Hai Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Bird (niǎo) Character: An Kangxi Strokes: 17 Page 1487, Entry 35 Pronounced yan (falling tone). According to the Expanded Rhymes (Guangyun) and the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun) and the Standard Rhymes (Zhengyun), the pronunciation is yan (falling tone). According to the Explaining Graphs (Shuowen), it is a type of bird. According to the Jade Chapters (Yupian), it is a type of oriole-like bird. According to the Literary Expositor (Erya), in the chapter interpreting birds, the hu bird is identified as the an. The commentary notes that it is now known as the an sparrow. Also, according to the Master Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals (Lu Lan), there is a record that when a rabbit gives birth to a pheasant, the pheasant in turn gives birth to an an. Gao You notes that the an is also known as the crowned sparrow. In the Five Phases, it is considered a pestilential omen among the feathered creatures. According to the Guide to Animals and Plants (Piya), because the an does not perch in trees and remains settled, it is called by this name. In the Discourses of the States (Jin Yu), it is recorded that Duke Ping of Jin shot an an, but it did not die. Wei Zhao notes that the an is a small bird. Also mentioned in the Zhuangzi, in the chapter titled Free and Easy Wandering, where it is written that the marsh quail mocks it. Sometimes written in a variant form. Also the name of a beast. According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhai Jing), on Bianchun Mountain there is a beast that looks like a macaque, called a you-an. According to the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), pronounced an (level tone), referring to the sound of a bird.