Zi Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Person (rén) yi Kangxi Stroke Count: 6 Page Number: Page 95, Number 15 Ancient form. Tang Rhymes (Tangyun): yuzhi (fanqie); Collected Rhymes (Jiyun): yuyi (fanqie); Rhyme Assembly (Yunhui): yaoyi (fanqie); Correct Rhymes (Zhengyun): yuyi (fanqie). Pronounced like the character yi. Refers to that person. That person of whom I speak is on the other side of the water — Book of Odes (Shijing). Also used as an initial particle. He comes to me and treats me well — Book of Odes. Also: Who is it that he follows? — Book of Odes. Also used to mean is or to be. The fine offerings are dried meat — Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial (Yili). It is in the late spring of the year that we shall bury the offerings to the Earth and pay respects to the spirits — Rhapsody on Hedong (Hedong Fu) by Yang Xiong. Commentary: Yan Shigu says, yi means is. Also yuyi, describing a state of being depressed or unhappy. Wise men are depressed in low positions — Book of the Later Han (Hou Hanshu). Interchangeable with the character yi used as a sigh. Also wuyi, the sound of reading aloud. The sound of reading by the north window is wuyi — Poetry of Huang Tingjian. Commonly written in a variant form pronounced yi. Also yiwei, which refers to a woodlouse. The woodlice are in the rooms — Book of Odes. Commentary by Lu Ji: Yiwei is also called weishu or shufu; it grows in the soil beneath jars at the foot of walls and resembles a silverfish-like creature. Also a surname. Also a name of a prefecture. Originally known as Yiwulu, located outside the Great Desert of Dunhuang; it submitted to the central government in the early Tang dynasty, and Yi Prefecture (Yizhou) was established. Also the name of a tree. Mount Xionger: the Yi River originates here and flows south into the Luo River — Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing). Same as the character yi written with the water radical. Also Yiqi Shi — Rites of Zhou (Zhouli). Commentary: Yiqi was the title of an ancient emperor. Later monarchs remembered the past virtues of the Yiqi clan and thus used this name for an official post. There are people with the surname Yiqi today. Textual Criticism: In the Book of Odes, the phrase was yi yu lai ji using the character for reach. Following the original text, the character for reach has been corrected to the character for rest (ji).