Gǔyùn biāozhǔn 古韻標準
Standard of Old-Phonology Rhymes by 江永 (Jiāng Yǒng, 1681–1762)
About the work
The mid-Qīng masterwork of Old-phonology systematization, by Jiāng Yǒng of Wùyuán 婺源, completed Qiánlóng 24 (1759). 4 juàn — píng / shǎng / qù tones each with 13 classes; rù tone with 8 classes. Methodologically distinct from Gù Yánwǔ 顧炎武 in three ways: (1) restricts the corpus to the Shī sānbǎi piān alone (titled Shīyùn); (2) treats the post-Hàn / WèiJìn / pre-Suí-Chén corpus as a separate body of evidence (titled Bǔyùn) — i.e., recognises that phonology evolved continuously from the Shī-period to the rhyme-book period and refuses to lump them together; (3) further distinguishes within each rhyme-class: graphs that should be split into a sub-class are marked “fēn mǒu yùn” 分某韻; graphs from another píng class but here entered are marked “bié shōu mǒu yùn” 別收某韻; yīn / píng / shǎng / qù tone-class divergences from the standard pattern are marked “bié shōu mǒu shēng mǒu yùn” 別收某聲某韻. Each entry-graph carries its own gloss; each class ends with a zǒnglùn. Front matter: a lìyán and a Shīyùn jǔlì in 1 juàn. The work supersedes Gù Yánwǔ’s Yīnxué wǔshū on most specific phonological assignments — adopting Chén Dì’s 陳第 methodology, refining Gù’s reconstructions, dismissing Wú Yù’s 吳棫 / Yáng Shèn’s 楊愼 / Máo Qílíng’s 毛奇齡 systems with brief criticism. The Sìkù tíyào gives the work the highest praise of any in the xiǎoxué small-school: “the most coherent treatment of Old phonology to date”; “should not be discounted for being late.”
Tiyao
The Gǔyùn biāozhǔn in 4 juàn. Composed by Jiāng Yǒng of the present dynasty. Yǒng has the Zhōulǐ yíyì jǔyào already recorded. — Of those who have discussed Old phonology, no one school is the same: Sòng Wú Yù, Míng Yáng Shèn and Chén Dì, the present-dynasty Gù Yánwǔ, Chái Shàobǐng, Máo Qílíng — their books are the most current. Each has merits, but each fails — either by seeking Old phonology in modern rhyme-classes, or by lumping Hàn / Wèi / pre-Suí-Chén progressive phonology with Old phonology — so that the strict cannot work the system, and the loose are tangled and disordered. — Jiāng’s book takes the Shī sānbǎi piān alone as principal — calling it the Shīyùn; and the post-Zhōu / pre-Hàn evidence near to the Old as supplementary — calling it the Bǔyùn. Compared with the other schools, the boundaries are clearer. The rhyme-divisions: píng / shǎng / qù — 13 classes each; rù — 8 classes. Each class’s head shows the rhyme-class title; where a class can be sub-split into 2, marked “fēn mǒu yùn”; where graphs from a non-cross-rhyming class enter here, marked “bié shōu mǒu yùn”; tone-class divergences marked “bié shōu mǒu shēng mǒu yùn” — this tǐlì (organisational principle) is also the best of the schools. Each entry-graph has its own annotation; each class concludes with a zǒnglùn (general remarks). Front matter: lìyán and Shīyùn jǔlì in 1 juàn. The general doctrine: in the Míng, follow Chén Dì; in the present dynasty, follow Gù Yánwǔ — and supply corrections to errors and omissions. Wú Yù, Yáng Shèn, Máo Qílíng are sometimes refuted in detail; Chái Shàobǐng et al. are passed over without specific criticism. — Of works in the genre with internal coherence, this is the finest. It should not be discounted for being a late publication. Presented Qiánlóng 46 / 10 (1781). General Editors Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; Chief Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Gǔyùn biāozhǔn (1759) is the mid-Qīng masterwork of Old-phonology systematization, by Jiāng Yǒng of Wùyuán. The work supersedes Gù Yánwǔ’s 顧炎武 Yīnxué wǔshū on most specific phonological assignments while preserving its methodological frame. Three distinctive innovations: (1) restriction of the Shīyùn corpus to the Shī sānbǎi piān itself, treating later evidence as separate (the Bǔyùn); (2) explicit recognition of phonological continuity from the Shī-period through Hàn / WèiJìn to the rhyme-book period; (3) the structural devices fēn mǒu yùn / bié shōu mǒu yùn / bié shōu mǒu shēng mǒu yùn for handling sub-classes and cross-tone-class entries. The Sìkù tíyào gives the work the highest praise. Through Jiāng Yǒng’s pupil Dài Zhèn 戴震 and Dài’s pupil Duàn Yùcái 段玉裁, this work directly informs Duàn’s Liùshū yīnyùn biǎo and the entire mature high-Qīng gǔyīnxué tradition. Modern Old Chinese reconstructions (Karlgren, Pulleyblank, Baxter) all descend from this lineage. notBefore = notAfter = 1759.
Translations and research
- Wáng Lì 王力. 1985. Hàn-yǔ yǔ-yīn shǐ. — Treats Jiāng Yǒng as the bridge between Gù Yán-wǔ and the high-Qīng gǔ-yīn-xué of Dài Zhèn / Duàn Yù-cái.
- Pulleyblank, Edwin G. 1962. The Consonantal System of Old Chinese. — Treats Jiāng Yǒng as the principal refiner of Gù’s Old-phonology system.
- Baxter, William H. 1992. A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. — Standard modern reconstruction; explicitly anchored on the Jiāng Yǒng → Duàn Yù-cái → Wáng Niàn-sūn lineage.
Other points of interest
The Gǔyùn biāozhǔn is one of two great mid-Qīng watershed works in Old-Chinese phonology — the other being Duàn Yùcái’s Liùshū yīnyùn biǎo (1775; based on this work and Dài Zhèn’s lectures). Through Dài Zhèn (1724–1777, Jiāng Yǒng’s pupil) and Duàn Yùcái (1735–1815, Dài’s pupil), Jiāng Yǒng’s work is the founding text of the systematic phase of Qīng Old-phonology that produced the modern reconstruction.