一切經音義 1.18

1.18

Hairbreadths (毫氂: The upper character has the fanqie hu-gao [háo]; the lower has the fanqie li-chi [lí]. According to the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art: 'In the method of measurement, it begins with the hu; ten hu make a si; ten si make a hao; ten hao make a li.' The Shuowen states: 'The two characters hao and li both derive from fur (毛); hao derives from an abbreviation of hao (豪), and li derives from an abbreviation of li (斄); both are phono-semantic compound characters.' The modern writing as 豪斄 is not the original characters, but borrowed use).