Si Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Water (shuǐ) 漠 Kangxi strokes: 15 Page 646, Entry 13 Pronounced mo. According to the Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen), it refers to the drifting sands of the north. It is interchangeable with the character representing a curtain or covering. In the commentary to the Whistling Rhapsody (Xiaofu) from the Selections of Refined Literature (Wenxuan), it is stated that sand and earth are called this. It refers to a vast, spreading expanse. According to Cheng Dachang in the Preparation for Northern Borders (Beibian beidui), this term is synonymous with desert. It means the sandy desert is vast and wide, appearing distant and indistinct. Also, according to the Er’ya (Erya), it means clear. According to the Extensive Rhymes (Guangyun), it means to bestow or to flourish. Also, it refers to a calm and detached appearance. According to the Wenzi, without detachment and indifference, one cannot clarify virtue. Also, it is interchangeable with the character for lonely or desolate. According to the Chu Elegies (Chuci), in the distant roaming, the wild is lonely and uninhabited. Also, it is interchangeable with the character for do not or settle. According to the Er’ya, it means to plan. In the Book of Odes (Shijing), the sage settles it. The sound and meaning for the two characters are the same. Also, it describes a spread-out appearance. In the poems of Lu Ji, the streets and lanes are bustling and spread out. Also, it is the name of a river. According to the Comprehensive Records of the World (Guangyuji), it is located in Yangjiang County, Zhaoqing Prefecture. Pronounced mo. Interchangeable with a variant form. Sometimes written with the water radical, and also written as a variant. Also, rhyme supplement: Pronounced mu. In the poems of Li Ling, traversing ten thousand miles to cross the desert, leading the troops for the ruler to defeat the Xiongnu. Also, rhyme supplement: Pronounced mu. In the monument inscription for Ruan Ji by Xi Kang, calming the spirit with great purity, transcending the world, hidden in a vacant room, returning to true simplicity and quietude. Textual research: In the Biography of Wei Qing in the History of the Former Han (Qianhanshu), the army crossed the desert. The commentary states that the desert is synonymous with vast spreading. I have noted that the definition of the character as spreading is taken from the commentary to the Whistling Rhapsody in the Selections of Refined Literature, not from the History of the Former Han. The current commentary to the Whistling Rhapsody says that sand and earth are called this, meaning a spreading expanse.