Si Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Water (shuǐ) 沿 Kangxi stroke count: 9 Page 614, Entry 13 Pronounced yan. Shuowen Jiezi (Shuowen): Yan means to follow the flow of water downstream. Book of Documents (Shangshu), Tribute of Yu (Yugong): Follow along the rivers and seas. Commentary: To go downstream is called yan. It also refers to following or inheriting a tradition. Book of Rites (Liji), Record of Music (Yueji): The principles of ritual and music are the same, therefore the wise kings used them to follow and inherit from one another. Note: Yan is like following and continuing. Sub-commentary: Refers to following and making slight alterations. Also, according to Jiyun (Collection of Rhymes), the character pronounced yan was anciently written with the water radical, meaning the same as the character yan. See the annotation under the four-stroke section for details. Commonly written as a variant form. Verification: In the Record of Music, it says the principles of ritual and music are the same, therefore the wise kings used them to follow each other. Corrected by adding the word same after principles in accordance with the original text.