Liùshū běnyì 六書本義
The Original Meaning of the Six-Script Doctrine by 趙撝謙 (Zhào Huīqiān, 撰)
About the work
A 12-juàn paleographic dictionary by Zhào Huīqiān 趙撝謙 (1351–1395) — original name Zhào Gǔzé 趙古則, of Yúyáo 餘姚, descendant of the Sòng Qín Dàohuìwáng 秦悼惠王. Summoned in early Hóngwǔ to participate in editing the Hóngwǔ zhèngyùn; sent out as Zhōngdū Guózǐjiàn bù; later recommended as Qióngshānxiàn jiàoyù. The book opens with liùshū lùn and liùshū xiāngshēng diagrams, broadly inheriting Zhèng Qiáo’s 鄭樵 Liùshū lüè doctrine. Reduces Xǔ Shèn’s 許愼 540 Shuōwén radicals to 360.
Tiyao
Liùshū běnyì in 12 juàn; composed by Zhào Huīqiān of the Míng. Huīqiān’s original name was Gǔzé 古則; a man of Yúyáo 餘姚; a descendant of the Sòng Qín Dàohuìwáng. In early Míng he was summoned to participate in compiling the Hóngwǔ zhèngyùn. His doctrines being incompatible, he was sent out as Zhōngdū Guózǐjiàn bù; dismissed and went home; soon afterward was recommended as Qióngshānxiàn jiàoyù. His career is in the Míngshǐ Wényuàn zhuàn. Jiāo Hóng 焦竑’s Bǐshèng (Bǐshèng 筆乘) says: “In zìxué he is unsurpassed; only the Liùshū běnyì and Xuéfàn liù piān circulate.” The Xuéfàn is jumbled and worthless. The present Liùshū lùn and Liùshū xiāngshēng diagrams broadly inherit Zhèng Qiáo’s exposition. Its preface says: “the Shuōwén originally has 540 bù; here I fix it at 360 bù; those that cannot generate, attached to each class at the rear.” Examining: cases like the Shuōwén’s jiāng 畕 bù (with jiāng 畺 as son), here merged into the tián 田 bù; the Shuōwén’s bāo 包 bù (with bāo 胞 páo 匏 as sons), here merged into the bāo 勹 bù; the Shuōwén’s zī 兹 bù (with jī 幾 yōu 幽 as sons), here merged into the yāo 幺 bù — in each such case, the radical generates one or two zǐ (children); they are not “unable to generate” — to merge them into other bù universally is somewhat ill-judged. Likewise: the Shuōwén’s rén 儿 bù — rén 儿 read as rén 人, chōng 充 duì 兊 etc. follow it, distinct from the standard rén 人 bù — but Huīqiān merges them into rén 人; the Shuōwén’s běn 本 bù with gāo 皋 from běn and bái 白 — Huīqiān mistakes “from bái” for “from zì 自” and places it under the zì radical — a real graphic error. Yet his biànbié of liùshū under each bù is precise and thorough — bitter labor of investigation. We record and preserve it, not letting his strength go unrecognized. Respectfully edited and presented in the fourth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781).
Abstract
The Liùshū běnyì is the principal early-Míng paleographic dictionary, broadly in the Liùshū gù / Liùshū tǒng lineage of SòngYuán liùshū speculation but more conservative in its radical scheme (reduced from 540 to 360 — closer to the Míng Zìhuì’s 214 than to the Shuōwén’s 540). Zhào Huīqiān was recruited for the Hóngwǔ zhèngyùn project but disagreed on doctrinal points and was demoted; his Liùshū běnyì preserves the conservative orthographic position that lost out in the Zhèngyùn. The Sìkù compilers note specific lapses (forced mergers of small bù into larger ones; mis-identification of the gāo 皋 element) but credit the work’s overall liùshū analyses as careful. Dating bracket notBefore 1372 (early Hóngwǔ, when Zhào is documented at court) to notAfter 1395 (Zhào’s death — CBDB lifedates 1351–1395, though the catalog meta gives only “Míng dynasty”).
Translations and research
- Bottéro, Françoise. 1996. Sémantisme et classification dans l’écriture chinoise. Paris: Collège de France.
- Endymion Wilkinson. 2022. Chinese History: A New Manual, §6.1.