Wei Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Silk (mì) Kangxi Strokes: 15 Page 930, Entry 08 Pronounced mian. Pronounced mian. Pronounced mian. Yu Pian (Book of Characters): Refers to new silk floss. Now written as the variant character mian. Guang Yun (Extended Rhymes): Fine silk is called mian, coarse silk is called xu. Shi Ming (Explanation of Names): Mian is like mian (to cover/drown); it is soft and lacks patterns. Book of Documents (Shangshu), Tribute of Yu (Yugong): Their baskets contained fine silk floss (kuang). The commentary states: Kuang is new silk floss. History of the Former Han (Qian Hanshu), Biography of Wang Bao: Hard to describe the density and beauty of pure silk floss. Commentary: The density of silk floss. Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation of Simple and Compound Characters): Mian-lian means subtle. Bo Ya (Broad Refinements): Means to connect or to be small. Mian-mian means long. Book of Odes (Shijing), Odes of Wang: The vines of the kudzu are long and continuous. Commentary: The appearance of being long without breaking. Also in Odes of Greater Ya (Daya): The melons and gourds are long and continuous. Commentary: A term for something fine and subtle. Mian-mian also implies being detailed and dense. Book of Odes, Eulogies of Zhou: Thorough and dense is the weeding. Also, mian-man is the sound of birds. Book of Odes, Odes of Lesser Ya (Xiaoya): The yellow birds are twittering. Mian is also similar to mi-man (overflowing/spreading). Guliang Zhuan (Guliang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals), Fourteenth Year of Duke Wen: Spreading across the land for a thousand miles. Also, chan-mian (entwined/continuous) is similar to chou-mou (entangled/intimate). Huainanzi, Teachings on the Ruler's Arts: Entwined and burdened with tasks. Place name. History of the Former Han, Treatise on Geography: Mian-zhu in Guanghan Commandery. Commentary: Where the Mian River originates. Surname. Mencius: Mian Ju resided in Gaotang. Guang Yun: Zhang Fang of Jin considered Mian Si his trusted confidant. Pronounced mie. Weak. Rhyme Supplement: Rhymes with lin. Wei Emperor Wen, Ode to Thinking of a Relative: Pained by the faintness of the weak branches, saddened by the continuous growth of the melons and gourds. Covered in hardship and dangers yet nurturing myself, always harboring exhaustion and walking in bitterness. Note: In the Shuowen Jiezi, this character is under the Silk radical, here it is merged into this section. Textual Research: In the Book of Documents, Tribute of Yu, the original text says their baskets contained fine silk floss. I have corrected the text from tribute to basket according to the original source.