Wei Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Bamboo (zhú) 12 Kangxi strokes Page 878, Entry 01 Ancient characters. Pronounced sun. According to the Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi), it refers to a bamboo fetus. According to the Erya (Er ya, Explaining Plants), a sun is a bamboo sprout. The commentary states that when bamboo first sprouts, it is called a sun. In the Book of Odes (Shijing, Great Odes), it says, What is there? There are bamboo shoots and rushes. Lu Ji notes that most bamboo shoots grow in the fourth month, while only the Bamu bamboo shoot grows in the eighth or ninth month. When they first emerge from the ground, they are a few inches long; they are boiled in sour wine vinegar and can be eaten as a snack with wine or as food. The History of Tang (Tangshu, Treatise on Officials) states that the Directorate of Bamboo supervised the planting of bamboo and reeds, and annually provided bamboo shoots for the imperial kitchen. According to the Materia Medica (Bencao), bamboo has male and female forms; the female produces more shoots. When the bamboo roots form rhizomes, the tender ones are dug up, known as whip shoots. Those dug in winter from beneath the roots of large bamboo before they emerge from the soil are winter shoots; they can be eaten fresh and are considered a delicacy. Southerners dry them to create jade-plate shoots, bright shoots, or fire-dried shoots; salted ones are known as salted shoots, which can be eaten as vegetables. All bamboo shoots have a sweet flavor, are slightly cooling, and are non-toxic. Also, the horizontal wooden beam from which bells and stone chimes are hung is called a sun; it is the same as the character for sun (sun). According to the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli, Winter Officials, Artificers' Record), the carpenter makes the beam and the upright. The commentary states that the horizontal piece from which musical instruments are hung is called a sun, and the vertical piece is a ju. The commentary notes that sun is read as the same sun as in bamboo shoot. Also, pronounced lun. A weak bamboo used to make mats. According to the Book of Documents (Shujing, Testamentary Charge), thick bamboo mats were spread out. The commentary states that sun refers to soft bamboo. Xu says it is made of bamboo strips woven into mats. Also, pronounced jun. A bamboo litter or carriage. According to the Gongyang Commentary (Gongyang Zhuan, 15th year of Duke Wen), the people of Qi returned the remains of Gongsun Ao and coerced the return of his belongings, bringing them back on a sun. The commentary notes that a sun is a bamboo basket. It is also known as a woven carriage; in the regions of Qi and Lu and to the north, it is called a sun. In the Collection of Graphs (Leipian), it is noted that sun is sometimes written as the variant form (sun), and commonly written as the variant form (sun). The character for sun was originally written with the radical for bamboo and the phonetic element xun.