Mao Collection, Middle Volume. Radical: Halberd (gē). Kangxi stroke count: 5. Page 411, Entry 03. Pronounced mao (falling tone). This is the fifth of the ten Heavenly Stems. It symbolizes the time when all things are flourishing. In the Erya: Explaining the Heavens (Erya: Shi tian), the year star in the position of mao is called zhuoyong, and the month in the position of mao is called li. Also pronounced mu (falling tone). The meaning is the same. In the Book of Odes (Shijing): "The auspicious day is the mao day." According to the Commentary by Zhu (Zhu zhuan), mao is a day of rigid nature. Whenever external affairs are concerned, a day of rigid nature is chosen. King Xuan of Zhou went hunting, which is an external affair, and therefore chose a day of rigid nature. According to the History of the Five Dynasties (Wudai shi), in the first year of the Kaiping era of the Liang dynasty, the character mao in the daily cycle was changed to wu to avoid the taboo of the royal name. Later generations began pronouncing mao as wu, and this error originated from that event.