Gǔjīn yùnhuì jǔyào 古今韻會舉要
Essentials from the Old-and-New Rhyme-collection by 黃公紹 (Huáng Gōngshào, zì Zhíwēng, of Shàowǔ, 原編) and 熊忠 (Xióng Zhōng, zì Zǐzhōng, of Zhāowǔ, 擧要)
About the work
The principal Yuán-period rhyme-book, in 30 juàn, completed Yuánzhēn 3 (1297). The full title indicates a two-stage compilation: Huáng Gōngshào’s 黃公紹 earlier Gǔjīn yùnhuì 古今韻會 (now lost in its original form) was abridged and re-edited by his student / huàshēng Xióng Zhōng 熊忠 under the title Jǔyào (Essentials). Liú Chénwēng 劉辰翁’s preface (1297) introduces the Jǔyào recension. The work synthesizes two prior genre-shifts in the rhyme-book tradition: (1) the 36 zìmǔ × 4 děng re-sequencing within rhymes, originating in Hán Dàozhāo’s 韓道昭 Wǔyīn jíyùn KR1j0064 (Jīn, 1208); and (2) the consolidation of the 206 rhymes into 107 (later 106), originating in Liú Yuān 劉淵’s Rénzǐ xīnkān Lǐbù yùnlüè (Southern Sòng, Jǐngdìng 3 / 1262 — i.e., the píngshuǐyùn). With the Yùnhuì jǔyào the inherited Guǎngyùn arrangement is fully transformed: the rhyme-book tradition takes on its YuánMíngQīng form. The opening Zìmǔ tōngkǎo 字母通考 features a polemic against Jiāngzuǒ Wú dialect, identifying the proper zhèngyīn 正音 (orthodox sound) with northern phonology — an attitude foundational to the early-Míng Hóngwǔ zhèngyùn KR1j0068. The Sìkù tíyào notes the work’s mixing of Old and Modern phonology (the inclusion of 忩 in dōng 東, 西 in xiān 先) but credits its scrupulous citation-evidence — every reading is anchored to a source.
Tiyao
The Gǔjīn yùnhuì jǔyào in 30 juàn. Composed by Xióng Zhōng of the Yuán. Zhōng, zì Zǐzhōng, of Zhāowǔ. Note: Yáng Shèn’s Dānqiānlù says Méng Chǎng of the Shǔ kingdom had a Shūlín yùnhuì, of which Yuán Huáng Gōngshào extracted the essentials and produced this book — hence the title — but this book takes the Lǐbù yùnlüè as its base, supplemented by the additions of Máo Huǎng 毛晃 and Liú Yuān, and is unrelated to Méng Chǎng’s book. The original fánlì heading reads “Huáng Gōngshào biānjí, Xióng Zhōng jǔyào”, and the very first fánlì says “the present yùnhuì fills omissions and adds gloss” — so the yùnhuì is a separate work; the front of the book carries Liú Chénwēng’s Yùnhuì xù exactly as the Guǎngyùn prefaces Lù Fǎyán 陸法言 and Sūn Miǎn 孫愐 — the jǔyào is therefore not Huáng Gōngshào’s. From Jīn Hán Dàozhāo’s Wǔyīn jíyùn the rhyme-books shifted to using 7 sounds, 4 děng, 36 mǔ to invert the TángSòng zìniǔ sequence — that was one shift. From Southern-Sòng Liú Yuān’s Jǐngdìng rénzǐ (1252) re-cut Lǐbù yùnlüè the rhyme-books shifted again, merging tōngyòng sub-categories outright — that was another shift. Xióng Zhōng’s book follows Hán Dàozhāo’s method for zìniǔ sequence and Liú Yuān’s example for the rhyme-divisions — combining both shifts — by which the inherited rhyme-book sequence is wholly transformed. The opening Zìmǔ tōngkǎo preserves Lǐ Pèi’s polemic against Jiāngzuǒ Wú dialect, anticipating the Hóngwǔ zhèngyùn’s subsequent disregard. But within, Old-rhyme and Modern-rhyme are mixed: e.g., dōng 東 includes 忩 (sōng); xiān 先 includes 西 — though the older citations support these, the application is jarring. Sub-glosses are densely packed and verbose — also a thicket of confusion. Yet his citations are so wide as to be useful for evidence, and every gloss is anchored to a source — no conjectural creation. Compared with later Míng-period rhyme-charts, it remains a model of method. Presented Qiánlóng 46 / 10 (1781). General Editors Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; Chief Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Gǔjīn yùnhuì jǔyào is the principal Yuán-period rhyme-book and the synthesis of the two genre-transforming developments of the post-Sòng tradition: Hán Dàozhāo’s zìmǔ × děng re-sequencing within rhymes (1208) and Liú Yuān’s consolidation of 206 → 107 rhymes (1252, the píngshuǐyùn). Compiled by Xióng Zhōng 熊忠 of Zhāowǔ as an abridgement-and-extension of his colleague Huáng Gōngshào’s Gǔjīn yùnhuì (now lost), with Liú Chénwēng’s preface (Yuánzhēn 3, 1297) providing the terminus. notBefore = notAfter = 1297, the year of completion. The opening Zìmǔ tōngkǎo features Lǐ Pèi’s polemic against Jiāngzuǒ Wú dialect, foundational to the early-Míng zhèngyīn program. Modern phonology (Lǐ Sīfū, Pulleyblank, Coblin) treats the Yùnhuì jǔyào as a primary witness for Yuán-period northern phonology, marking the transition between Late Middle Chinese and Early Mandarin. The work was the immediate model for the early-Míng Hóngwǔ zhèngyùn KR1j0068 (1375).
Translations and research
- Lǐ Sī-fū 李思敷. 1986. Yùn-huì jǔ-yào yán-jiū 韻會擧要研究. Tradition history.
- Pulleyblank, Edwin G. 1991. Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese, and Early Mandarin. Vancouver: UBC Press. — Treats the Yùn-huì jǔ-yào as a primary witness for Yuán-period (Late Middle Chinese / Early Mandarin) phonology.
- Coblin, W. South. 2000. “A Brief History of Mandarin.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 120.4: 537–552. — Discusses the Yùn-huì jǔ-yào in the early Mandarin reconstruction.
Other points of interest
The opening Zìmǔ tōngkǎo’s polemic against Wú dialect (preserving Lǐ Pèi’s earlier Kānwù discussion) is the source of the early-Míng zhèngyīn program codified in the Hóngwǔ zhèngyùn. The book’s mixing of Old and Modern phonology — explicitly criticised by the Sìkù compilers — would be sorted out only in Qīng-period gǔyīnxué (Gù Yánwǔ 顧炎武 onward).