Phonetics Five Books

Author: Gu Yanwu (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: A work on the ancient pronunciation of Chinese. Written by Gu Yanwu. It was completed around 1643 and is divided into five parts: On Phonology, The Original Pronunciation of Poetry, The Pronunciation of the I Ching, The Correction of the Tang Rhyme, and the Ancient Phonology Table.
"On Phonology" is divided into three volumes and consists of 15 chapters, discussing major issues in ancient phonology and ancient phonological studies, and systematically elaborating on the author's fundamental views on ancient phonology, serving as the general outline of "Five Books of Phonology." The most important chapters include:
1. "The Pronunciation of Ancient People Was Slow, Not Necessitating Changing Characters"
2. "Ancient Poetry Did Not Use Yeyin"
3. "The Four Tones of Ancient People Were Continuous"
4. "The Interpretations of the Two Sounds by the Scholars of Former Generations Are Not Fully Accurate."
"The Original Pronunciation of Poetry" thoroughly examines the ancient pronunciation of rhyming words in the Book of Songs, indicating the ancient rhyme categories of characters that the author believed differed between ancient and modern pronunciations. It also counts the occurrences of these characters in the Book of Songs and other classics as rhyming words, as well as the words they rhyme with. Gu Yanwu considered this book to be the most important in the "Five Books of Phonology."
"The Pronunciation of the I Ching" investigates the ancient pronunciation of rhyming words in the I Ching, using methods similar to those in "The Original Pronunciation of Poetry," but unlike the Book of Songs, it does not copy the entire I Ching but selects sentences it believes use rhymes, pointing out the ancient rhyme categories of the rhyming words.
"The Correction of the Tang Rhyme" aims to correct the so-called errors in the Tang Rhyme. Gu Yanwu had a tendency to restore ancient pronunciation in his research; whenever the Tang Rhyme did not align with ancient phonology, he believed the Tang Rhyme was incorrect. In reality, he took many pieces of evidence that should have been included in "The Original Pronunciation of Poetry" and compiled them into a separate book, which can be seen as a detailed annotation of it.
"The Ancient Phonology Table" is a summary of Gu Yanwu's research on ancient phonology. In the book, he rearranges the order of the Tang Rhyme and divides ancient phonology into 10 categories, listing them in a tabular form.
The "Five Books of Phonology" completely and thoroughly refuted the theory of yeyin from both theoretical and practical perspectives, laying the foundation for ancient phonology and opening up a new field for the study of phonology.