Yin Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Tiny (yāo) Kangxi stroke count: 3 Page 82, Entry 01 Pronounced yāo. Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation of Simple and Compound Characters): Yāo means small. It represents the shape of a child when first born. Xu Xuan said: It represents the form and substance of something that has just begun to exist. Book of Han (Hanshu), Treatise on Food and Money: A coin with a diameter of seven fen and a weight of three zhu is called a yāo coin. The commentary by Yan Shigu states: Yāo means small. Lu Ji, Essay on Literature (Wenfu): It is like a string that is thin and taut. The commentary states: Yāo means small. Also, Tongsu Wen (General Vulgar Vocabulary): Not long is called yāo. Tiny is called mo. Ban Biao, Discourse on the Mandate of Kings (Wangming Lun): The small and insignificant are not yet worthy of counting as individuals. Also, Erya, Explanation of Animals: Yāo means young. The commentary states: A pig born last in a litter is commonly called a yāo pig. Also, yāo phoenix is the name of a small bird. Su Shi, Poem on Plum Blossoms: Hanging upside down, a green-feathered yāo phoenix. Also, liu yāo is the name of a musical piece. Pipa Lu (Story of the Pipa): Lü yao is essentially the same as lü yao (record the essentials). Originally, a musician presented a song, and the emperor ordered that the essentials be recorded, which then became the name. Later, it was mispronounced as lü yao, and subsequently corrupted to liu yāo. Musical scores: Among pipa pieces, there is the liu yāo. The Tang dynasty monk Shanben played the liu yāo piece, and with one stroke of the plectrum, it sounded like a thunderclap, a performance so exquisite it felt divine. Bai Juyi, Song of the Pipa Player (Pipa Xing): First came the Rainbow Skirt, then the Liu Yao. Also, a surname. Wanxing Tongpu (Comprehensive Genealogy of Ten Thousand Surnames): During the Hongzhi reign, there was a Yāo Qian, a native of Tangyin, who served as an instructor in Tongzhou. Commonly written as mo.