Wei Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Rice (mǐ) Zong Kangxi stroke count: 15 Page 911, Entry 08 Pronounced zong (falling tone). A triangular-shaped glutinous rice food item wrapped in reed leaves. General Records of Customs (Guangyun), Compendium of Rhymes (Jiyun), Collected Rhymes (Yunhui), and Correct Rhymes (Zhengyun) state the pronunciation is zong (falling tone). Records of Local Customs (Fengtu Ji): Made by wrapping sticky rice in broadleaf bamboo leaves. Sequel to Records of Strange Tales (Xu Qixie Ji): Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The people of Chu cast rice inside bamboo tubes into the water on this day to offer sacrifices to him. During the Jianwu era of the Eastern Han dynasty, Qu Qu saw a man in broad daylight who identified himself as the Sanlü Official (Qu Yuan) and said to him: I hear that you intend to offer a sacrifice; you may plug the bamboo tube with chinaberry leaves and wrap it with colored silk threads, as these two things are feared by the dragons. Nowadays, when people make zongzi, they include chinaberry leaves and five-colored silk threads, which are customs handed down from the Miluo River. Compendium of Rhymes (Jiyun): Sometimes written in a variant form (zong).