Chóngxiū Guǎngyùn 重修廣韻
The Re-revised Broadened Rhyme-book by 陳彭年 (Chén Péngnián, 961–1017, fèngchì zhuàn) and 丘雍 (Qiū Yōng, fl. 984, fèngchì zhuàn)
About the work
The standard Northern-Sòng imperial rhyme-book and the principal phonological reference for traditional Chinese philology and historical phonology. Imperially commissioned in Jǐngdé 4 (1007) on the grounds that “the old version’s piānpáng (radicals) are off in places, hand-copies have lost characters, and the gloss is incomplete”; presented Dàzhōngxiángfú 4 (1011) and given the imperial title Dà Sòng chóngxiū Guǎngyùn 大宋重修廣韻 — i.e., this work. 5 juàn; 206 rhyme classes (continuing the structure of Lù Fǎyán’s Qièyùn); 26,194 entry-graphs (per the Sìkù count) — an addition of c. 14,036 graphs over the c. 12,158 of Lù Fǎyán’s original (per Fēng Yǎn’s Wénjiàn jì); 191,692 characters of gloss, much expanded over the yuánběn KR1j0054. The book’s lineage: Lù Fǎyán Qièyùn (Rénshòu 1, 601) → Chángsūn Nèyán annotated edition (Yífèng 2, 677) → Sūn Miǎn Tángyùn (Tiānbǎo 10, 751) → Yán Bǎowén / Péi Wùqí / Chén Dàogù expansions (8th–9th c.) → Yuánběn Guǎngyùn KR1j0054 (10th–early 11th c.) → this Chóngxiū (1011). For the next 800+ years it remained the canonical reference for qièyùn (fǎnqiè) spelling, rhyme-class, and tone, and the foundation on which every modern reconstruction of Middle Chinese is built (Karlgren, Pulleyblank, Baxter, Coblin etc.).
Tiyao
The Chóngxiū Guǎngyùn in 5 juàn. Composed by Chén Péngnián, Qiū Yōng et al. of the Sòng, by imperial command. Originally Lù Fǎyán of the Suí, finding that the rhyme-books of Lǚ Jìng et al. (six other compilers) all conflicted with each other, joined Liú Zhēn, Yán Zhītuī, Wèi Yuān, Lú Sīdào, Lǐ Ruò, Xiāo Gāi, Xīn Déyuán, Xuē Dàohéng — eight scholars in all — and produced the Qièyùn in 5 juàn. The book was completed in Rénshòu 1 (601). In Táng Yífèng 2 (677) Chángsūn Nèyán wrote a commentary. Subsequently Guō Zhīyuán, Guān Liàng, Xuē Xún, Wáng Rénxù, Zhù Shàngqiū successively added to it. In Tiānbǎo 10 (751), Sūn Miǎn, Director of Penal Cases at Chénzhōu, re-edited and re-released it under the new title Tángyùn. After Sūn Miǎn, Yán Bǎowén, Péi Wùqí and Chén Dàogù each made further additions. In Sòng Jǐngdé 4 (1007), on the grounds that the existing copies’ radicals were inaccurate, hand-copying had introduced gaps, and the glosses were incomplete, the imperial command was given to revise it. The work was completed in Dàzhōngxiángfú 4 (1011), and bestowed the imperial title Dà Sòng Chóngxiū Guǎngyùn — that is, this book. The original copies do not give the compilers’ names; from Dīng Dù’s Jíyùn we know it is the work of [Chén] Péngnián, [Qiū] Yōng et al. The book has 206 rhymes (continuing Lù Fǎyán) and contains 26,194 entry-graphs. By the Wénjiàn jì’s record of Lù Fǎyán’s count of 12,158 graphs, the present version added 14,036 graphs. This particular print is the Sūzhōu Zhāng Shìjùn re-cut from a Sòng print; the Qīnzōng (1100–1156) name-character has already been replaced — so it is a Jiàn-yán-and-after re-cut. Zhū Yízūn’s preface forcefully attacks Liú Yuān’s Yùn for merging 殷 with 文, 隱 with 吻, and 焮 with 問 — but this version actually does merge 殷 / 隱 / 焮 with 文 / 吻 / 問: Yízūn had not collated this version. The notes total 191,692 characters — much fuller than the older copy, but verbose: under 公 there are over a thousand characters of surname listings — undisciplined; under 東 it claims that “Dōnggōng Déchén was a Qí great officer” — a stretch. Sūn Miǎn’s Tángyùn preface had already complained that “strange tales, surname origins, regional products, mountains and rivers, plants, animals, fishes, are all included” — extending the scope beyond what is sound — and Péngnián et al. expanded it further; this is what Dīng Dù criticised. Pān Lěi’s preface, on the other hand, treats the verbose gloss as a virtue — turning the rhyme-book into a lèishū. Each book has its own genre, and a book’s value is not measured by its convenience for excerption. As a long-circulating monument to the source of rhyme-book scholarship, it should be preserved. Presented Qiánlóng 45 / 6 (1780). General Editors Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; Chief Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Chóngxiū Guǎngyùn is the foundational text of pre-modern Chinese phonology. Imperially commissioned in 1007 and presented in 1011, it gives the systematic record of Middle Chinese rhymes, tones, and fǎnqiè spellings on which modern reconstructions of Middle Chinese (Karlgren QièyùnGuǎngyùn 1915–26, Pulleyblank 1984, Baxter 1992) are built. The compilation history reaches back to Lù Fǎyán’s 陸法言 Qièyùn of 601, expanded by Chángsūn Nèyán (677), Sūn Miǎn 孫愐 (751), and three further hand-copyists (8th–9th c.); the surviving “older” Yuánběn Guǎngyùn KR1j0054 is one of these intermediates. The 1011 imperial revision is fuller (191,692 characters of gloss vs. the yuánběn’s briefer text), with substantial expansion in proper-name and toponym citations. Wilkinson §1.3.4 / §15.4 surveys the Chinese rhyme-book tradition centred on this work. The Sūzhōu Zhāng Shìjùn cut (a Southern-Sòng / early-Yuán recension printed from Sòng blocks, with the Qīnzōng taboo enforced — i.e., post-Jiàn-yán 1127) is the basis of the Sìkù copy. Two principal modern critical editions: Zhōu Zǔmó 周祖謨’s Guǎngyùn xiàoběn 廣韻校本 (1937; revised 1960; collates the ten principal Sòng / Yuán / Míng / Qīng prints) and the Yú Nǎiyǒng 余迺永 Hùzhù jiàozhèng Sòngběn Guǎngyùn 互註校正宋本廣韻 (1974). Standard reference. notBefore = notAfter = 1011, the year of presentation.
Translations and research
- Zhōu Zǔ-mó 周祖謨. 1960. Guǎng-yùn xiào-běn 廣韻校本. 2 vols. Beijing: Zhōnghuá. Critical edition collating ten principal early prints; also issued (1988) as the Sòng-běn Guǎng-yùn.
- Yú Nǎi-yǒng 余迺永. 1974. Hù-zhù jiào-zhèng Sòng-běn Guǎng-yùn 互註校正宋本廣韻. Taipei: Liánjīng (rev. ed. 2000). Standard cross-referenced critical edition.
- Karlgren, Bernhard. 1915–26. Études sur la phonologie chinoise. Leyden / Stockholm. — The first systematic Western reconstruction of Middle Chinese, based on the Guǎngyùn.
- Pulleyblank, Edwin G. 1984. Middle Chinese: A Study in Historical Phonology. Vancouver: UBC. — Modern reconstruction of Late Middle Chinese, foundational use of the Guǎngyùn.
- Baxter, William H. 1992. A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. — Uses the Guǎngyùn’s rhyme-classes as the basis for the reconstruction of Old Chinese.
- Endymion Wilkinson. 2022. Chinese History: A New Manual, §1.3.4 (rhyme-books) and §15.4 (lexicography).
Other points of interest
The 206-rhyme scheme of the Guǎngyùn (5 juàn: shàngpíng, xiàpíng, shǎng, qù, rù) is the matrix of every later traditional Chinese phonological system. Liú Yuān 劉淵’s Rénzǐ xīnkān Lǐbù yùnlüè of Chúnyòu 12 (1252) reduced it to 107 rhymes (the so-called Píngshuǐyùn 平水韻), which under further imperial reduction to 106 became the orthodox poetic-rhyme system of the post-Sòng era — but the Guǎngyùn’s 206 remains the philological reference for historical phonology.