Yin Collection, Upper Volume
Radical: Roof (bù)
13 strokes
Page 289, Entry 30
According to the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun) and the Rhyme Collection (Yunhui), the pronunciation is yu (rising tone). It means lazy. In the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), Biography of Money Makers (Huozhi Liezhuan), it says: to be sloppy and lazy while just trying to survive. Chengqing says: a lazy person cannot rouse themselves, just like a gourd lying on the ground cannot stand on its own, which is why the character is formed with the radical for gourd. Also, as one is often inside a house, it uses the radical for roof. The Proper Character Guide (Zhengzitong) states it is a corrupt form of the character yu. According to the Jade Records (Yupian) and the Categorized Dictionary (Leipian), the character yu is pronounced ju (falling tone). It is noted as meaning: crooked, or a hollow vessel. It cites the Explanation of Graphs and Analysis of Characters (Shuowen) regarding the word wuyu, both recorded under the radical for cave. The Rhyme Collection (Yunhui) lists the character yu under the rhyme group seven-yu, and notes that it originally appears in the Categorized Dictionary (Leipian) by the Sima clan as pronounced yu (rising tone), meaning lazy. Its sound and meaning are distinct from the character yu, and it should be treated as two separate entries.