Gǔyīn lüèlì 古音略例
Concise Examples of Old Phonology by 楊愼 (Yáng Shèn, 1488–1559)
About the work
A short 1-juàn commentary-style work by Yáng Shèn devoted to specific examples of Old-period rhyme readings, drawn from Yì, Shī, Lǐjì, Chǔcí, Lǎozǐ, Zhuāngzǐ, Xúnzǐ, Guǎnzǐ — i.e. the major pre-Qín literature with metrical features. Each entry takes a specific verse and shows that, on plausible Old-phonology assignments, the rhyme works. Yáng’s polemical aim — explicit in the work — is to argue against Wú Yù’s 吳棫 practice of ad-hoc xiéyùn assignment whenever a rhyme appeared not to work in the Guǎngyùn base: e.g., he shows that the rhyme of 嘒彼小星 with 維參與昴 — for which Wú had assigned 昴 to the rhyme 力求切 — works equally well if 昴 is read as 旄 (per the Shǐjì Tiānguānshū and Xú Miǎo’s gloss). The Sìkù tíyào judges the methodological argument sound but the individual implementations uneven: Yáng sometimes gets the right Old reading (晉’s 晝 / 注 root-reading; Lǎozǐ’s 夸 root-reading from 大於聲); sometimes wanders (treating 誅 as Old reading 之由切 = a xiéyùn substitute, when the Gōngyáng zhuàn / Yìlín 晝 ↔ 故 / 據 / 懼 rhyming clearly fixes 晝 in the zhù-class, not requiring a 誅 substitution). The tíyào compares unfavourably with Gù Yánwǔ’s 顧炎武 and Jiāng Yǒng’s 江永 later integrative work.
Tiyao
The Gǔyīn lüèlì in 1 juàn. Composed by Yáng Shèn of the Míng. The book takes verses with rhyme — Yì, Shī, Lǐjì, Chǔcí, Lǎozǐ, Zhuāngzǐ, Xúnzǐ, Guǎnzǐ and the various philosophers — and gives example-by-example Old phonological readings. E.g., for the Yì: “the sun setting on the Lí” — 離 read 羅 — rhymes with 歌 / 嗟; “for three years I do not see him” — 覿 read túgǔ qiē — rhymes with 木 / 谷; “and all together receive their good” — 福 read 偪 — rhymes with 食 / 汲; “we and you spread it” — 靡 read 磨 — rhymes with 和; — these accord well with Old phonology. — Likewise Shī’s “Hùi bǐ xiǎoxīng”, “Wéi shēn yǔ mǎo” — the old gloss assigned 昴 to 力求切; Yáng — citing the Shǐjì Tiānguānshū and Xú Miǎo’s gloss — reads 昴 as 旄. The next line “bào qīn yǔ chóu” — 禂 read 調; “shí mìng bù yóu” — 猶 read 摇 — Yáng draws on Guō Pú’s Fāngyán gloss (裯 dīngláo reverse) and the Tángōng “yǒng sī yóu” with Zhèng’s gloss “猶 should be 摇” — both readings genuinely supported. — Yáng further argues that Wú Yù’s claim — that Shī’s “Jí xīn yāoyāo, Mǔshì qū láo” must read 勞 as 僚; “Wǒ sī féiquán”, “Sī zhī yǒng tàn” must read 嘆 as tājuān qiē; “Chūzì běi mén”, “Yōuxīn yǐnyǐn” must read 門 as méipín qiē; “Sìmǔ yǒu jiāo, Zhūfèn biāobiāo” must read 儦 as 高 — each unnecessary; Old rhyme is “loose” enough for the regular reading to suffice. Why labour the lips and waste paper? — This argument is well-aimed. — Yet for Lǎozǐ’s “cháo shèn chú, rì shèn wú, cāng shèn xū, fù wéncǎi dài lìjiàn, yàn yǐnshí zīcái yǒu yú, shì wèi dàokuā” — Yáng, citing the Hánfēi jiěLǎo, changes 夸 to 竽 to make 竽 rhyme with 餘. Liú Zōngyuán, in his use of dàokuā, repeats this. Both are wrong. The Shuōwén says 夸 follows 大 with 於 sound — so 夸’s root reading is not kūguā qiē. The Chǔcí Dàzhāo “zhū chún hào chǐ, hù yǐ kuā zhǐ; bǐdé hǎo xián xí yǐ dū zhǐ” — Jíyùn’s 姱 written as 夸 — and Wúdū fù’s “lièsì qīlǐ, xiádòng yánglù… chánggàn yánshǔ, fēiméng chuǎnhù” — 夸 rhyming with 餘 — exactly preserves the Old reading. Yáng, ignoring this, shifts to 竽 — a serious mistake of evidence. — Likewise Yì jìn “晝也”, Míngyí “誅也”. Yáng has 誅 with an Old reading zhīyóu qiē, rhyming with 晝. Sūn Yì changed 誅 to 昧, with 昧 rhymed as 暮 — clearly wrong. The Zhōulǐ Diànzhù “chóushēng chóumǎ”, and the jì wǎng zhī shì zhīrú zhī, with Zhèng reading 調 as 誅 — Yáng’s reading therefore has some support. But 晝’s Old reading is 注: Zhāng Héng’s Xījīng fù “jiàodào wàizhōu… jǐng yè xún zhòu”; Yìlín jǐngzhīfù — 晝 with 據; jǐngzhīhuàn — 晝 with 故; huànzhīgǔ — 晝 with 懼 — i.e., 晝 in Old phonology does not read shèjiù qiē. So why abandon its root reading and use 誅’s biéyīn? — Other examples: Zhuāngzǐ’s “qiègōu zhě zhū, qièguó zhě wèi zhūhóu” — Yáng reads 誅 as zhīyóu qiē, not knowing that 侯’s Old reading is 胡, which rhymes naturally with 誅 in standard reading. Likewise Yìlín’s “Zhīzhū zhī wù, bùrú cán zhī tóu” — Yáng reads 務 as 蝥, 緰 as 鉤; not knowing 緰’s Old reading is 俞, which rhymes naturally with 務 in standard reading. — His writings, gathered in haste, are sometimes apt, sometimes off — not yet at the level of Gù Yánwǔ and Jiāng Yǒng’s later integrated method. Presented Qiánlóng 46 / 9 (1781). General Editors Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; Chief Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Gǔyīn lüèlì is a short polemical handbook of Old-phonology examples by Yáng Shèn, structured as commentary on individual verses from Yì / Shī / Lǐjì / Chǔcí / Lǎozǐ / Zhuāngzǐ / Xúnzǐ / Guǎnzǐ. Methodologically progressive in its critique of Wú Yù’s 吳棫 over-eager xiéyùn assignments, but inconsistent in execution — sometimes recovering a root reading correctly (晝 → 注; 夸 → 於聲), sometimes adopting a non-economical xié substitute (誅 used to re-rhyme 晝, when 晝 already rhymes with the cited qù-class graphs). The Sìkù tíyào compares unfavourably with the systematic work of Gù Yánwǔ 顧炎武 and Jiāng Yǒng 江永 of the high Qīng. Date bracket follows Yáng Shèn’s lifedates.
Translations and research
- Pulleyblank, Edwin G. 1962. The Consonantal System of Old Chinese. — Surveys the historiographical sequence Wú Yù → Yáng Shèn → Chén Dì → Gù Yán-wǔ.
- Wáng Lì 王力. 1985. Hàn-yǔ yǔ-yīn shǐ. — Treats Yáng Shèn’s contribution.
Other points of interest
This is the most polemically focused of Yáng Shèn’s gǔyīn writings — it argues, for the first time in the tradition, that Old phonology is “loose enough” that many of Wú Yù’s xiéyùn assignments are simply unnecessary. The argument anticipates Gù Yánwǔ’s later, more systematic position.