一切經音義 86.51

86.51

操㲦（上草刀反文字典說云操持也說文操把持也從手喿音桑到反下寒幹反說文㲦獸毫毛也可以作筆故謂文筆為扎㲦從毛幹聲論文從羽作翰俗用亦通非本字也）。

To hold a writing brush (操㲦: the first [character] is *cao-dao* [c- + -(h)ao = cāo] in fanqie; the Wenzi dianshuo says: “操 means to hold.” The Shuowen says: “操 means to take in hand and grasp; it is categorized under 'hand' and takes 喿 as phonetic, pronounced *sang-dao* [s- + -ào = sào].” The second [character] is *han-gan* [h- + -àn = hàn] in fanqie; the Shuowen says: “㲦 means animal hair, which can be used to make writing brushes, hence written composition is called 'zhahan' [bamboo strips and writing brushes]; it is categorized under 'fur/hair' and takes 幹 as phonetic.” In the treatise, it is written with 'feather' as 翰, which is also commonly used and acceptable, though not the original character).