New Sound and Rhythm Enlightenment—A New Collection of Chinese Sound and Rhythm Links

Author: Xie Jirong (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-09-01
Features: This New Rhyme Selection of Chinese Poetry uses the 2000 revised edition of the Xinhua Dictionary as the basis for determining pronunciation and meaning, referencing works such as Modern Rhyme and New Rhyme Compilation. It is divided into 18 rhyming tones. Emulating the format of Rhythm and Rhyme and Lixiong’s Rhyme, it arranges verses by rhyme, with each verse containing 10 couplets and 8 level tones (pingyin) as rhyme endings. The entire book comprises 254 verses, featuring 2,032 level tones, none of which are repeated. It can be said that the commonly used level tones in each rhyme are almost entirely employed for rhyming. In terms of scale, it surpasses both Rhythm and Rhyme and Lixiong’s Rhyme. The author possesses exceptional insight, extensively collecting and selecting excellent verses and couplets that conform to the new rhyme system from ancient and modern poetry. With profound literary expertise, in-depth research in phonology, extensive historical knowledge, and a masterful ability to weave words, the author compiled 254 couplets in 18 rhyming tones, each verse ranging from one to eleven characters and containing ten couplets. Though one may not claim every word is a gem, it is certainly free of major flaws. Adding to the complete couplets and concise yet detailed annotations, the book spans over one million words, several times larger than Lixiong’s Rhyme and Rhythm and Rhyme (each with 90 couplets). In the history of Chinese phonology, it may not be the last of its kind, but it can be considered a monumental work unparalleled in ancient times.