Hai Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Bird (niǎo) Character: Qu Kangxi stroke count: 16 Page 1486, Entry 05 Ancient text. Pronounced qu (rising tone). Explaining Writing (Shuowen): The quju bird. Wings of the Erya (Erya Yi): The quju bird resembles the shrike and possesses a crest; they fly in flocks. Lexicons refer to it as the ba-ba bird. Another name for it is qu. Also written as qu. Commentary on the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing Zhu): The quju is the same as the quju bird. General Explanation of Characters (Zhengzitong): Also known as the bage (myna bird). The Record of the Unseen and Seen (Youming Lu) states: On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, clip the tip of its tongue to make it round, then teach it to mimic speech; it can speak like a human. Also, quduo, a type of insect. Liezi, Chapter on Heavenly Patterns (Tianrui Pian): The butterfly is a descendant. It transforms into an insect, living beneath the stove; its appearance is like a husk, and its name is quduo. After one thousand days, the quduo transforms into a bird, which is named ganyugu. Also, pronounced gou. Broad Rhymes (Guangyun): A species of quju bird. Collected Rhymes (Jiyun): An owl. Also, pronounced gou. The cry of a bird, the call of a pheasant.