You Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Speech (yán) Entry: xu Kangxi Stroke Count: 19 Page 1180, Entry 01 According to the Sound Rhymes (Jiyun) and the Classified Dictionary (Leipian), it is pronounced xu. It is the same as the character for emptiness. It means to speak falsely. Also, in the Family Instructions of the Yan Clan (Yanshi Jiaxun), it mentions reciting poetry and engaging in idle chatter. The Comprehensive Collection of Characters (Zihui) states that originally this was written simply as the character for emptiness, but common usage added the speech radical.