Si Collection, Lower Volume
Radical: Dog (quǎn)
獄
Kangxi Dictionary strokes: 14
Page 717, Entry 03
Ancient script form
Pronounced yù
Shuowen Jiezi (Dictionary of Characters): To confirm. Derived from the character for words. Two dogs are used to guard.
Shiming (Explication of Names): A prison (yu) means to confirm (que). It is to verify the truth or falsehood of a person's nature.
Yupian (Jade Chapters): The two kings first established prisons. During the Shang dynasty it was called Youli, and in the Zhou dynasty it was called Lingyu. It is also referred to as a cage, or as a rounded earth enclosure.
Guangyun (Broad Rhymes): Created by Gaoyao.
Book of Changes (Yijing), Bi Hexagram: The image says: below the mountain there is fire, representing Bi (Grace). The superior man uses this to clarify various administrative affairs and does not dare to judge legal cases lightly.
Book of Documents (Shujing), Founding of Government: King Wen did not have much to do with the various discussions, the various legal cases, or the various cautions.
Book of Odes (Shijing), Shao Nan: Who says you have no family? Why do you hasten this legal case of mine?
Also a star name. Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), Treatise on the Celestial Offices: The Prison star emerges due north, in the territory of the north. The star is approximately six zhang from the ground, large and red, frequently moving, and when observed closely, it is blue in the center.