Nán huá zhēn jīng zhí yīn 南華真經直音
Direct Pronunciations of the True Scripture of the Southern Florescence
by 賈善翔 (Jiǎ Shànxiáng); preface dated 1086
A Northern-Sòng phonetic-gloss apparatus to the [[KR5c0051|Nán huá zhēn jīng]] (the Zhuāngzǐ) by Jiǎ Shànxiáng 賈善翔, preserved as DZ 739 / CT 739 (Dòngshén bù, Yù jué lèi 洞神部玉訣類). Preface dated 1086. The work provides fǎnqiè pronunciations and direct-homophone glosses (zhí yīn 直音 = “direct pronunciation”, using common characters to indicate the sound of rare ones) for the difficult characters of the Zhuāngzǐ — a reader-aid in the tradition of Lù Démíng’s 陸德明 Jīng diǎn shì wén 經典釋文.
About the work
Genre
The zhí yīn 直音 genre — using a common character to indicate the pronunciation of a rare character (rather than the full fǎnqiè 反切 spelling system) — was a widely-used pedagogical convention in late-medieval Chinese philological literature. Jiǎ Shànxiáng’s DZ 739 is one of the significant Northern-Sòng examples of the genre.
Contents
The work systematically lists difficult characters in the Zhuāngzǐ, chapter by chapter, giving:
- Direct-homophone pronunciations — “X, 音 Y” meaning “X is pronounced like Y”.
- Some fǎnqiè glosses — for characters without obvious homophones.
- Occasional brief semantic notes — though the primary focus is phonetic.
Prefaces
The 1086 preface (signed by Jiǎ Shànxiáng himself) articulates the pedagogical purpose: to make the Zhuāngzǐ readable to students who might otherwise stumble over its archaic or technical vocabulary.
Abstract
The Zhí yīn is a minor but useful reading aid for the Zhuāngzǐ. It complements Chén Jǐngyuán’s (陳景元) more comprehensive Yīn yì (KR5c0129, DZ 736, 1084) in the same decade, indicating an active Northern-Sòng engagement with the Zhuāngzǐ’s philological challenges.
Dating. Preface 1086. Per the project’s dating rule, the frontmatter gives 1086 as the composition date. Dynasty: 宋.
Author. Jiǎ Shànxiáng 賈善翔 was a Northern-Sòng Daoist scholar, author of several works preserved in the Daozang, including Yóu lóng zhuàn 猶龍傳 (DZ 774, a Lǎozǐ hagiography) and Gāo dào zhuàn 高道傳 (fragments preserved in DZ 783). He was active in the Yuán fēng 元豐 (1078–1085) and Yuán yòu 元祐 (1086–1094) eras.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, DZ 739 entry.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5c0132
- Parent text: KR5c0051 Nán huá zhēn jīng.
- Parallel apparatus: KR5c0129 Zhāng jù yīn yì.
- ctext.org: 南華真經直音