"distinguished from the panicled millet by its long and dense compound spikes." Bretschneider.
Shu is composed of 艸 ts'ao vegetation, with 叔 shu, originally to gather, now a father's younger brother, as phonetic. It is "a collective name for leguminous plants and their seeds." Bretschneider.
| 74. | 麥 | 黍 | 稷 | wheat, glutinous millet, and common millet. | |
| Mai4 | shu3 | chi2 | |||
| Wheat | glutinous-millet | common-millet |
Mai is composed of 來 lai to come, over an obsolete radical 夊 sui to walk slowly, and is now itself a radical. It is subdivided into 大 ta mai barley, and 小 hsiao mai wheat.
Shu is composed of 禾 ho grain, with a contraction of 雨 yü rain as phonetic. It is specially mentioned as being sticky, and is said to have been called shu because it was planted during the 大暑 ta shu great heat. It is now a radical.
Chi is composed of 禾 ho grain and a phonetic associated with husbandry, as might be inferred from its composition. It is called the chief of the five grains.
[Shu and chi are said by the Chinese to be varieties, the former having glutinous seeds, of the common millet. However Dr. Hance and other competent botanists "were not able to make out any botanical difference between the two." Bretschneider.]
| 75. | 此 | 六 | 穀 | These six grains | |
| Tz'ŭ3 | liu4 | ku3 | |||
| This | six | grain |
Tz'ŭ see line 59.
Liu is composed of 八 pa eight (line 88) below the old pictorial form of 上 shang above, which was anciently represented by a line above a line (line 192). It is the number of change, the female numbers
