You Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Speech (yán) Yan Kangxi Stroke Count: 27 Page 1188, Entry 10 According to the Guangyun, Jiyun, Yunhui, and Zhengyun, it is pronounced nie. It means to deliberate on punishments and judge cases. Book of Rites (Liji), section on the hereditary princes of King Wen: When the trial of a case is concluded, the responsible official must report the verdict to the duke or prince. The commentary explains this as reporting. The sub-commentary explains this as deliberating. History of the Former Han (Qian Han Shu), Annals of Emperor Jing: Regarding cases where there is doubt, even if the legal statutes provide for a verdict, if the public does not accept it, the case must be deliberated and reviewed. Shigu commentary: Yan means to deliberate justly. History of the Later Han (Hou Han Shu), Biography of Pei Kai: Regional officials were negligent, seeking to avoid the trouble of requesting a review. Commentary: Guangya states that Yan means a case with doubt. This means that if there is doubt regarding a crime, it must be reported to the Commandant of Justice for deliberation. History of Song (Song Shi), Treatise on Selection and Appointments: Sima Guang petitioned for the establishment of ten categories for the selection of talent. The tenth category was for those familiar with the law and skilled in judging and reviewing cases. Also, according to the Guangyun it is pronounced nie (rising tone). According to the Jiyun and Yunhui it is pronounced nie (rising tone). Also, according to the Jiyun it is pronounced zhan. According to the Yunhui it is pronounced zhan. According to the Zhengyun it is pronounced yan. The meaning is the same. Zhengyun states that the common variant form is written as yan.