Shen Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Insect (chóng) Entry: Ruan Kangxi Stroke Count: 15 Page 1090, Entry 07 Pronounced ruan (third tone). Shuowen Jiezi (Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters): To move. Huainanzi (Huainan Masters): Insects fly and Ruan (small creatures) move. History of the Former Han (Qian Hanshu): Among the creatures that walk on feet and breathe through their mouths, slowly crawling, there is none that does not gravitate toward safety and benefit while avoiding dangerous predicaments. Ma Rong, Guangcheng Song (Ode to the Vast Park): The appearance of crawling slowly and wriggling. Also Ruan snake. Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing): Within the southern seas, between the Black Water and the Green Water, there is a red snake that lives in trees, called Ruan snake, which feeds on trees. Also according to Jiyun (Rhyme Collection): Pronounced ru (third tone). The meaning is the same. Sometimes written in a variant form (ruan).