Zìjiàn 字鑑
The Mirror of Characters by 李文仲 (Lǐ Wénzhòng, 撰)
About the work
A five-juàn orthographic dictionary by Lǐ Wénzhòng 李文仲 of Chángzhōu 長洲 (modern Suzhou), styling himself “Wújùn xuéshēng” (i.e. enrolled as a dìzǐyuán but not holding higher rank). Wénzhòng’s uncle Lǐ Shìyīng 李世英 had compiled a Lèiyùn 類韻 in 30 juàn over ten years, taking sound as trunk and meaning as branch — but with some graphs still imperfectly rendered; Wénzhòng’s Zìjiàn completes that project, arranging by Lǐbù yùnlüè 206 rhyme-classes, distinguishing standard from corrupt forms, and refuting zìshū errors (against the Gānlù zìshū KR1j0023, the Wǔjīng wénzì KR1j0024, the Pèiguī KR1j0027, and others). Each gloss is sharp and grounded in Shuōwén analysis.
Tiyao
Your servants etc. report: Zìjiàn in 5 juàn; composed by Lǐ Wénzhòng of the Yuán. Wénzhòng was a man of Chángzhōu and signs himself “Wújùn xuéshēng” — i.e., a dìzǐyuán on the rolls. Wénzhòng’s paternal uncle Shìyīng 世英, taking jiǎjiè of the liùshū as hard to name, compiled a Lèiyùn in 30 juàn, with graph as base, sound as trunk, and gloss as branch — orderly and unconfused; finally completed after ten years. Within the rhyme-arrangement some graphic forms were not yet refined; Wénzhòng accordingly continued with this present book, arranging it by the 206-rhyme classes of [the Lǐbù yùnlüè]; distinguishing standard from corrupt and excising vulgar mistakes; refuting various authorities throughout. For example: gǎo 藳 from hé 禾 with gāo 髙 phonetic, miswritten 藁 (this corrects the Gānlù zìshū); xì 隙 from fù 阜 with KR3004 phonetic, miswritten 隟 (this also corrects the Gānlù zìshū); zhào / zhào 肇肈 are originally distinct graphs but only zhào 肈 is included [in the Wǔjīng wénzì] and zhào 肇 is treated as the sú form; shù 豎 wrongly written from lì as shù 竪; chè 徹 wrongly written from qù as chè 徹; xī 析 wrongly written from piàn as xī 㭊 (these correct the Wǔjīng wénzì); tún 屯 originally glossed as “difficulty,” borrowed for túnjù 屯聚 — but Guō Zhōngshù 郭忠恕 in the Pèiguī read it as zhūn 迍 and listed tún separately for túnjù — incompatible with jiǎjiè’s principle (this corrects the Pèiguī). All such corrections are precise and faithful to the liùshū root meaning. Other authorities (Zēngyùn, Yùnhuì, etc.) — corrections especially numerous. The main thrust is to ground all on the Shuōwén and correct the inherited corruptions of later transmission — substantial benefit to the xiǎoxué. — Where fú 莩 has emerged as a substitute for fú 𢽾, duò 墮 for duò 陊, huī 隳 for huī 隓, the writing has long been so received and cannot now be reverted; he annotates these forms under the original head graph and explains the rationale, achieving a sound balance — not the kind of “stick to antiquity, startle the public” rigidity. — The book had long been without transmission. In Kāngxī, Zhū Yízūn of Xiùshuǐ obtained a copy from the Cáoshì of Gǔlín 古林 by hand-copy and entrusted it to Zhāng Shìjùn of Chángzhōu for printing. Respectfully edited and presented in the fourth month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780).
Abstract
The Zìjiàn is the most precise of the Yuán-period orthographic dictionaries — generally rated by Qing reviewers above its predecessor zìshū (the Gānlù, Wǔjīng wénzì, Pèiguī) on faithfulness to the Shuōwén tradition. Lǐ Wénzhòng builds on his uncle Lǐ Shìyīng’s Lèiyùn (lost) but extends it with explicit biànzhèng against received errors. The catholic posture — accepting changed forms (duò 墮, huī 隳) where reversion would no longer work, while explaining the original — anticipates the practical-classicist posture of the later Qing critics. The book was nearly lost; revived through Zhū Yízūn’s tracing in the early Qing and Zhāng Shìjùn’s print. Dating bracket notBefore 1320 to notAfter 1340 covers Lǐ Wénzhòng’s working period (the catalog gives “14th cent” without precise lifedates).
Translations and research
- Liú Yèqiū 劉葉秋. 1983. Zhōngguó zì-diǎn shǐ-lüè. Beijing: Zhonghua. — Treats the Zì-jiàn as a high point of the medieval orthographic-dictionary tradition.
- Endymion Wilkinson. 2022. Chinese History: A New Manual, §6.1.