Zi Collection, Page Position: Lower Radical: Knife (dāo) Character: yuè Kangxi Dictionary Stroke Count: 6 Page 137, Column 25 According to the Tang Dynasty Rhymes (Tangyun), the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun), and the Rhyme Association (Yunhui), the fanqie pronunciation is yú combined with jué, pronounced the same as yuè. Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi) explains the meaning as to cut off or sever. The character is composed of the Knife (dāo) radical and the phonetic component yuè. It was originally written as a variant form pronounced yuè, referring to the amputation of the feet. That original form was composed of the Foot (zú) radical with yuè as the phonetic component. Xu Kai's commentary states that the act of the feet being cut off is called yuè, and the name for this punishment is yuè. Nowadays, the common written form only uses the character yuè. The Book of Documents (Shangshu), in the chapter Punishments of Lü (Lüxing), records that the punishment of cutting off the feet is called fèi. The Book of Han (Hanshu), in the Treatise on Punishment and Law (Xingfazhi), records that there were five hundred offenses punishable by amputation of the feet. The character is also read in the Tang Dynasty Rhymes, Collected Rhymes, Rhyme Association, and Correct Rhymes (Zhengyun) with the fanqie pronunciation wǔ combined with hū, pronounced the same as wù. It means to cut off the feet. In the Collected Rhymes, it is sometimes also written in other variant forms.