Hai Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Fish (yú) Kangxi stroke count: 16 Page 1468, Entry 10 Pronounced nian. According to the Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi), it is the same as the ti fish. According to the commentary in the Er'ya: Explication of Fishes, nian is an alternative name for ti; in the region east of the Yangtze River, it is commonly called yi. According to the Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica (Bencao Tujing), the yi fish with a green back and small mouth is called nian. A record by Zhou Yigong states that in the caves of Yixing there are four-legged nian. In the sixth year of the Qiandao reign of the Song Dynasty, a nian fish appeared at the north gate of the capital city; it was black in color and had human-like hands protruding from both sides of its belly, each possessing five fingers. This was a monstrous fish. Also pronounced nian. The meaning is the same.