Lóngkān shǒujiàn 龍龕手鑑
The Mirror in the Dragon-Niche by 釋行均 (Shì Xíngjūn, 撰)
About the work
A four-juàn character dictionary by the Liáo-dynasty Buddhist monk Xíngjūn 行均 (zì Guǎngjì 廣濟, secular surname Yú 于), completed under Liáo Tǒnghé 15 (Sòng Zhìdào 3 / 997). 26,430+ head graphs, 163,170+ graphs of gloss; total 189,600+ graphs. Original title Lóngkān shǒujìng 龍龕手鏡 — the jìng 鏡 (“mirror”) was changed to jiàn 鑑 in the Sòng to avoid the personal-name taboo of HòuZhōu Tàizǔ Guō Wēi 郭威’s grandfather. The radical-classes (bùshǒu) are arranged by four tones, and within each radical the entries are likewise four-tone-ordered — a double-stratified phonological structure that anticipates and was the model for Lǐ Tāo’s KR1j0019 Shuōwén jiězì wǔyīnpǔ. Each lemma distinguishes zhèng / sú / jīn / gǔ / huòzuò forms, refining Yán Yuánsūn 顏元孫’s three-form Gānlù zìshū KR1j0023 scheme.
Tiyao
Lóngkān shǒujiàn in 4 juàn. Composed by the Liáo monk Xíngjūn. Xíngjūn’s zì was Guǎngjì; secular surname Yú. Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Dúshūzhì records that the opening monk Zhìguāng 智光 preface is dated Tǒnghé 15 dīngyǒu (997) seventh month first day. Shěn Kuò’s Mèngxī bǐtán says that in Xīníng a person obtained the book from the Khitan and brought it into Fù Qīnzhī’s house; Pú Chuánzhèng then printed it; the original preface ended “Chóngxī 2 fifth month preface,” and Pú Chuánzhèng deleted it. Examining the present text — a yǐngchāo tracing of the Liáo print — Zhìguāng’s preface still survives and reads Tǒnghé not Chóngxī, in agreement with Cháo Gōngwǔ; we know Shěn Kuò mis-remembered. Furthermore the Wénxiàn tōngkǎo records the work in 3 juàn, but the present is 4 juàn, and Zhìguāng’s preface also says 4 juàn — Tōngkǎo clearly mis-recorded “four” as “three.” All this perhaps because the book was dispatched across enemy lines and the records depended on reported information. — In structure: the radical heads are sequenced by píngshǎngqùrù; within each radical, the head-graphs are again sequenced by four tones; later Southern-Sòng Lǐ Tāo’s Shuōwén wǔyīnyùnpǔ in fact follows this scheme with minor variation. Under each graph: zhèng, sú, jīn, gǔ, “or written” forms — refining the practice of the Táng Yán Yuánsūn Gānlù zìshū. 26,430+ head graphs; 163,170+ graphs of gloss; 189,600+ in total. — Beyond the Shuōwén and Yùpiān, much new material has been gathered. Although Xíngjūn honors his religion and frequently cites the Madhyamāgama and Xiányújīng to supplement the liùshū, he is by no means restricted to Buddhist sources. Shěn Kuò’s claim that “he gathers graphs from Buddhist scripture for qièyùn xùngǔ” is incorrect — one wonders why he wrote thus. Shěn Kuò also says that the Khitan ban on book-export was strict: those caught moving books across the border faced the death penalty — hence Liáo-period publications surviving in Sòng catalogues are very rare; this book, though showing some popular forms and occasional errors, is a precious glimmer that has come down to us — small-school lexicographers should treasure it.
Abstract
The Lóngkān shǒujiàn is the only major character dictionary surviving from the Liáo dynasty and a key witness to early-eleventh-century lexicographic practice in the northern dynasties. Its double-stratified four-tone arrangement (radicals four-tone-ordered, head-graphs within each radical four-tone-ordered) is a structural innovation that influenced both Lǐ Tāo’s Shuōwén jiězì wǔyīnyùnpǔ and the later Wǔyīn jíyùn tradition. Although the author was a Buddhist monk and the work draws on āgamic literature for some of its supplementary material, it is broadly catholic in lexical scope. The Sìkù compilers used a yǐngchāo tracing of an authentic Liáo woodblock — preserved in the Wú Yùchí 吳玉墀 family — as base text. The original title Lóngkān shǒujìng was changed to shǒujiàn on transmission to the Sòng. The dating notBefore = notAfter = 997 follows Zhìguāng’s preface. Wilkinson §6.2.1 mentions the work briefly. Modern scholarly interest has revived around the Lóngkān shǒujiàn particularly in the area of medieval popular-character (sútǐ) studies: the work preserves many late-Táng / Five-Dynasties variant forms otherwise lost.
Translations and research
- Mair, Victor H. 1996. “The Earliest Identifiable Written Chinese Character.” In Studies in Honor of Vladimir N. Toporov. — Cites the Lóng-kān shǒu-jiàn as a transmission-source for early variant forms.
- Pān Chóng-guī 潘重規, ed. 1980–. Lóng-kān shǒu-jiàn xīn-biān 龍龕手鑑新編. Taipei: Shih Men. — Modern photographic and indexed edition.
- Endymion Wilkinson. 2022. Chinese History: A New Manual, §6.2.1.
Other points of interest
The Liáo book-export ban (per Shěn Kuò) means that surviving Liáo-period texts are exceptionally rare; the Lóngkān shǒujiàn’s preservation in Sòng circulation is something of a survival miracle.