Page:Elementary Chinese - San Tzu Ching (1900).djvu/140

 P'i is composed of 手 shou hand as radical, with 皮 p'i skin as phonetic, and originally meant to grasp from the side. It now means to spread out, etc.

P'u is composed of 艸 ts'ao vegetation as radical, and 浦 p'u a reach of a river as phonetic.

Pien is composed of 糸 ssǔ silk as radical and 扁 pien as phonetic. It means to arrange in order, to compile, etc. [This line refers to 路温舒 Lu Wên-shu, a shepherd under the Han dynasty, who copied out on a sheet of plaited reeds, being too poor to buy the costly books of the period, portions of the Book of History.]

Hsiao is composed of 刀 tao knife as radical, with a common phonetic.

Chu see.

Chien is composed of 竹 chu bamboo as radical, with 間 chien a space as phonetic. It also means to abridge, terse, to choose, negligent, etc. [This line refers to 公孫弘 Kung-sun Hung, died B.C. 121, a swineherd who at the age of fifty borrowed the Spring and Autumn Annals and copied it out on bamboo tablets, subsequently rising to high office. Eitel entirely misses the meaning of these two lines. He translates, "Men like Lu Wên-shu split reeds and bamboo slips, or polished bamboo tablets to write on."]