Zhōulǐ Xú-shì yīn 周禮徐氏音
Master Xú’s Phonological Commentary on the Zhōulǐ
by 徐邈 (撰)
About the work
A single-juàn reconstruction of 徐邈 Xú Miǎo’s (344–397) lost Zhōulǐ Xú-shì yīn 周禮徐氏音 — a fully phonological-only commentary (yīn 音) on the Zhōulǐ / Zhōuguān (cf. KR1d0001), preserving fǎn-qiè spellings for difficult words. Xú Miǎo, zì Xiānmín 仙民, native of Dōnghǎi Tán-xiàn 東海郯縣, was the leading Eastern-Jìn phonological-glossator of his generation, with parallel phonological commentaries on the Wǔjīng (e.g. KR1d0128 Lǐjì Xú-shì yīn) and the Shàngshū. The CHANT reconstruction (CH2e1073) is drawn exclusively from Lù Démíng 陸德明’s Jīngdiǎn shìwén 經典釋文.
Abstract
The text is reconstructed from Lù Démíng’s named-author citations within his comprehensive Jīngdiǎn shìwén phonological apparatus for the Zhōulǐ. The structure follows the canonical Liù-guān (six-office) order of the Zhōulǐ — Tiānguān zhǒngzǎi (Heaven-office, Treasurer), Dìguān sītú (Earth-office, Director of Multitudes), Chūnguān zōngbó (Spring-office, Director of Rites), Xiàguān sīmǎ (Summer-office, Director of Horse), Qiūguān sīkòu (Autumn-office, Director of Punishments), and Kǎogōng jì (Records of Examination of Crafts — replacing the lost Winter-office). The opening preserved fragments cover the biàn fāng zhèng wèi 辨方正位 opening line of the Tiānguān zhǒngzǎi, with biàn glossed fāng-miǎn fǎn 方免反 (fǎn-qiè for the dental-onset reading); the Lǚ xià-shì sānshí yǒu èr rén 旅下士三十有二人 line with èr glossed yīn èr 音二.
The text is a high-density phonological gloss-collection rather than a substantive ritual-commentary; its scholarly importance is for the reconstruction of Eastern-Jìn-period pronunciation of difficult-character readings in the canonical Zhōulǐ text.
The dating bracket (339–397) reflects Xú Miǎo’s documented lifespan in Jìn shū 91 (列傳 61). The Zhōulǐ Xú-shì yīn is conventionally placed in his late-Tài-yuán period.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language secondary literature located. See:
- 王力 Wáng Lì, Zhōngguó yǔyán xué shǐ 中國語言學史, on Eastern-Jìn phonological scholarship.
Other points of interest
The Zhōulǐ Xú-shì yīn is one of the two major Eastern-Jìn freestanding Zhōulǐ yīn-yì works (alongside KR1d0112 Zhōulǐ Liú-shì yīn by Liú Chāng-zōng) — the two together constitute the principal Lù-Démíng-period phonological apparatus to the Zhōulǐ and are key sources for the historical phonology of Middle Chinese.
Links
- Chinese Text Project — Jīngdiǎn shìwén: https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=en&res=608648