Shen Collection, Middle Volume
Radical: Insect (chóng)
Entry: yuan
Kangxi strokes: 16
Page 1092, Entry 31
Collected Rhymes (Jiyun): Pronounced yuan. Same as yuan. The newt (rongyuan), also known as the snake doctor (sheyi). See the entries for rong and yuan for cross-references. Also refers to the yuan silkworm.
Amplified Elegance (Piya): A silkworm that produces a second generation. Some say that silkworms that reproduce without mating are often called yuan silkworms.
Huainan Masters (Huainanzi), Chapter on Accomplishing the Traditions (Taizu Xun): Yuan silkworms produce two harvests a year; this is not necessarily disadvantageous, yet royal law prohibits it because they devastate mulberry trees. Originally written as yuan, sometimes written as yuan.
Textual research: In the Huainan Masters (Huainanzi), Chapter on Accomplishing the Traditions (Taizu Xun), the word tradition was corrected to custom according to the original text.