Gǔjīn tōngyùn 古今通韻
The Old-and-New Cross-Rhyme System by 毛奇齡 (Máo Qílíng, 1623–1716)
About the work
Máo Qílíng’s polemical alternative to Gù Yánwǔ’s 顧炎武 Yīnxué wǔshū — and one of the principal Qīng-period attacks on Gù’s Old-phonology system. 12 juàn. Construction: the so-called “5 bù 3 shēng 2 jiè 2 hé” (5 classes / 3 tones / 2 boundaries / 2 mergers) doctrine. 5 bù (rhyme-classes): (1) 東 / 冬 / 江 / 陽 / 庚 / 青 / 蒸; (2) 支 / 微 / 齊 / 佳 / 灰; (3) 魚 / 虞 / 歌 / 麻 / 蕭 / 肴 / 豪 / 尤; (4) 真 / 文 / 元 / 寒 / 刪 / 先; (5) 侵 / 覃 / 鹽 / 咸. 3 shēng: píng / shǎng / qù are mutually cross-rhyming (tōng); rù is separate, and where it cross-rhymes is called xié 叶 (cross). 2 jiè (boundaries): the 17 rhymes with rùshēng (東 / 冬 / 江 / 陽 / 庚 / 青 / 蒸 / 真 / 文 / 元 / 寒 / 刪 / 先 / 侵 / 覃 / 鹽 / 咸) form one block; the 13 without rùshēng form another; the two blocks do not cross-rhyme; where they do is called xié. 2 hé (mergers): the qùshēng of the 13-no-rù block and the rùshēng of the 17-with-rù block share use; their cross-rhyme with píng / shǎng is called xié. The Sìkù tíyào dismantles this scheme as internally inconsistent — the 5 classes break down at the 2 boundaries; the 2 boundaries break down at the 2 mergers; the 3 tones break down at the 2 mergers — each layer of the system contradicts the next, leading Máo to introduce ever more xié (cross) categories to patch the contradictions. The cause: Máo confuses Old and Modern phonology by trying to map Old phonology onto modern rhyme-classes. Yet his citation-base is broad and the work has some evidential value.
Tiyao
The Gǔjīn tōngyùn in 12 juàn. Composed by Máo Qílíng of the present dynasty. Máo Qílíng has the Zhòngshì Yì already recorded. The book is composed to refute Gù Yánwǔ’s Yīnxué wǔshū and proposes the “5 classes / 3 tones / 2 boundaries / 2 mergers” doctrine. The 5 classes: 東 / 冬 / 江 / 陽 / 庚 / 青 / 蒸 — first; 支 / 微 / 齊 / 佳 / 灰 — second; 魚 / 虞 / 歌 / 麻 / 蕭 / 肴 / 豪 / 尤 — third; 真 / 文 / 元 / 寒 / 刪 / 先 — fourth; 侵 / 覃 / 鹽 / 咸 — fifth. The 3 tones: píng / shǎng / qù are mutually cross-rhyming; rù not; where rù cross-rhymes is xié. The 2 boundaries: the 17 rhymes with rùshēng form one set; the 13 without rùshēng form another; the two not cross-rhyming; where they cross-rhyme is xié. The 2 mergers: the qùshēng of the 13-no-rù set + the rùshēng of the 17-with-rù set share use; not cross-rhyming with píng / shǎng; where they do is xié. The doctrine is multilayered. Now examining: the 5 classes mapping to the 5 yīn (initials) — adding or removing one is not allowed; yet then dividing into 2 boundaries breaks the 5-yīn rule. Once divided into 2 boundaries, then merging the qùshēng of the no-rù 13 with the rùshēng of the with-rù 17 breaks the 2-boundary rule. Finally, the 3-tone rule originally said píng / shǎng / qù are cross-rhyming — but the 3-tones / 2-mergers contradict each other. — The trouble: Máo does not seek Old phonology by Old means but holds the modern rhyme-classes and seeks Old phonology there; furthermore he does not understand that Old phonology too underwent change with the world, and just tries to combine everything in one frame. Hence the more sources he cites, the more variations emerge, and he has to multiply rules to govern them; the more rules, the more contradictions; eventually he must use xié as a catch-all to plug holes. All of this comes from his ostentatious erudition and competitive spirit. Yet his citation-base is broad enough to be useful; preserved as a single school’s voice. His earlier deletion was reverted to preservation. Presented Qiánlóng 46 / 12 (1781). General Editors Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; Chief Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Gǔjīn tōngyùn (1684) is Máo Qílíng’s 毛奇齡 polemical alternative to Gù Yánwǔ’s 顧炎武 Old-phonology system. The “5 classes / 3 tones / 2 boundaries / 2 mergers” doctrine is the most ambitious Qīng-period attempt to unify Old and Modern phonology in a single frame — and the Sìkù tíyào’s sustained attack on the scheme’s internal inconsistencies (each layer contradicting the next) is one of the more incisive philological critiques in the tíyào set. The work was set aside by the Sìkù compilers in their initial drafts but reinstated. Modern phonology (Wáng Lì 1985) treats Máo’s system as the principal “wrong turn” in Qīng gǔyīnxué: an attempt to systematise Old and Modern in one frame that founders on the impossibility of the project. Yet the book’s broad citation-base remains useful for evidence-gathering. Date notBefore = 1684 (the dating conventionally given for Máo’s principal phonological writing) and notAfter = 1716 (Máo’s death).
Translations and research
- Wáng Lì 王力. 1985. Hàn-yǔ yǔ-yīn shǐ. — Treats Máo’s Gǔ-jīn tōng-yùn as the principal Qīng-period alternative-and-rejection of Gù Yán-wǔ’s system.
- Yú Mǐn 余敏. 2008. Qīng-dài yīn-yùn-xué shǐ. — Discusses Máo Qí-líng’s quarrel with Gù Yán-wǔ in detail.
Other points of interest
The Máo Qílíng / Gù Yánwǔ rivalry — running through Máo’s Gǔjīn tōngyùn and Yì yùn against Gù’s Yīnxué wǔshū — is one of the great intellectual quarrels of the early Qīng. The Sìkù compilers come down decisively on Gù’s side, characterising Máo’s polemic as motivated by literary-rivalry vanity rather than substantive disagreement.