Zi Collection, Page Position: Upper. Radical: Second (yǐ). Kangxi strokes: 3. Page 84, Number 03.
Broad Rimes (Guangyun) indicates the pronunciation as qù qì qiè. Collected Rimes (Jiyun), Rhyme Assembly (Yunhui), and Correct Rimes (Zhengyun) indicate the pronunciation as qī qì qiè. It is pronounced the same as the character qì. The meaning is to request or to seek.
The Book of Rites (Liji) records that the Five Emperors followed the example of the Three Kings in the practice of listening to the requests of their subjects.
The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) in the Biography of Wang Jian states that for the General to request rewards in this manner is truly excessive.
The Book of the Later Han (Houhanshu) in the Biography of Li Tong records that he submitted a memorial requesting retirement due to illness.
The Buddhist Canon (Shidian) mentions that a Bhikkhu is called a mendicant scholar (qǐshì) in Chinese, meaning one who seeks the Buddhist Law internally to nourish the spirit and begs for food externally to sustain the body.
It is also a surname. During the Five Dynasties period, there was a general named Qi Li. There is also the compound surname Qifu.
Furthermore, Collected Rimes indicates the pronunciation as qiū jì qiè, and Correct Rimes indicates the pronunciation as qù jì qiè. It is pronounced the same as the character qì. Whenever one gives something to another, it can also be called qǐ.
The Book of the Former Han (Qianhanshu) in the Biography of Zhu Maichen records that the officers and soldiers further gave things to him. The commentary states that here the character is pronounced as qì.
The Book of Jin (Jinshu) in the Biography of Xie An records Xie An saying to his nephew Yang Tan that he gives the villa to him.
Zheng Qiao in the Comprehensive Treatises (Tongzhi) states that the character qì refers to the breath. Because the pronunciations were identical, it was borrowed to represent the meaning of giving to others, pronounced as qì. Then, because of the meaning of giving to others, it was further borrowed to represent the meaning of seeking from others. This is an instance of a phonetic loan being used for another phonetic loan.
