Zi Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Person (rén) Stretch; Kangxi strokes: 7; Page: 97, entry 06 Pronounced shēn Pronounced shēn Pronounced shēn Meaning: to stretch out, to smooth out. Book of Changes: Appended Statements (Yijing Xici): Pulling and stretching it out. Also refers to straightening something that is curved. Zhuangzi: External Things (Zhuangzi Keyi): Blowing, exhaling, and inhaling, expelling the old and taking in the new. Mimicking the bear hanging and the bird stretching; this is merely to prolong one's life. Also refers to yawning and stretching one's body. Book of Rites (Liji): When sitting in attendance to a superior, if the superior yawns, stretches, prepares their cane and shoes, or looks to see if the sun is early or late, those sitting in attendance should ask to leave. Commentary (Shu): When the spirit is weary, one yawns; when the body is weary, one stretches. Also in the Collected Rimes (Jiyun), it is interchangeable with the character meaning to trust (xìn). See the detailed annotation for the character xìn. Also used as a surname. Master Mao states: In ancient times, there was only the character for Shen, and later the person radical was added to distinguish it. Textual Research: Book of Rites (Liji): When sitting in attendance to a superior, if the superior yawns, stretches, prepares their cane and shoes, or looks to see if the sun is early or late, those sitting in attendance should ask to leave. Commentary (Shu): When the spirit is weary, one yawns; when the body is weary, one stretches. Following the original text, the word for all has been removed. The words for superior have been added after sitting in attendance to a superior. Cane and shoes has been corrected to cane and footwear. The note has been changed to commentary. Both instances of the word weary have been corrected.