Shen Collection, Middle Volume
Radical: Insect (chóng)
Shen: Kangxi Strokes: 13
Page 1084, Entry 07
Pronounced shen (falling tone).
Book of Rites (Liji), Monthly Ordinances (Yueling): Pheasants enter the great water and transform into clams (shen). Note: Large clams are called shen.
Book of Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), Offices of Heaven (Tianguan), Turtle Handler (Bierén): Capture fish, turtles, and clams (shen) according to the season, as well as various creatures hiding at the bottom of the water.
Record of Strange Accounts (Shuyiji): Yellow sparrows transform into clams in autumn and back into sparrows in spring; after five hundred years, they become great clams (shen ge).
Commentary on the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing zhu): The shen is also called a mussel and is also known as hanjiang.
Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao): The shen belongs to the dragon family; its shape resembles a snake but is larger, with horns on its head like a dragon, a red mane, and scales below the waist that grow in reverse. It feeds on swallows. It can exhale breath to form images of towers, city walls, and ramparts; it appears when rain is about to fall, which is called a shen tower, also known as a mirage (haishi). Its fat mixed with wax makes candles; the fragrance travels a hundred paces, and the smoke also takes the shape of towers.
Book of Han (Hanshu), Treatise on Astronomy: The images formed by the breath of the shen at the seaside resemble towers.
Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial (Yili), Rites of the Deceased (Jixi li): Shen carriage. Note: A carriage used for transporting a coffin. It travels close to the ground, somewhat resembling a shen.
Also shen charcoal. Zuo Commentary (Zuozhuan), Second Year of Duke Cheng: When Duke Wen of Song passed away, thick burials began, utilizing shen charcoal. Note: Burning shen shells to make charcoal.
Also shen implements. Book of Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), Spring Offices (Chunguan), Libation Official (Changren): Manage the use of shen implements when offering sacrifices to the mountains and rivers of the four directions.
Zhuangzi, In the World of Men (Renjianshi): The man who loves his horses uses a basket to hold horse manure and a shen shell to hold horse urine.
Pronounced shen (falling tone). The meaning is the same.
Also the name of a district. Also written as a variant form (zhèn). Also written as a variant form (zhèn) in the Comprehensive Records (Tongzhi), Six Scripts Summary (Liushu lue).
Textual Research: Book of Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), Offices of Heaven (Tianguan), Turtle Handler (Bierén): Use the season to register fish and turtles. Following the original text, corrected to capture (cú).
