Song Dynasty Ancient Phonology and a Study of Wu Yu's "Supplementary Sounds to the Book of Songs"

Author: Zhang Minquan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The book "Old Chinese Phonology of the Song Dynasty and Research on Wu Yu" is divided into two parts, spanning over 500,000 words. The first part is titled "Old Chinese Phonology Studies of the Song Dynasty," and the second part is "Comprehensive Examination and Annotations of Wu Yu's Supplement to the Sound of the Book of Songs." In the first part, the author elucidates the establishment and development of Song Dynasty old Chinese phonology from three aspects: the historical foundation of Wu Yu's old Chinese phonology, the historical reasons for the development of old Chinese phonology after the Southern Crossing, and the general overview of Song Dynasty old Chinese phonology studies after the Southern Crossing. Subsequently, the author discusses the research of Zheng Xiang and Xiang Anshi on the division and combination of ancient rhymes in the Book of Songs, explores Cheng Jiong's General Patterns of Ancient Rhymes and its old Chinese phonological thoughts, introduces the research of Tang Gongfu, Feng Qi, and others on the rhymes of the Book of Changes, and comprehensively elaborates on the formation and development of Song Dynasty old Chinese phonology, which was primarily based on textual evidence. Meanwhile, the author analyzes and discusses the writings of Zhu Xi on the Commentary on the Book of Songs and the Collected Annotations on the Chu Ci, including his theory of yeyin (tonal modification), Fang Songqing's Rectification of Han's Collection and its ancient rhyme annotations, Wang Yinglin's Annotations on the Jiju Text and its ancient rhyme collation, objectively analyzing and summarizing the formation and development of Song Dynasty old Chinese phonology, which was primarily based on yeyin annotations. The author also devoted significant effort to comprehensively collecting scattered discussions on ancient rhyme issues from the collected works and miscellaneous writings of Song Dynasty scholars, such as Gong Yizheng's Notes from Jie Yin on the verification of ancient rhymes, Yuan Wen, Wang Liu, and Ye Daqing's theories on old Chinese phonology, as well as the old Chinese phonological views of Wei Liaoong and Li Congzhou. These are highly valuable materials on Song Dynasty old Chinese phonology that have yet to be and researched by previous scholars. Finally, the author analyzes the pros and cons of the theory of yeyin transformation among Song Dynasty scholars, their understanding of the original sounds of ancient texts, and their perception of the yeyin theory, objectively and dialectically evaluating the historical achievements of Song Dynasty old Chinese phonology. The book also focuses on the exploration and research of Wu Yu's Supplement to the Sound of the Book of Songs. Although the original text of Supplement to the Sound of the Book of Songs is no longer extant today, the author has collected numerous phonetic annotations of Supplement to the Sound of the Book of Songs from the works of Song Dynasty scholars on the Book of Songs and related collections, thereby gaining insights into the composition, format, the nature and relationship between Supplement to the Sound of the Book of Songs and the Commentary on the Book of Songs, the nature and relationship between Supplement to the Sound of the Book of Songs and Supplement to the Rhymes, the old Chinese phonological research in Supplement to the Sound of the Book of Songs, and Wu Yu's phonological system. The author also clarifies the influence, dissemination, and shortcomings of Supplement to the Sound of the Book of Songs. Additionally, the author conducts an in-depth investigation into the life and works of Wu Yu, particularly discussing the issues related to his works such as Supplement to the Book of Documents, Continuation of the Analects, and Supplement to the Rhymes.