Si Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Fire (huǒ) Tai Kangxi strokes: 9 Page 668, Entry 28 Pronounced tai. According to the Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen), gray soot is coal soot. In the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), sometimes written in a variant form (tai). Also, according to the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), pronounced tai. According to the Jade Chapters (Yupian), soot is smoke and dust.