Hai Collection, Middle Volume. Radical: Bird (niǎo). Kangxi strokes: 19. Page 1492, Entry 01. Pronounced que. According to the Guangyun (Expanded Rhymes) and Zhengyun (Correct Rhymes), it is pronounced que; according to the Jiyun (Collected Rhymes) and Yunhui (Collection of Rhymes), it is pronounced que. It has the same pronunciation as the character que. It is the name of a bird, the magpie. It is also called ganque (dry magpie) or zhique (branch-transferring magpie). Tao Hongjing referred to it as the feiboniao (flying mottled bird). The Bencao (Compendium of Materia Medica) records: The magpie is the size of a crow but with a long tail, a sharp beak, and black claws; its back is green and its belly is white. It flies and calls, conceiving through sound and hatching through visual focus. In deep winter, it begins to build its nest, positioning the opening away from the direction of the Grand Year (Taisui) star and toward the Great Unity (Taiyi) star, knowing if the coming year will be windy, in which case it builds the nest lower. Because its call sounds like jie jie, it is called que; because its plumage is mottled, it is called bo; because its spirit can predict joyous events, it is called xique (joy magpie); because its nature is to despise dampness, it is called ganque. Lu Dian states: It transfers eggs between branches to incubate them without letting them fall, hence the name ganque. Zhuangzi (Master Zhuang) in the Chapter on the Revolutions of Heaven mentions the wuque ru (crow-magpie brooding). The commentary explains this refers to the transfer and brooding among branches. It is named zhique because it transfers branches. The Book of Odes (Shijing), in the Yongfeng section, mentions the magpie’s strength. The Book of Rites (Liji), in the Monthly Ordinances, records that in deep winter, magpies begin to build their nests. Huainanzi (Master Huainan), in the Training for Instructors section, mentions the mottled nature of the magpie. The Zhengzitong (Correction of Characters) records: Magpies feed their young in the third month of spring; once finished, they abandon the nest, and other birds take up residence. In autumn, their heads appear bald as if shaved, and they can subdue hedgehogs. Where a magpie is present, a hedgehog will roll onto its back to accept its pecking; when the magpie calls from the tree, the hedgehog lies still and cannot rise. There is also the lianque (silk magpie), with white feathers resembling white silk ribbons, commonly called the white-trail magpie. The mountain magpie is called xue. Furthermore, in fiction, the magpie is referred to as the shennü (divine woman). In Buddhist scriptures, it is called chuni, which is the Sanskrit word for magpie. It is also a place name. The Zuo Zhuan (Chronicle of Zuo), in the fifth year of Duke Zhao, records that the state of Chu attacked the state of Wu, and the people of Wu defeated them at Que'an. The commentary states that Que'an is Quweizhu in Shuxian, Lujiang. It is also the name of a mountain. The Book of the Later Han (Hou Hanshu), in the Biography of Zang Gong, records that Zang Gong and Cen Peng and others broke through Jingmen, and separately led forces to Chique Mountain to open a road out of Zigui. There is also Que Mountain in Jinan, mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing), named after the physician Bian Que. It is also the name of an observation platform. In the Western Han dynasty, the Western Capital had the Zhique Pavilion. It is also a personal name. Bian Que was a famous physician of antiquity. It is also the name of a dog. Song Que was a renowned dog from the state of Song. It is also written in a variant form. It is also known as queyu (magpie jade). The Tianxuan Zhuwubu (Register of Heavenly Manifestations and Matters) records that when a magpie pecks and eats the fruit of a pagoda tree, a jade forms in its brain, which is called queyu. It is also written in a variant form.