Ěryǎ zhùshū 爾雅注疏
Annotated Sub-Commentary on the Ěryǎ by 郭璞 (Guō Pú, 注), 陸德明 (Lù Démíng, 音義) and 邢昺 (Xíng Bǐng, 疏)
About the work
The combined zhùshū 注疏 edition of the Ěryǎ — Guō Pú’s Eastern-Jìn commentary plus Xíng Bǐng’s Northern-Sòng zhèngyì sub-commentary, set inside the Ěryǎ base text and supplemented by Lù Démíng’s Jīngdiǎn shìwén 經典釋文 phonetic glosses. Eleven juàn: Shìgǔ 釋詁 in juàn 1, then Shìyán 釋言, Shìxùn 釋訓 + Shìqīn 釋親, etc. through to Shìshòu 釋獸 + Shìchù 釋畜 in juàn 11. This is the form in which the Ěryǎ enters the Thirteen Classics.
Tiyao
Your servants etc. respectfully report: Ěryǎ zhùshū in eleven juàn. The notes are by Guō Pú of the [Eastern] Jìn; the shū is by Xíng Bǐng and others of the Sòng. Among scholars of the Ěryǎ, from the Jiānwèi wénxué down, there were collectively more than ten authorities; Guō Pú compiled and synthesized them in his commentary. Lù Démíng [in his Jīngdiǎn shìwén] called Guō’s learning broad and his retention strong, valued by his age. After him, exegetes of the meaning have been many, but transmitters [of independent commentaries] besides the Shìwén have been few. Cháo Gōngwǔ 晁公武 says: “The old [versions] were the shū of Sūn Yán 孫炎 and Gāo Lián 高璉; because they were shallow and brief, [the throne] commanded Xíng Bǐng and others to compose this work separately. Subsequently, works such as Lù Diàn’s 陸佃 Píyǎ and Luó Yuàn’s 羅願 Ěryǎ yì are extensions of Xíng’s shū.” The Míng printed editions did not carry the Shìwén; here it is supplied. We have also taken Zhèng Qiáo’s 鄭樵 annotated edition for collation and emendation, with many corrections. All [of this] is taken from the imperially-commissioned (奉勅) recension of Qiánlóng 4 (1739). Respectfully edited and presented in the fifth month of Qiánlóng 41 (1776). Editors-General: Jì Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. Editor-in-chief: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
The zhùshū form represented here is the WYG fascicle of the work first carved at the National Academy in 1001 (Xiánpíng 4); it is the Ěryǎ in the configuration that became canonical for the Thirteen Classics tradition. Three layers are stratified: (1) the Ěryǎ base text, in nineteen sections distributed across eleven juàn; (2) Guō Pú’s mid-fourth-century zhù; (3) Xíng Bǐng’s early-Sòng shū, completed under imperial commission in Xiánpíng 2 (999). The Qiánlóng compilers further re-inserted Lù Démíng’s Shìwén glosses (which had been dropped from Míng prints) and corrected numerous errors against Zhèng Qiáo’s Ěryǎ zhù — see KR1j0005. The Sìkù notice records that the post-Xíng yǎ-tradition (Lù Diàn’s KR1j0011 Píyǎ and Luó Yuàn’s KR1j0012 Ěryǎ yì) extended Xíng’s shū outward into encyclopedic yǎ-books rather than re-engineering the Ěryǎ itself.
Translations and research
- Coblin, W. South. 2015. “The Erya.” In Early Chinese Literature, a Reference Guide (ECLL).
- Hú Qíguāng 胡奇光 and Fāng Huánhǎi 方環海. 1999. Ěryǎ yìzhù 爾雅譯注. Shanghai guji.
- Zhū Zǔyán 朱祖延, ed. 2014 (1996–99). Ěryǎ gǔlín 爾雅詁林. 7 vols. Hubei jiaoyu.
- Endymion Wilkinson. 2022. Chinese History: A New Manual, §6.2.1.2.