Chou Collection, Upper Volume
Radical: Enclosure (wéi)
Kangxi stroke count: 12
Page 220, Entry 01
Ancient form of enclosure.
Pronounced wéi.
Shuowen Jiezi states: To guard. Also, to wind around.
Book of Changes (Yijing), Xici: To encompass heaven and earth without exceeding them. Commentary: Comprehensive preparation. Fan is like a mold for metal. Wei is an outer perimeter.
Also, Book of Odes (Shijing), Shang Song: The Emperor commands the model for the nine regions. Commentary: Dividing the world into nine areas, like a compass drawing a circle.
Also, to surround. Book of Rites (Zhouli), Summer Offices, Huanren Commentary: Huan is like wei; one who oversees the surrounding of guests, using equipment for defense.
Also, to surround and capture animals. Book of Rites (Liji), Quli: A sovereign does not surround the marshes during the spring hunt. Commentary: During the spring when life is growing, do not organize a circle to capture everything.
Also, Royal Regulations (Wangzhi): The Son of Heaven does not complete the circle. Commentary: It means he does not surround it on all four sides.
Also, to surround and attack a city. Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu), Tiyao Commentary: To encircle a city or town is called wei.
Also, Book of Rites (Zhouli), Spring Offices, Great Master of Ceremonies: Using the meeting ritual to mourn those surrounded and defeated. Commentary: Referring to a state that has been surrounded and invaded, suffering disaster and loss of wealth, so allied states meet to provide resources to replace what was lost.
Also, Yunhui dictionary: Five inches is called a wei, one armful is called a wei. Zhuangzi, Renjianshi: The oak, a shrine tree, is large enough to shade an ox, measuring one hundred wei around; it is useless wood, which is why it lives long.
Also, name of a district. History of the Later Han (Hou Hanshu), Geography Treatise: Wei District, belonging to Wuwei Commandery, Liang Province.
Also, interchangeable with wei (leather). History of the Former Han (Qian Hanshu), Annals of Emperor Cheng: A great wind uprooted trees, ten wei or more.
Also, interchangeable with wei (guard). Guanzi, Diyuan Chapter: Mountain goosefoot and reed grass, where various medicinal herbs gather, serve to guard against the various blights. Commentary: Wei is the same as wei (guard).
Pronounced wèi. To wind around.