Shen Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Blood (xuè) Character: Xi Kangxi strokes: 24 Page 1108, Entry 28 Pronounced xi (rising tone). According to the Sound of Tang (Tangyun) and the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), it is pronounced the same as the character for red-colored (xi). In the Explanation of Graphs and Analysis of Characters (Shuowen Jiezi), it is defined as pain or grief. In the Book of Documents (Shangshu), section Announcement of Luo (Luogao): The common people are all grieving and heartbroken. According to the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), it is also pronounced xu, the same as the character for moat (xu). The meaning is the same. In the Correcting Errors in the Six Writings (Liushu Zheng e), the character is composed of blood and brush, using the component for two hundred as a phonetic marker. When a person is grieving, their blood and vital energy are exhausted; it is a compound ideograph. The common variant form is incorrect.