Wu Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Grain (hé) Entry: lu (falling-rising tone) Kangxi stroke count: 13 Page 854, Entry 29 Pronounced liu (falling tone). According to Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi), it refers to early ripening crops. A crop planted early but harvested late is called zhong, while a crop planted late but harvested early is called lu. The Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), section on the Offices of Heaven, the Internal Administrator, records: At the beginning of spring, inform the Queen to lead the women of the six palaces to cultivate the seeds of zhong and lu, and present them to the King. Additionally, the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun) notes that it is sometimes written in a variant form (lu). The Book of Odes (Shijing), Odes of Bin, contains the line: Millet and panicled millet, the early and late ripening. Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi) cites the Book of Odes (Shijing) using the form lu.