Wei Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Silk (mì) Kangxi Strokes: 13 Page 924, Entry 06 Pronounced xiao. According to the Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen): raw silk. According to the Jade Chapters (Yupian): plain silk, or weft threads. According to the Commentary on the Emergency Literacy Reader (Jijiu Pian Zhu): xiao is raw white silk, resembling thin, coarse silk. Also known as xianzhi. According to the Book of Rites (Liji), specifically the Jade Ornamentation (Yuzao) chapter: wearing a silk garment as an under-garment. The commentary states: xiao belongs to the category of patterned silk. According to Zuo Si, in the Rhapsody on the Capital of Wu (Wu Du Fu): the inhabitants of the spring chamber weave in secret and roll up the silk. The commentary states: the mermaid comes out of the water, dwells among people for a time, and sells silk. Xiao is also written as xiao (a homophone). According to the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial (Yili), specifically the Wedding Rites of Scholars (Shi Hun Li) chapter: the matron prepares the comb, pin, and silk garment on the right. The commentary states: read as the xiao in the Odes (Shijing) poem about white clothes and red silk sashes. Note that in the Tang section of the Odes, the line about white clothes and red embroidery is interpreted by the commentary as an error for xiao. The Rhyme Supplement (Yunbu) says it should be read as xiao. Also pronounced shao. According to the Biography of Xiang Xu in the Book of the Later Han (Hou Hanshu): wearing a dark red silk headwrap. According to the Definitions of Names (Shiming): a silk headwrap is a device to gather or fasten, used to secure the hair upward. According to Mu Hua, in the Rhapsody on the Sea (Hai Fu): fastening the long silk. The commentary states: xiao refers to what is now known as a sail spar, made of long timber used to hang sails.