Han character 䯔

It means “to incline” or “turn to one side.”

In Mandarin pinyin, its reading is zé: begin with the “ts” sound in “tsunami,” then let the pitch rise.

How is 䯔 used in the crane guide?

It appears in a classical Chinese guide to judging cranes.

The 相鶴經 portrays cranes as otherworldly, long-lived birds. One line links 䯔 with a crane’s cheek and ear, then says the bird “knows the time.”

A 2022 study argues that the text was probably composed during the Wei–Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties period, an early medieval era in China. Early Tang dynasty commentaries and book catalogues preserve its trail. Tradition credits it to Fuqiu Gong, a legendary Daoist; another account says the Huainan Eight Immortals, a legendary group, recovered and transmitted it. The title also appears as 相鹄經: 鹄 and 鹤 had similar sounds and overlapping meanings. The 2024 edition of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants notes that 䯔 does not appear in Shuowen, an early Chinese character dictionary.