqing had no walls; during the Song dynasty, the prefect Huang Ji recruited the common people to plant le bamboo in a circle, such that neither chickens nor dogs could pass through. New Discourses on Guangdong (Guangdong xinyu): Le bamboo is also known as se le. Le means thorn. People in Guangdong call thorns le, which is why it is also called le bamboo. Its long thorns are dense, and its branches divide into five prongs like chicken feet, which can serve to screen villages. Su Shi poem: The thorny le darkens the southern village. It is also called lao; its material can be used for coarse rafters, its bamboo splints can be woven, and its bamboo skin can be used to polish things. Locals make it into the shape of a zither to polish their fingernails, placing it among various adornments. When used for a long time, it becomes slightly smooth; soaking it in sour mash allows it to become rough again as it was originally. Also in Collected Rhymes (Jiyun): Jin is an ancient variant form of the character le. See note under the six-stroke section.