一切經音義 86.51

86.51

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).