Chen Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Tree (mù) Xi Kangxi Strokes: 9 Page 517, Entry 06 Pronounced xi (rising tone). Shuowen Jiezi (Dictionary of Explaining Graphs): Refers to hemp. Book of Documents (Shangshu): In the Tribute of Yu (Yugong) chapter, mention is made of silk and hemp from the valleys of Mount Dai. Guangyun (Expanded Rhyme Dictionary): Hemp without seeds is called ju, while hemp with seeds is called xi. Erya Yi (Expanded Wings to the Erya): Hemp with fruits is ju, and hemp without fruits is xi. These two explanations are contradictory. According to the commentary on the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), specifically the chapter on the Office of Hemp (Dianxi), the male hemp plant is xi. Erya (Approaching Elegance), in the chapter on Explaining Grasses, states that the fu is the mother hemp. Guo Pu comments: Ju hemp is that which produces seeds abundantly; mother hemp bears seeds, while male hemp does not bear seeds. The account in Erya Yi is correct. Also, xi-er, a type of plant name. Book of Odes (Shijing): In the Zhou South (Zhounan) section, it says to gather the curling ears. The commentary notes that this refers to xi-er. Note: According to the Shuowen Jiezi, the character xi is properly formed with the radical for not, not the radical for tree; it has been incorrectly included here in the Tree radical section.