reflections on the shouwen fragments
TRANSCRIPT
REFLECTIONS ON TIIE SHOUWEN FRAGMENTS .
W. SOUTH COBLINUniversity of Iowa
1. IntductionThe Sh5uwEn fragments comprise three incomplete DEnhu6ng documents
held by the BibliothEque Nationale. They are found in a single scroll-like
artifact, which is catalogued as Pelliot chinois ZOlz.T1ley deal with phonological
matters and seem to be connected in some way with the sound charts now
conventionally called 'rime tables' (ddngyintrt S*F Eil). They are not themselves
rime tables, nor even fragments of rime tables; but they do evince certain
structural principles and categories found in the tables and are therefore among
the oldest reliable soufces biaring on the origins and history of the ddngyin
tradition.The fragments have been the subject of two well-known earlier studies'
The first of these was by Lu6 ch6ngpei tr'fr tr (1931)' It was based not on the
original texrs in Paris but on a hand copy made ty.l-ig $ 3.,lrE (1891-1934)
ani published by him in his Diinhudng dudsu; -*-tr&th 0925).It deals
seleciively with the material in the fragments, with the result that one cannot
tell from Lu6's treatment what the original content and arrangement of the
rexts was. The second major treatment was by Zh6a Zlm6I44E# (1966).
ZhOu remarks that the text used by Lu6 was defective in certain ways. He also
observes that the calligraphy of the original is crudely executed but typical oflate T6ng and Five Dynasties writing, suggesting that he may have seen either
the texts themselves or facsimiles thereof. He does not elaborate on his sources.
His treatment, like Lu6's, is selective, so that one can gain no impression from
it of what the originals are like. More recently, the ShSuwEn material has been
mentioned by Li Xinkui +*rE (1983) in his extensive study of rime table
history and development. Whether Li used the original materials or based his
remarks on the Lifi FU transcription, or on quoted material from Lu6 andZhdu,
-s unclear. Most recently, the fragments have been treated in part by Pan
\\-6ngu6 i$A @ in a study of the rime tables fran 1997). He bases his discussions
:n a iet of facsimiles of the texts published by Zh6u Zitm6 in 1994. Most other
Al earlier version of this paper was presented at the "Symp-osium on New Views on the
l-_*iiiii Fniloiophy Underiyi'ng the Rime Tables" treld at ihe University of Minnesota, Mayl:C. 1998.
100 . sourn coBLIN
recent references to the fragments are brief and based on the publications of
Liri, Lu6, andZh6t.Since the pioneering studies of Lu6 and Zhdu, much better facsimiles of
the fragments have become available, and it therefore seems worthwhile to
publish-a transcription of the texts, in order that readers may see in full what
ihey contain and in what form and sequence it occurs. Such a transcription is
given in the Section III below. In addition, a tentative translation is offered for
each fragment, to facilitate discussion and analysis.
2. Description of the Manusctipt andFragments
The pr-esent study is based directly on photographs of Pelliot 2012 published
by Hu6ng y6ngw[ +ri.t\, (1986, vol. 112, 96-107), and secondarily on a
.uttigrupf,i" replication included in Pdn Ch6nggui (1974, App.,87-92). Zhdu
ZitiO'i tacsimiles, which are of poorer quality, have not been used here. The
artifact appears to be an irregularly shaped scroll having both tecto and verso
sides. The sh6uw6n fragments are found on the verso.The published photo-
graphs, of which there are a considerable number in the set, must be fitted
tog"tt "t
to "reconstfuct" the entke surface configuration of the document; and
this then reveals that the alrangement of the fragments on that surface is odd'
To begin, the surface consists of a central, oblong rectangle, from which two
thinne-r oblong strips or 'wings' extend from the right and left sides' In the
central rectangle is a large religious drawing. The first fragment, to be called
"Fragment 1" here, constitutes much of the left-side 'wing', extending outward
from the central rectangle. It has been attached at a very obvious seam and
begins with a large cursive graph of uncertain identity, followed by 23 lines ot
t"*t. It ends very abruptly, as if having been sharply cut, and part of the final
line of text has been dimaged by this cut. Beyond it is a further extension ot
apparently blank paper, which the photographs do not separately reproduce in
its^entirety. The sicond fragment, our "Fragment2", is found on the right-han'J
'wing' of the document. It begins at an obvious seam and contains 29 lines of
text. the writing in this text runs upside down in relation to that in Fragmenl
1. Below the first line is a cursive calligraphic addition or signature, which has
been damaged by the cut at the initial seam. This signature does not resemble
the graph at the head of Fragment 1. After the last line is another, quite
different, cursive graph which closely resembles but is not identical with the
graph at the beginning of Fragment 1. Beyond the end of the text of Fragmeni
i is a nsttrer small set of unrelated drawings of a religious nature. The handwriting
and general arlangement of text in Fragments 1 and 2 is identical and the
impression is that they were originally part of a single document' The odc
graphs at the beginning of Fragment 1 and the end of Fragment 2 appear t;,nu.t tt" beginning and end of this original document. However, there is n:
RF]LECT
rll lons or smooth :ransman,J the beginning o: Eag:ihe beginning and fimi punou'missilg.
The third fraemenr- oIt appears on the surface i
ahead of the beginning of i
io that of Fragment I It sr
rf the drawing. ghicit :: r:at the absolute ed,ee o: du'hich forms the edge" ItFragments 1 and l. Iu cmaterial in the middie sss
lhe common documenr Ioultimate relationship to lhn'
The arrangemeni {3f
illustrated in the fol.ce:oE
This is, to say the je.Ls.-- e.
becomes clear when a'e sf,large, and rather c---=rsrsurfaCe. The artist rAf,,; Ctr!
shaped, clean surfacr :m m
the large drawing n.? @ tr
have found an unr.r-s; @tr'wings', made from. :rmtext was written su:u,ucddiscard a section trcry futhat this central p]=- Mfor constructing a u-,iImr mand discarded. The :an ffisin relation to each urs n:
'ml .{-F@r'@"
REFLECTIONS ONTHE SHOUWENFRAGMENTS IO1obvious or smooth transition between the materiar at the end of Fragment 1and the beginnine
1f Fragment z, rrgg"rting that ,rh;; ;; ioi nur" might be:l"-T:|ffig
anJ final parts of .lon!?, t"^i from which itre-centrat portion is
The third fragment, our "Fragment 3,,, consists of a scant ten Iines of text.It appears on the surface of th" fi;;;';rrat religiou";;;;g, immediarelyahead of the beginning_orrrugm"n;t, iri itr text runs upside down in rerationto that of Fragment z. tt seenis ,or,^,Jil""n. *rt:n on top of a smail portionof the drawing, which it inter;e;;'u. ,iir'p"irt. The flust line of it, which riesat the absorute edse of tne centrair""iungr., has been i"r"g"a by the cutwhich forms the eige. It is in un "nrir"iv different rr*ai."* that found inFragments t and z."Its ""r*, ir-"#ii; to bur not identicar with certainmaterial in the middle.sectig
"1rr"s-"rt 1. It doe-s not appear to be part ofthe common document to which rru!-*t. 1 and zoriginary belonged. ItsultimatereJationship to this ao.r*.ni?".urn, obr"u.".rrre arrangement.of the fragments on the verso face of the scro, isillustrated in the following sketch:e----"!v
This is' to say'nr':l:tr,u curious configuration. However, the reason for itbecomes crear when we examine the rectiof the scror. itJr'"lrtuins a singre,large, and rarher comprex graahiri d;ing, which enrirery fi,s the recfosurface. The artist who execut"a ,r,ir"*"rt must have n""a"J-in appropriateryshaped' clean surface on which to *ort. io this end he began by tuming overthe large drawing now at the center "iirrl verso. onthe bick of this he musthave found an unused,surface. i" rt",
"rtended trri, surra"" by adding the'wings" made from otherpieces "rrlr"r. The scroll on which the shduwEntext was writren suopried iwo of ,rr".J pi"..r. ;;ffi;li;i" remove anddiscard a section rr,i,i, ir," ;;;;'";'d 5n6u*en scrori The answer may bethat this centrar portion rrua .o-"tr,ir,
", ,rr" back of it which made it useresstor constructing a crean surface for thl ne*_a_ru*ing. It was therefore excisedand discarded. The fact thatrrrg.r""il i' ^"a
zare separated and upside downin relation to each other now becomes unJerstandabte. They were attached to
102 \1'. SOLllt COBLD
the central piece at the points where thel' rvslg needed' and the artist had no
interest in what was written on what had now become for him the reverse sides
of them. His concern was with the clean surfaces on which he planned tc
work. Fragment 3 remains something of a mystery. It is not part of the Sh5uu'En
text proper, but instead was written separately on the central drawing. It appears
to be ttre end of a longer passage. That its content is phonological and srmilar
to that of Fragment 2 is conceivably a coincidence, but if so it is a rather
startling one.
3. Transcription and Translation of the Fragments
In this section we begin by making close "paleographic" transcriptions of
the fragments, retaining as much of the original lineation and punctuation as
possibG. For typographical reasons no attempt has been made to reproduce
variant writings of now standard graphs. Missing or illegible graphs are replaced
by blank tqoit".. Graphs which have been blacked out by scribal overstrike
aie indicated with solid black squares. In Fragment 1, the small circles in the
final table contain within them the grapb wfi *, which is not replicated here'
The long list of examples at the end of Fragment 2 has been abbreviated here "
Full listings of them can be found in Liri (1957) and P-an Ch6nggui (1974'"
After the transcriptions we offer "regttlarized" versions with modern punctuation
and formatting ind a number of textual emendations. Finally, a provisiona'
translation of each fragment is attempted. At certain points in the paper, Qidyin*zffE system orthographic forms are inserted from the "Ancient Chinese" systen
of Bernhard Karlgren, as modified by F. K. Li. These forms are given fo:
convenience of reference to the traditional Qidynn system categories and are
not assumed to represent any actual earlier form of Chinese.
Pelliot chinois 2Ol2 Verso
Fragment l: TranscriPtion
1. X #J *'&YUt- ' +?E " @
2. E fi ^ * fraA € a &i6 re-ifr, *. + eA * +{ 1*'.8 a ft.$ L* t t fr n E *# *xfr-+ +
fr&^6 tmattx.gaa3. * * 4 4 MA,r fi +' A'f* t,s ttt uA € * + + rF " "'' B-a'tt fri 7r €# f +'6
5. A . rt,fr # + +';€,il@ + + ftffi ' + + t4& " *+ ffi'n(.+ "
6tu # #' *+ #P'*+"
6. t: H +n W "a + H iil f- * + n +n te ft.w F e * tr - + etu A + {t{ &C'u J
i'---i-.- :i ' r-4{.8*' e='+!
i"E &f'E e4; 27; a<=*4'=1: &=fri. ie 6? +-f,'G-;E'7'J'*'felz
{r.ei : 'e "-4*: Ar,e'L -'4'-'uF-*--L
-: *.llgi t a 6r {cL t 4e;. ,Ee €-a t;.:' -*;A';-='l-- g=
=-f;- d:t -5-ry-:,-t*fr-l
i
: i: n.*3;- E + ; g. Ei
1 S-**,.-t- 5-v- -* *' ffi:-- 4;rt.*i' ZE ES. t(
-:r= 2= -*.-
?:fior cfuLilois 2O1l I'crsr
=- -=-- ?.: -:--=j
L: -!. -
b z -7.:: -- 1=q=
+€ 4€€ -'-?-2fr-1=:r€? = -<_Zl-
.r-
REFLECTIONSOi.{TEESIOLNTE{FRAGMENTS I(B
7. t " **ftptFf t=***. **fr<,'rf +r++* - *tn l f ++4rrtt+Aflt* . ttE.*nEt#tit+*,
8. . +EhE*.e 4 fr z*iB{qt +#lgx E+:fE#i x f#e. a**E- {e j6B r*,f; +G,**ReEA,f4&.A10. ar+aE HIl sE ,t*. " *r*R €* €& ff&
13. +*+a ffia En 9x " H*+A ffiu ft,*.Mn14.,+,efka gta i6r* E* " *t*R** 6,y at-&
12. R*+xE- O r?t ;8,*
th-
15.
t6. Et+*E -a*l€mF.g
fi. ff:.:etn- re4 B e fr,&x8.
. "+.+*x C 4.n.$*" #*t*.x- C lt-n t**
$ ir+
$ *r+" 4s&.sq- Rm &e Fk
, *fr+tx- 4*+nfr q4 @{e+4.,a-L4
$.14rg. #sFea E*- h w, Etrrt )b4hkL ** €w, Ea10. A$BE ?,4* W.ra 4s, i*,*ax. #X #w,4s,:r. E*rea lgm E.N,ffiffi d(.r&rBx tftra *.w,then''l #r&E Ew fi-w"*n M,h*n-fE,ra,lfrm:da
:i. -s&E zhra f H, [q ,E *mx. *4- E ffi" H,#,
[End of Fragment 1]
Hliilchinois 2Ol2 Verso
Fregment 1: Regularized Version
h*'E=Yut-+7Hid
*gffii* E €+itrft ' R fr)*#*m++ft.&,
104 \1.. SOLTH CoBLN
6& , +A)i/trft&s1fj.**#tr ft,rSt'
#+ ' ,s{Fa*,.€4++rFB-"ttfll rit€4 + +,€
EsS€Pe*#+l+*E 4,4e ftS;t+n 11
E , ,rbftG+ tlE . zitw+f € ffi-+ + . *sfr **7+N,++^fu , #f+**4+N,l ?A+n . i+A +H*A. t*+EI*n " 4s ftw +eliffi -+3B*" A +gil'e,e ' ft*€le ++'1,=+ " 9B$fr+h6ft.,s{F + +4fu . *lilrh,hft.,u.{F++&+l . i+{.+A*E . t*+il*n " is&w+ffi=+&*"t*drrl.&, "
*AE-. *ht.ts fr.ltl+-P,w+g#tt'l
ta ffiEffiru NtaO )fr"r-c ,4n&8, #giE,t, €tt,O :#r"o tt-n
FfiAF6mnffm
li'5
-r*ntri*S(elt>n
E*,4+*fira
Em*6*tuxffi,t.
,€mB*,{&w
*.tx
€rtma-*.si.'-* *i-rq,+g;-.d.=,*;.fr +€i?.*e:.
Fragment I
+4&t *n-ffi.tpr-i*i*t*dF&an-l9a't n-
*, FE.qil^E-ffi,+*n-
L4#x+n-t6,,*axd-
ifi*+a*+zE-
*F+BrtF-E-H zrra4e&.gE-#frnn-*
lr4Stt*t*x-itl##"n-ffi*r+ea
hw.lHraEe,
*,ffi,fr rL
6*iR,*&)^fiEt*
'$*1**
E,X,M,XMffi6if,F
n&.fr,*.W.
@+*+r.,Er.e
fr*h4.ffi'ffia
Lip Sounds: Sr AE;|Tongue Soun,js: )u6m*
t'''-a\{olar Sounds: ib:me r
s" rA*lncisor Sounds; l',:3i ilt" q
S.rdr *-sc--ri p
Faucal Sounds: Xl: ^-'. -rclear 1pXrd 6 -Y'oi ttrre rur
The Precept wfiereiLevel s are dete ran_tnec.
the Initial Soun& ar:
SllJahl
Gao €t: This is an iatra-faiuit is a syllable of the first le.
' This syllable appears tc be :"e rp Stein 512 of the Brirrsh Lbr:q- The word gri *2. uhen ':=:usually been explained in nau-.e ;against, etc.', which are all c.:-:-transitively. the word wou:; -_-rer
etc..'derived as a causatrre i--:=similal ia uSe and meanins [o r-q,-e-r
wont to explain this techitca- -:--c
modem reading qi€ rather tha: ,mothers to be encountered te.:j.implied, rather than cuftilg o: d::sense, and there consequeo"Ct =..
E---- _
4tx*.x-A,+&E-)v,fr&Ri,&,+,,ta,*.+o,Eaih,,?,eE-,E *.tea
REFLECTIoNS oNTHE sHoUwENFRAGMENTs 105
,Em,flffi,€ffi,fr*m&&,'l)"c.ffi,
€'q*,
€ra,*ra*+4+'tralLra**
D<eJqE*n#qIhMJ
6.an
H.a
Fragment l: Translation
Recounted by the Chinese Bhikqu ShSuwEn of N6nli6ng
Lip Sounds: Bi $, fbng *, bing iL, and ming aA.
Tongue Sounds: Du-an &, tdu &., ding R-, and ni ift. are tongue head sounds.Zhi +fl , chd 4&, chdng ff, and rr' E are tongue top sounds.
Molar Sounds: These are syllables of the group jiin R., jdn E ,t qi )'4, qrtn
&,16i*,and yi*fr..Incisor Sounds: Iing )fh, qng i* , and cdng;li- are incisor head sounds.
Shdn *, chudn 4 , shin#, and zhdo N, are the incisorsounds proper.
Faucal Sounds: Xtu ,ii, xi6 tF, and xiio W are intra-faucal sounds of theclear type.Xid E, yd 'ft', and ying ,F') arc also intra-faucal sounds, [but]of the turbid type.
The Precept whereby the Lightness and Heaviness of the FourLevels are determined and wherein it is concunently argued that, if
the Initial Sounds and Rimes are not congruent, then there is noSyllable which can be fitted togethe?
,:-o E: This is an intra-faucal sound of the turbid type. Among the four levels: -s a syllable of the first level. It is not congruent with syllables classed in the
..-rs syllable appears to be an erroneous addition to the list. A comparable inventory found: :::rn 512 ofthe British Library Diinhudng collection does not include it.'
.--e word qii *n, when used as a technical term in traditional Chinese phonology, has. -' l" been explained in native sources as 'to press close upon, be close together with, to rub":- --it. etc.', which are all common and well attested senses of the syllable gid. When used:-r,:,.:rveiy, the word would then mean 'to bring close to, bring into contact with, fit together,- :arived as a causative from the basic sense. The concept'fit together' in this context is::r* r rn use and meaning to that of the English expression "to spell." Bernhard Karlgren was
, ': :.. explain this technical use of */J as "to cut", a sense which would in fact require the": :,::: reading qiE rather than gii. However, in passages such as the present one and certain'r:, :c be encountered below, it seems clear that some sort of joining or combining is
:: -.:. rather than cutting or dividing. In these cases the native interpretation makes better: ,,: .rd there consequently seems to be no reason to abandon it.
ffilt,
106 W. SOUTH COBLIN
group sh\n *, chuEn 4, shdn {S, and zhdo N,.If one takes syllables among-
it " rit shdn *, chu-an * , shdn ff , and zhdo N, as ("fitter" >) syllable initial,3
and if one [also] takes the syllable gao -Ft as rime, then there will definitely be
no syllable which can be fitted together. But faucal sound syllables of the firstof the four levels are in all cases like the example illustrated by the syllablegdo Ft.
Iido *-: This is a syllable of the second among the four levels. It is notcongruent with syllables classed among the set jing *h, qryg h, c6ng lrtr-, xin,s, Ld xi6 t$.If one takes syllables among the set jlng *h, qng ifr, c6ng '&-,
xri? ,r", and, xi6 {F as syllable initial, and if one [also] takes the syllable jiAo f*
as rime, then there will definitely be no syllable which can be fitted together.
But syllables of the second of the four levels are in all cases like the example
illustiated by the syllable jido {.. ttre spellings #AE- and ffitE represent
example syllables [of the impossible type].
Examples of Light and Heavy in the Four Levels
IImIv
QrTGfi*tr.#-r,61.!l*!JEttru; I
IfTi-t*crt*rr.lr.+rdf*cr.:'ftfftr*r*,*ttdlr*rte*,rf r*.r.Level I
PingToneFtt*n-ffi.*p.n-l*i*en-R*an-lBa+l.n-***n-€d^E-fu,+a.n-
SrlingTonei*x+n-t&,exx-ifi*+a*t*E-
taffimlCC
&8";B*Co
Etap6m
ffi,-+ir.rS
ffiE#haifr,ri,* r"#a,Btr#t;4*n
Em*6':.lfr.;9.
ffi4.
,*,tr)A fLff*rt*&i.6EAU
W*lts
E'4,ErXfuM6{'f*
khdLi?orlnhCr2L 'fr+ta 'tlJf e' &tta - ifttE.'il*l{t " *iI,!."lrt'*.fi'.iJf. . *f,trir+dil""ffit,trt,Glll'.ifif*rE.*{til, .l.l.lr+ - *,rtt
*&,[[tftlFfi ry *-fr+,[-" *it*ft*It.lEflEfr*
= 4)+t+*efrsf,s E +*.t
. Qf,S6il., *lm*ir*+ttiil
J' qia io this instance is used nominally, to refer to the syllable initial element h a fdnqii E-tz iormula. Its basic sense must be cloielv related to the verbal one discussed in the precedincy related to the verbal one discussed in the precedingnote. We may suggest 'fitting element' or 'fitter' as a literal rendering and 'initial' or 'initilelement' as i friir one. Th"e term occurs often in the coordinate iompound qieyia hfi"initial element and rime".
- .,TF|, ffiiai#
REFLECTIONS ON THE SHOUWEN FRAGMENTS 107
QriTone++*E-? d-*rR2&a E-e 6 iln-*
ii Tone?*reC_, /.6/
i :t-* c\ ? !S/-\
#-;- * cE ql8:/{
* r-&E-;r.* t
- , 1S/-\
:'.--€ ER
i.*.PrE-tr iBE.I +."ra
i.-iiot chinois 2012;::::rent 2
-a*ltri4.&_trfr
#*a
E*#+ffiraEra#ra**SxtftralLra*+
Verso
t€mB*M**x
heI',fim
E&E4efffi,r€H,**m,&ffi,,IEffi
6m,
n*.frfr,*.
w.@+*+rc.,E-L4
fra4fr;fiff1
4*fi1
ZaB.a#qlh6hdL#J
H.*n
. fr+ t"1-JiE l&.+nRtp,lfrlitJ- . **,AE- " Rtr#E-. {Ffr^eA " K*l*E- " E<#r*.R " H€frE" iH,AR. #Ar.#E " l&+)g.E-. 4fifitl*R. roAfria . *-gr,a.n-
.. o 4*H4tr"+n+^4+ttJ: ;: + " g-4g.liE . SE. dti. S$t ,4h*, . *_*AM+n ZA *#.r{k@i+W€ i n anz.-6t ltt/ik- *4&.lnH " l&,fr+nF " lfr**ntk , tl..ft.#tl6}ffir " *,i *.*n&F;g+n)&. ?+'lr *nF .;qg+auE , tV,*-htWfjA€-RA , *"Wfq+;?t" ry"+n+. tU,ft*n€dA#.ffir " t4/.X v\#,*p$.4iktlE+?E#Hnarta'.,-
t = E * X,? ft. F* fr\ W 4 H ffi,, g n ljiL ^
an *,-6* * itL, M_tkiit# *, .).7*.ft.8 , Bp ft*Ay,64ggfi+n&,tui+E f *F tr+nl&+tL+€4s+lEfrHe*+&+o
z Z ? B r /+l + L Xft il"^ +€ it + r4 +€ + e ft - **ik€ $ *Xft ft E e,- i &;'oHA,, kb-*ir-*9frffi+e+fr+'+ffi&T Fl,ftA,r,l W&E#freiF 3- i: t + *.ht ifl.z-ika hI H ffi.e,
fl-
W- SOUTH@BLIN
ls. " ffitsfi'e.8Ablt6." E^aB€E+ " ts4'F-offl#" *b&*&*17." #^ifr&Pfr " rg-4."fr#&hf'18. " *+4€E *alil$fr&^Htg-.
^. E&ffi.r+ta " ++,$+ 4#n*n- " ffi,&b!4c-.*.fred-
zo. " s{,H'isi.*64tfi* n- " 't't*ihr.rxx- " E-tfrn- " W**&ilEEE-2l-24. Examples deleted
;,.-, * : g.Efr, g lt xs*a, +*+,t* *E E- " + *#'tr *E R " #. f-i| i*R " *N+
26. Mtl+**E- " 1,1*h3;fi,*Ara " tFftmE . t',HF *.**.xan- " *lrfi.k27 -29. Examples omitted
[End of Fragment 2]
Pelliot chinois 2012 Verco
Fragment 2: Regularized Version
fr + frl -*A ]&+/t t-#, kt lrl
-#*,aa RffNt,-,istex. **ax- &*w.x- H*an-ifi,t/l,,a.R N*mn- i&+i+E- t*'*ax- flE41a,,1&E Naan-
FSR*tu+n +T-fi+t'ltn L 9.4* fr-A Atr eti ##t 4hE
a#v6+n44*.M. " tF.tuiP'Fs€n ftaAZ ( 6lb'liAtA)
4"4*k+)rH - 4b,fi*ttF . lL**ntk I tl.ft.SeA+Lffr "
4"i X+n&fs , St$tn&. ?.f'tr +nk - #,?&+/t E t tV,ft+n#-fi1gm "
697fi+nt* - MtL*n* : tV,ft+n€*F*gn8J .
4+tu4+tu.'at*, | #*ffifr.*, fr,)@'+l E, #,1 ", n'},ifr"7-a1nu-7E-' *"ufr., #- "rkiiff#r*tA,| fr*fft*.* ) BPft.Mr6t*41+n& '{" (+iE) + *pit+nh+ ' 1tf,€4+fr#+, &+&fr+n?a " #&rn' +Afft.*,,* " Ttufr+Rte+Eft._*x. &a | #*Frft*.J & "
| frt4'alHffi) '&4t+*frfr+ ' E+*fr+."+ ' &&*r4 ' {{''i''l El "
Wfr&661 , fi*nl*+ftAtt=H],+na+t " t&l? t'+tEvffi,t &.'
108
$,=illL'Htrt'l#ll[.m{iqlrt&CUrrEf,f cmGryafthd{Ldrrtuddf|i,dfusc,-rdlbHrNtEt.F,rElft
Errlr.t%!ll*f,^(" E.fJf{- il'{fpijlafiflft iirue frjft. li:n [Ff,rilJn^€ rtt*E" *:[r #fu di
lhrrccrfted rytrftbkt'reElt d'dto
dEi*. dFha lF
'il*"-*"
REFLECTIOT-S ON TIIE SHOLTE\-FRAGME\TS 109
#tsa#.f- fr#J
x.b?EE+ . x.+r6pnlff< " x.k&+r+r,r+r$ "'*.*,efr&pfr 'x.^i4,+*:4 .
#4$Afri;tsfr &^ Fl
4 : Ajfr"M,i*"R " +ti++ 4*f+*n- " rt,Evb\fF*-frffiR. g{,rff*.st*,6dt
r4E " ,t,t*i*ni(-. q-inE- " W**ffi4Fa,n-
:l-24. Remaining examples omitted
# , H HfitH'lH# #E- " +*Wr*x*n- " Ms44**x- " *3s?;^4**-E- "
s*.ea . t'HF *-t*.xan- " tfit#,R
:--19. Remaining examples omitted
i:agment 2: Translation
-T:anslator's note: This fragment contains a number of fdnqid formulae, for*t-rch corresponding forms in Karlgren's Qldyun system orthography have
:een added here. Numeral 3 in superscript indicates ch6ngnii type 3. The first:.:rnent of each formula is a transcription of the syllable being glossed by the
:Lqie, and the second and third elements are transcriptions of the two halves
::npound dudndi "the right thing, what is correct."]
Examples where two Syllables having the same Rime rely on the
Initial to determine What is Correcta
ftr?E- RtrNE- #fiigx, *+4*E- rt<*WE- H€AAr--; c Zjen ljiln t6ju Zieng 6jang:
x-"i-ng ljang ti: t6jang fljwo- 6jwo
.r.i r ljen ljan kju ljeng ljang:
EH.a.X. NFXsn- l&+igE- 4fiite,- fqEArA,,rrAR Nifr"rtrE-rs-'. r dljen dz.jan t$ju d?jang sjang:
::-:ir dljak dzj: tsjang d1jek sjwor"ii{: ljen ljAn kju ljang ljang:
-re jree transcribed syllables in each of these columns inafdnqii phrase. The firstis thel"ru:,r,: beirg 'spelled' aid the other two are the upper andlower fdnqid elements. Ed.
\T SOL'TH COtsLN110
Examples where, when the lnitial Sounds and Rrmes are not
congruent, a Syllable cannot be amved at
tn L 4:4* Ir'A A tr Bii +#r il'Etshiet Sjang- dfiang 6lyo iliu- tshAu: sjiin
Eang seng tau - ddng muk Yai khEk
Nowsyllableswhichhavebeenfittedtogetherwhentypes[ofspellingelement.,afe separate [from each other] are of several classes. Ii i. n"""ttty to carefu11i
distinguishlightandheavybeforeonecanbeclearaboutthem.(Examplesarecited below')
[Translator's note: In the following formulp' the lastelement' of each is the
svllable being gloss;;;;t;h" firi and second are transcriptions of the tri'c
halves of the formula'l
For exampl ",44ii*n H , 'gfittt * ' ik**ntk: lThe syllablesl *lt and 4i' fir
togetherH,erc.Thesearecasesofseparationbetweentongueheadandtonguetop [initials].'
tuo tha duo
kau- meng- YEng:
tau- theng- dung
Forexample:irJ<*n&ls'*ifu+/Jfr'?+-'lr+ttF-fi"?&+nE:Thesearecasesof separation where it'" initilf element is light and the rime is heavy'
pjwang Phjwang 9]o'" mjwo:'"i:ii " 'niio - ti""i
']{,pji" Phjak bjen' m:r-
Forexampl..gyfltll,*.g1fl*ll*:Thesearecasesofseparationwheretii:i*iuf element is heavy and the rime is light'
Phjieta d{womjuen lji:Phjuen- dz1"
Iamafraidthatpeoplewilltakeonlysuch[interchangesbetween]syllables'.dudn #, zhi *.r,,#8, ;;?ri,;i di;s'P-, cneyi"t as [spelling elemer:'
type-separations, and [as a conseqo*9J] be confused about this principle
Hencelhavecitedexamplesforit'Itisevenmorenecessarytodistinguislvery carefullY.
A poem says, "'When one is at home he is suspected 9! being an outsider' b;:
inanother"o,noyt,"nonethelessbecomesarelative.,'Ihavemanytimessee:
5 Here the first two syllables are the upper and lower finqid elements and the third is ::e
word being 'sPelled'' Ed'
'frIllgu * ,-n* qn@ffi
=,,, ,tr:,\J@tr ffi
n,,; iltllt,ur ;lffiu@r i; 1 1*$uuuur lmruurls dlf frilri\ir hm[!E llni#!!r 'f.ilflr tM,lC
f,lLtff&E ,ml;ftl ffi Gdl fiqMffifi,a.n! ttrur mmamri[ q!ll@ii!efis
"-&r.t n fff:{ffiilr ;t:rumrry hrd5 illfi mr.i;m]S lii: mc i"mlq; re, :qg. "; :rl i:rrar-iiium rul*ly'rmn rurr: ;": @i 'm,@ Illl.&:;Il] ': roi-.ctr t0
lt : :u-=** :* ::: :'"
[M.mr.j IIffi :mtrl .L :glfiEt'
=.. +_:r-
Itc :*r -{::".:-: r--':; :
=:;I: :e*:.i r*:.-:* ---i l:11;;'u "-1; '.1 --.- A -:o"
-'i-16;1 1ru l::,L i ; ;1 .- ; :-l --)
luffiL {-- . '" '--j' '- -l ."-:
-'-i---'I--:--:-: {'
.11:r11ll'l;lr fL -i 4'.6"tr':i"F.4i+q;''^-aa-t.grt;--- --. ='.---:-=i :a
;=-- ? ++l!..,,.A ,::
ffi *: i- .-G*ir,;- ' *
REFLECTIONS ON TT{E SH6UWEN FRAGMENTS
* fo *r* line a second syllable gD &. has probably been deleted by scribal haplology.
111
people of the better circles who did not understand this passage; and thepersonal opinions about it have been multifarious. consequently, I give anexegesis of it below:
"'when one is at home he is suspected of being an outsider,,, is a matter offitting together [i.e., spelling] with type-separate [initials] and side-by-side[.e., identical] rimes. It is like where in the [eG] yi4lthe combinationl'ffi *r-jiang ir fits together the syllable zhudng B. A-coniused person would saythat the syllable da#F belongs ro the [initial-type] syllable ituan #r, while thesyllable zhudng B belongs to the [initial-typel syttaute zhi *a, and so forth.Since [members of] the same family goup have not been used, the [resulting]syllable gives rise to confusion. But this person does not understand that thesyllable dudn #q and the syllable zhi *p are both from the same big family.Therefore [the poem] says, "when one is at home he is suspected ofleing anoutsider."
-But in another country he nonetheless becomes a relative.,, Because the syllableda4 belongs to the [initial-type] sylrable duin &,while the syllable inrang6 belongs to the [initial-typej ryiULt" zhi ls,the places to which they belon[are different, and so they [in effect] constitute ,,different
countries.,, But evend the places to which they belong are different, that lduan *) spells zhuEng# is because they are cloie relatives. Therefore6 [the poem] says, ..one none-teless becomes a relative."
Examples distinguishing g6ng E , shangfr,zhiffi., yilA,and jud A
one must needs know that for gong E the tongue resides in the middle. onemust needs know that for shdng fi' tt" mouth is wide open. one must needshw that for zhi &. the tongue acts as a pillar to the incisors. one must needsimow that for yi il the pinched up mouth is gathered together. one must
erls know thatfor jud A the tongue is retracted.
Distinguishing cases where, though the Rimes are similar, theAssigned Places are different
,rmririel bi 4: EM,,M"ifr,R " *ttt*#*f,r*n- " ft,EF.g!4!*.frffi8- " g,tH.tfi*t*H* E- " +,.l8.Ahnxn-, E-tER " wtl*ffi[FH&flEsna in ing examples deleted.l
tuTir;'f tus #, H E *f B{H *tua- , +#+'t+*ER " 8tr44**n- " **h*ht*tx. " iF#re,x . t{iF *_**.Xax- " rfit*"R
W.ST'Tf,AOBLII{ -l
--=G-dr{rffb+jl^f-IGilq*r-.-gfu3*iaft.uqcualL*rf-qri-r'f,*drttcrtcfl4crrcrr{cd1l Eir*f ln$mals
HI-dffis€dr,".t( dsht I
*dtuffibhno;tr dhir fit
brMdhistdL*iA b hltc bcca U
tl?,
Remaining examPles del€fied-I
Pelliot chinois 2fr12 Vasp
Fragment 3
1.t€'fs4l' tr n tr*h 6it's 5lt F f #'R
z.)L+i 4xafr +€+s4Bfr*Bzt'u fr3.{rr++.*ffi *xffi'F".fr+++4.X,' + 4tu * W fifr #it{t's {F q fr +n W
s.frfr * q 1+N.+ - tr' + H', alt * +'f{ tr
6. + L R * - 1r1 -* *- e-F. * ffi R +
1.+"N*efr *5;6'6t's{Flfr+ ++ ffi
s.A+ ^fr,
* f+ *-* trN'+ + Hbl ffi ffi
e.[ Bfit,u tf + F,' +6*E t'* +trrc.+n *-#L*-b'|?he'
[End of Fragment 3]
Fragment 3'. Regularized Version
€+s4rtrr*hi6#L'slr"FTFX')'|:3^f "f*1f.#f":fff,I,i.{Ffl+E w***w-fr +-+ ?\ -3 )
- u- * =rr-}dr ^ # * n, *-;T E#WeUi
u q$ ; ff g g ;, Sfffe+i W;'W'' * ttnt;*,h.. q *E#N.r;,
*YY ?#E##,v ?# i # E # *':' 1,. . 93 i' fvtr *;:i
Htr# *;4T{,^'; kHffi#if's ir' + m - 4 e a' k * + tE 1tn' iL
4-E-, *-ltl'*&,.Fragment 3: Translation
and light sounds. [."] svllables among the iT:'1}'":l:igt'::fff,Heavy and llgnt sounqs. L.'.1 rJu4ur"" --i;;#, "ir* *, shdn#,and';-**,
qinglh, c6ng W,xfrt '$: xi6 t$' sl ..i - i--.^1^ a.,r^rrlac hcrryjins'#:#;fff,r2;i"*y"ff Ii*o'i,",iv,*""r't'"r:I:tll]11?'*"1,'37Iili:";'i,'#"fi ;i;;"',{':;i;1.:6nst],'li'.:,T*,ii?"T,"H:"J;fi Jlffidi;#'i{"J*""f"j,;i!n"ii1:,_"1::r-'rll*:i,:::'1f, Hil:'fffiil,#.i'od, *:;h"; *,,:!do F',Yu !-u: ff' ::::: ::T[: jill#lIffi :ffi J,'';;:i;;;F;,*w"Ei:u:*:.i:,:.'),:'*:fi Iffffit:,:il+*"ffi ;:l'-''v'ir"6r.'gd".ll-:S'TJ:#"::':?ilI'ilil"'i,Hii-io"t"# ffii;ru;;i #; *' chudn * ' shdn #' and zhio
' foniuUy obscured.
GEiseplrenIhhrsmidt
b h rrrd dTfogLlao n elqn* -
t'6-TEEdI-06 od7ldfr
rtich sccmbltlamacal5rrud&-Sfrr
Efr!tufi,'sdfuldffifiuc
dtuililhegffi3,-hb *ecituilYd
AsrEtrdrffuEr, fu ttcY dctiliuimilTocmdbYf
lb rr fuos lic tbtdas'-'Lr
LTLfinE scctin ahstmgitu
Tb drocm r t
!
IJilf
;fltr
t$
m
!
I;
REFLECTIONS ON THE SHOI WEN FRAGMENTS 113
rimes, there will definitely be no syllable which can be fitted together. Thecombination +LE-,I cite [this] one case as an example of it. If one uses
syllables among the initials shEn *, chudn * , shdn ffi, and zhio N,, as initialspellers, and if one uses syllables of the first type among [the initial types] jlng*1, qtng fr, c6ng '&, xin ,'L', and xi6 fils as rimes, there will definitely be no
syllable which can be fitted together. The combination L#E-,I cite [this] one
case as an example of it.
-+ Dircussion
: 1 Background IssuesBoth Lu6 Ch6ngp6i and Zhou Zim6 have discussed the identity of Sh5uwEn.
:{rstorical works of Sbng R and later times identify a person of this name as
:e author of the standard list of thirty-six rime table initials, but nothing:.:rther is known of him from traditional sources. In Fragment t he is said to:'r'e been a Buddhist monk of "Chinese" (i.e., not of Indian or Central Asian)-:igin and to have been "of N6nli6ng". It is generally agreed that N6nli6ng in..:s passage is a place name rather that a dynastic designation. The location of-.s place has occasioned some discussion, but the most convincing opinion,::ms to be that of T6ng Ldn EBfi, followed by ZhdluZim6 (1948:501-502),..: it was an alternate term for Xingyu6n *fi, in the southern part of modern
: xi (Shaanxi) l*.6. This toponym was curent in late T6ng and Five Dynasties'--.:s. Both Lu6 and Zhdu have taken special note of the fdnqid forms in the':.inents, which seem to be based on one of the later Qidyin augmentations,': =:r than on an early recension. Based on evidence of this sort, it is now
- -"i11' assumed that Sh5uwEn was a person of the late T6ng or Five Dynasties_ l^. : - JJ,
Earlier studies of the Sh6uwEn fragments have assumed that they represent
- , :.:1e document from one hand, presumably that of Sh5uwEn himself. However,
- :-.:mination of the photographs of the original shows that such an assumption: : ,:JLng Fragment 3, at least, is unfounded. We have no grounds for asserting,. --.lu has specifically done (1948:504), that Sh6uwEn is the author of this: " :3_irrreot. As regards the remaining two fragments, the case for his authorship::*,-, firmer, for they obviously belong to the same document. However,
,=: eramination counsels caution here. Fragment 1 begins with a section' :r. "Recounted by the Chinese Bhikqu Sh6uwen of N6nli6ng", followed
' -; :ow famous list of thirty "sh5uwEn initials". This section is then: ,,. =J by others, each with its own title. The possibility exists that it is only
: ::=:nning section on the initials which is attributable to Sh5uwen, as
- - -: has long indicated, and that the remaining sections are of disparate
; - lhe document as we have it may be a compendium of phonological
ffil{lliiillllln,,,
114 W. SOIIIH COBLIN
lore, including Sh5uwen's contribution but not deriving entirely from him. The
possibility seems worth considering.
4.2 The Content of the FragmentsThe two items in the texts which have been of most concern to previous
observers are found in Fragment 1. The first is the list of thirty initials. The
second is the quadripartite arrangement of finals at the end of th9 fragment.
which perfectly replicates the Division into four levels (siddng w $) found in
rime tables of the Sdng period. The importance of these materials is generall1
felt to lie in the fact that they attest to the early existence of the structural
principles on which the rime tables are based.
But in the present study I should like to approach the fragments differentll
and pose questions of another sort from those asked earlier. During most of the
present centuly concern with the rime tables has been with their inherent
structure and with what that structure may tell us about actual pronunciation of
earlier times. There has been a general assumption that the tables somehorr
elucidated for readers of mid to late T6ng times the "system" underlying the
finqid glosses of the Qidyin. And, taking a somewhat different tack, it has
also been averred that they concurrently analyzedthe sound system (or systems?
of those who compiled them. But beyond these general assertions or' more
correctly, hypotheses, relatively little has been said about the reasons for the
existence of the tables. More recently, however, there has been a growins
interest in this problem. As the present century ends, a new generation o:
scholars has begun asking in a more pointed way why these tables were compileci'
What does it mean to say that they elucidate the Qidyin system? What aspec:
of that system would have required elucidation, and to what end? Why woulc
anyone have expended the considerable energy necessary to compile the tables.
and who would have been interested in reading or using them once the job rvas
done? What value would they have had for the general, Litetate, non-phonc-
logically oriented medieval readership whose continuing regard for them mus:
have led to their survival through centuries when many other writings ar3
known to have been lost? It is in the context of these new inquires that th=
content of the Sh5uwdn fragments can now be reexamined.
Li Xinkui (1983:130, n.1) has observed that a number of items in th=
fragments bear a resemblance to the mdnfi Pl i* or "school precepts" attache:
to the traditional rime tables. In general, the structure of the tables seell::
designed to reflect regular pattems of initial/final concatenation governed b"'
the syllabic structure inherent in the Qidydn finqid. Any irregul ar finqid cor.'
binations, resulting in syllabic configurations of an unusual sort, are therefc:"
virtually impossible to capture in the tables, since they are by definition violatrc.-.,
of the tabular structure. Put another way, there is no cell in the tables whe:=
lilllilttitt;'
' r :::iuj[I nLililllul0ff)itrilllr.mt]
: mnnl!iltu,s,fluillllffi|m1U|li|},
..:- --ffiilr il@ml[brtrirtfl illfl lllMmm[cil&sfl ilsil
''yrr r0.r|?illilrilmlfillil"illirr
t'trr -i"r". :}ilH]llfl lllllllllltlm.ul|flmlml
_ , I t: .. rifJmfl['iltfimililml] ,,r1rl
- r::l,',r :iluf,ltrl]llffi Lilll
i, -::::.r ':.- -i
-- -
REFLECTIONS ON THE SHOUWEN FRAGMENTS 115
one can place a Chinese character whose finqii initial and final coincidence is
not'normal'within the system inherent in the charts. The mdnfi precepts
identify such irregular combinations and explain how they can be 'rectified',
so that a problematic character can be comfortably placed in the tables' Whether
or not thi pertinent sections in our fragments really are mdnfi is problematic'
If they are, then this means that the material in the fragments is in fact intended
for uie in connection with some specific early rime table, now presumably
lost. Alternatively, the fragment entries may be pre-rime table materials whose
purpose was to help readers deal directly with problematic finqib, at a time
rvhen real rime tables did not yet exist. In this case, the fragment passages
might be "proto-m6nfil' ot "pre-m6nfl' rather than 'real' mdnfd, in that they
,r"iug" the development of the traditionalm6nfi now known to us. It is this
,u.rtio, of the fragments' precise position within the overall development of.re rime tables that our reconsideration of the fragment contents invites us to
.ddress.
- ).1 The Thitty Initials. As indicated above, the thirty ShSuwEn initials have
:,:en of paramount interest to earlier investigators, who have in particular been
:::cerned with their relationship to the traditional thirty-six initial system.
.:-s question has been much discussed and need not concern us here. There
-::. however, certain enigmas in the list which have never been solved. For-::rnce, the initials Xin r'-* and xi6 tF are classed as "faucal sounds" h6uyin":?. r.vhereas we would expect them to be placed with the "incisor head"
- ':-'u S rH group. It has been suggested that this is no more than a scribal
, . ::. u,hich may in fact be correct. But we should remain wary of such facile
-::fns and continue to file such anomalies away for future consideration, if. - - .,, hen new evidence becomes available. The use of the terms qing )h- ..:" and zhu6 ,fi "turbid" for syllables of the faucal class will be discussed" .-: :ext section.
-: is generally thought that the practice of assigning Chinese syllable, :,. to varga-llke subsets on the basis of points of articulation, as seen in, ;: :nd in the traditional thirty-six member set, arose through the influence
-. ,:rdian phonological tradition. And the medium of that influence is. , :elieved to have been the alphabetic syllable sets collected in various, - , ,: B uddhist texts to aid in the transcription of Indic terms. (For lists of: : :i3 the inserted tables in Lu6 1963, after p. 64.) The closely related role
., -i-idham script tradition is also frequently cited in this connection.
: i -_nsestions seem plausible. But there is one curious fact worth mentioning
r" : -:.:ection. Neither the initial set of sh6uw6n nor the similar one found
: --r.-:rional rime tables uses the syllable names found in the transcription
" ' :", ,rstead, new characters, selected mainly from among the homophone
E{
B:.9
:nr
LUT
N;E(
f*ffi
hu
hE(mu
@[B'
mmI
I
rll
^ifrI;il 4ll1iltll
116 W. SOUTH COBLIN
group head syllables nthe Qidyin have been chosen. Perhaps this was because
these new sets were specifically intended for use in dealing with QidyDn-related
problems, rather than for guadhist transcriptional purposes- In any case, it
would be interesting to know why and how the specific member names of the
traditional initial sets were chosen.
4.2.2 Light vercus Heavy and Cleat ve$us Turbid. The use of the phonological
t"r*t-q:ig+g "light" and zhdng € "heavy" in medieval times was varied and
"o*pt"*."en exJellent .urn**y is given by Li Xinkuf (1983:50-53)' They
were widely utilized in chinese Buddhist transcriptions to describe the fine
nuances of Sanskrit pronunciation, where Chinese consonants, when used as
transcriptional valuei, were required to be read in particular 'l,ight' or 'heavy'
*uy.. It was perhaps from here that they began to be applied to Chinese
consonants p"i ,". As Li shows, they could be used to distinguish either point
or manner o? articulation, and the ways they were so used could vary considerabll'
depending on the text. It seems that individual writers felt free to define and
apply their according to personal preference. Finer gradations were also possible'
noi exumpte, in additio i to qing- and zhdng one could have qing zhdng zhdn-S
s+ € "heaviness within the context of llghtness" and zhdig zhdng qing €f B "lightness within the context of heaviness" (Li Xinkui 1983:51), all with
u".y ,p"iific meanings. And the terms qlng and zhdng could also be applied to
syliaUie finals. There was congruence between the application of the terms to
initiats and finals. To wit, heavy initials must combine with heavy finals, light
initials with light finals; syllables with heavy initials and finals were by definition
heavy syllables, etc. (-i, p.s}).Light and heavy were, in other words, ultimatell
viewed as syllabic features.
The terms qing ih "clear" and zhu6 ,€ "turbid" are most interesting in
this connection. In traditional usage of later times, they are always applied to
plain versus murmured or voiced consonants. But in the T6ng period this was
ty no *"un, always the case (I-i, p. 50). On the contrary, there was a pronouncec
tendency to use tirem in paralleiwith the terms qtng # "light" and zhdng €.,heavy';. This tendency was so strong that they were sometimes combined as
compounds qingqing EB and zhdngzhu6 €8, when referring to the syllable
types the uutt oit uO in mind. A readily available example of this is a mdnfi-l*e
tafte of probable Tdng vintage, now included as an end paper in all standarc
editions of tn" Guingynn rF*E, entitled "Biin sishCng qingqing zhdngzhu6 fa
#*erf$:i ilfii* iA method for disringuishing heavy and light in the four
tonesl." By at least mid-Sdng times these older uses of the terms qlng ri un.
zhu6 ,fi trad been entirely replaced by the 'standard' ones mentioned above.
and they are now virtually forgotten.
lffifittlrrr
:'rffil:'r....-iflmrlLtlrtltltir
illihffiiffiil'-'r:r liitlllllttr rr ,lmfiffiflfiilr{''^ r"''.,i,iill lLLlllLllllllllllllrrll lftis*n' n
,' rrllrqtmxt''JIrr lrlltttlllllilllillMr"r'illltUlrr
" -' *'rrr'il lllr'llllllllll[lilllh:lilrrflrlittrr
;lrrillflilumiliffin rti'
':rj. - -rin filllttltr"'iffiilffi1
l" : i"*. r* i:1M lfillllillllllffit@i
r r''r. -* *llltllr q*rltillllli&r
, ;- :11;111111]lffiUlillllt]l
:'..," 'i -l l* 'lttlllttltltltmr' il 'ltll'''
"-' : l'rru" 11u'1tftl6
" -. - -" I'rtI :,*luruuurr"'iifi* 4i
t. ,1-.'l - "i llriirrlllillllilIfilllllr
". ;-- -mmIfi[.t-
'..^ .: - - :'- ;, * -g:u " ut0ffillllll
* *u,
lrlirffiUll
.9..
I:IM 1
be.'=-::-i;-i-=-
. - :. .:
REFLECTIONS ON THE SHOUWEN FRAGMENTS 117
The terms qrng W and zhdng € play important roles in the Sh5uwEn:ragments. For example, the section in Fragment 1 illustrating the four levels is.pecifically characterized as "Examples of Light and Heavy in the Four Levels."--nfortunately, we are not told exactly how the concepts in question relate to:ie levels. In Fragment 2 labiodental initials and their associated finals are--:lied light, while plain labials and their finals are called heavy. The two:.:tial types in question retain similar designations in the later traditional termi-:iogy, i.e., qingchrtn #E "light lip" for the former and zh\ngchrtn EE:-eavy lip" for the latter, but the terms qing and zhdng are no longer applied to"-: finals in this context. In the same passage the fdnqid formula &t9. 1a4wo
- .'i:). spelling the syllable * ldzi:y, is said to have a heavy initial and a light--:".1. i.e., an incongruent or defective combination. In Fragment 3 we are told-:: the initials shdn *, chudn *, shini4, and zhdo PQ "have light and heavy- -:ds in only two of the levels." This apparently refers to the two traditional- :."1 sub-types, zhio'dr,{p.: (i.e., ts-, etc.) and zhiosdn,S(i (.e., t6-, etc.),
: -: '.t' e are not told which is considered light and which heavy. Fortunately, by, --:ering the Fragment 2 passage cited immediately above, we can confirm-:---.:io'drwas heavy.and zhiosdn light in this system.
l:e terms qng ifr "clear" and zhu6 i6 "tuibid,, figure only in Fragment'::ie they have produced a riddle which has taxed earlier investigators.-. ,.,:.lab\e gdo 6 (i.e., kdu) in the second section there is said to be,,an
: --:..lcal sound of the turbid type" &.+ +,'€. Now the traditional initial of,'- : . k-) is jidn .F,, which the immediately preceding list of thirty initials
;- . :: the yayin t t "molar sounds" and which is traditionany considered-'- -- .^1^:-t, -^.L^- LL^-- -l-- /..- t ' I /: ir plain" rather than zhu6 "turbid/voiced/murmured,,. Earlier authorities
. '.:.led to consider this a case of compounded confusion and/or scribal- - r:th sections of the shduwEn manuscript. However, the case is not so"' : : ;s rhat. First of all we should note that, while the initial of garo does
: - :':---ns to the 'molar' class in the traditional rime table classification, in" ----- *^J:^-,^1 ----.-,-- ^v :): A + >: ':.:r.: medieval system, represented in the ..Biinzi wiyin fi f++f,t
-:: rn the end papers of the GuingyDn, it is categofized as faucal rather- ,: :nd is specifically said to be zhu6 ',turbid.,, Clearly, according to-- --:-le system the characterization of gdo as "an intra-faucal sound of
- -: : :", ie'' r-vould be quite correct. But, why, we may then ask, does the" - :': ,'.' lreceding list of thirty initials class the pertinent initial as a molar
l:: 3.nswer to this, as suggested earlier, may be that the different- - ::e text did not come from the same hand. We must remain open-. -:ri ,-nd entertain the possibility that the text as a whole is a compendium' '-- ! ::ri'ed from disparate sources, among which there is less than
, :,-_,g \
-, :,l:--:,:''r-;x ii,
ul*:[;$ ,ii *.
lrLtrr!;r*:,"
lr,g x
i'*tu.r :
Mlr};]IT.
muur: llic ir",;'ffiurfuffiirtr,,'"
Jlltlr
W. SOUTH COBLIN
4.2.3 The Five sounds. Fragment 2 contains a short, internally rimed passagein which sounds are classified according to the five notes of the p"ntutorl"scale, i.e., gong E , shdng 6 , zhi &., yi"trl, and ju6 A . il";; classes, whichare elsewhere known as the wiyin .tr6 or wisheng L4,hada long historyof application in phonological matters, for a brief account of which see Li(1983:36-37). The system adumbrated in Fragment 2 is found in several otherearly sources, e.9., in the "sish6ng w[yin ji[nbng frnniil ft w F+rfrh.+E-**@" of the late Tdng monk, Sh6ng5ng af 4, now appended to the receivedversion of the Yipian Lffi, and to the elyin lii| +**, a Sbng rime tablewhich is the sister text of the famous ynnjing ffEdh. rne arrangement isspecifically intended for the initial consonants, and in the later, traditionalclassification was further subdivided to yield the "Seven sounds,, qiyin l.fi.The five-part division seen here agrees with that of the initial list found inFragment 1 rather than with the seven-part one of the time tables.
4.2.4 A special Assignment Problem. At the end of Fragment 2 is a sectionentitled "Distinguish{g
Qa:-T where,though the Rimes are similar, the AssignedPlaces are different ig+F+i+Ein 4ilfifr&^Fl',. It is devoted specifically to thedistinction between the initials called fEi 4t @t-) and lD & (prn-) in ihe laterrime table system, where these sounds are classed as "lighi, or labiodentalsub-types of the initials called bn 4 @-) and filng # (prr-) in Fragment l. Thedistinction between fri and.fi7 is found in the eidyinhomophone groups butwould have been puzzling to late T6ng readers, who pr"ru-ibly did noi haveit in their own speech. The examples given in this section seem to be selectionsof common graphs extracted directly from the homophone sets. Thus, the"assigned places" gurchn*fr & referred to here are in fact ir" qiey,:nhomophonegroups. They are not cells in any putative rime table of this or later periods.
4.2.5 congruency. congruency or type-agreement between initials and finals.abeady mentioned above, plays an important role in the Sh5uwEn materials. InFragments 1 and 3 it is stated that if initial and final do not agree in lightnessor heaviness, then no possible syllable can be "fitted togethei, 1i.e., spelledr:and all three fragments give examples of such impossible combinations. Hou -
ever, Fragment 2 devotes considerable space to certain classes of incorrec:combinations, called ldigd Mffi or "type-separation" spellings, which, thoug:.they violate recognized patterns, are nonetheless accorded a iertain legitimac-.in the fragment. Their peculiar behavior must be recognized and dealt wir:.but they are not to be considered errors pure and simple. In the later m6n::tradition congruency is an important principle and is dealt with under th.rubric yinhd ff,, "sound congruence" [see LiXinkui 19g3:131). Ldig6is or.:
118 lllllilfltrmilfll1i'
i::$IrMlllluffi llllllri rlm;ffi :
, -:irituutur, ifllilffiill
: - : - - : "r - ;' -,,r'liiflll,lili, ntrhft
:.:*-: :tr: : .:*!-:lL-llilll; lM I
::-::- .', 1--- I --..lr,ll l,]-lil'nHlll. rill@'
i::-:.:: : -l: .: ,:'"*lltltti ilt"'
-_ _.) -. _ -.L &.ryil1
: - :': :-: - .- - : :l lI l!!!!U$il'
: -:j.,:u $Mfli-t-,.1-r
-.t UdlU
-r . .i:ugd. :m
_tf-
.: ,I
- i r.i hli
- - -"; !::---, :
_ -.;, 3: :3].: .'j:,1 *:l- a*:'5-- ..":i'
.{ .r--__--- --
.J -ica , -
REFLECTIONS ON TI{E SHOUWEN FRAGMENTS 119
of the most important mdnfi topics and always figures in these collections ofprecepts (Li Xinkui 1983:132-135).
4.2.6 The Four Levels. The siddng E S or "four levels" lie atthe very heart ofrime table structure, for in association with the initials they form the gridsfrom which the tables are constructed. In fact, the very term ddngynn means toarrange rimes in levels. Fragment I does indeed sort syllables into the verylevels found in the later rime tables, and its basis for this categoraation is saidto be the lightness or heaviness of those syllables. Unfortunately, we are nottold how to determine this lightness or heaviness or how to move from it to thefour levels. Li Xinkuf believes that the primary basis for the determination oflight and heavy resided in the syllable initials and that the identification ofwhat finals were light or heavy was in fact a secondary matter, in that it laywith their relationships to their corresponding initial classes rather than withany inherent quality they may themselves have had (Li Xinkui 1983:50). Morerecently, P6n W6ngu6 (1997) has also argued for a scenario of essentially thisry-pe. Other scholars, following the lead of Bernhard Karlgren, have for themost part sought the secret of the levels in the syllable finals, suspecting it wasa function of vowel quality, presence or absence of medial elements, etc. Thisnpproach is the reverse of those suggested by Li and Pdn and has been standardin the field of Chinese historical phonology for the better part of the present
"rmnrry. Indeed, until the appearance of Pdn's book, the suggestions made byLi nere seldom if ever mentioned in the literature of the field, even thoughn-i's book was one of the major modern studies of rime table structure andmustcr.v.
There is much to be said for Li's and Pan's approaches, however, and@, should be carefully assessed in the coming years. Let us take, for example,fu Sh6uwEn text itself, which as we have noted, really comprises only Fragmentst nrd 2- This material was presumably compiled by someone, whether ShSuwEnhr@$Elf or not we do not know, with a clear purpose. The compiler must have*uh ttr*t this information was useful; and, on the face of it, its utility wouldmulrn !o have been in clarifying something about the principles involved, whethert&rc r'ere already inherent in existing rime tables or were free-floating in amla-{@ table milieu. The order of presentation is itself of some interest. Itfiaryms rith the initials themselves. This was apparently what one had to knowfihrlr ThE, it moves to a consideration of the lightness and heaviness of thelu$md& nhich turns out to be a discussion of congruity and incongruity, with amrg rclrance on the initials and initial classes outlined in the precedingm! Ttough it is said that initials and rimes must be congruent, it is thermrls rhich are specifically mentioned and which form the framework of theflhrrmiln- At no point is there any consideration of particular qualities of the
120 W, SOUTH COBLIN
finals other than their congruity with the initials in the matter of lightness andheaviness. In other words, it is from the initials that the discussion is launched.not the from finals. This having been established, our compiler then leads usdirectly and abruptly to the arrangement of syllables into four levels, as if thiswere a logical progression for the reader, requiring no explanation other thanthat this rurangement is a matter of light and heavy, the qualities dealt with inthe preceding section. our path has thus been: the thirty initials > lightness andheaviness of the levels > arrangement in four levels according to lightness andheaviness. None of this proves the cases of Li and P6n, but it does shed somefavorable light on their hypotheses. If the primary rationale for the ddng wasthe articulatory nature of vowels and semi-vowels in the finals, why is it thatthe Sh6uwEn text gives us no hint of this at all? Could it be that the entireposition of Karlgren and his followers is a wishful twentieth century fiction?In a time of reassessment in our field, it is worth considering.
5. ConcludingThough*In the last analysis, the most fundamental question we can ask about the
Sh6uwEn manuscript is, what was it for? Since we are not specifically toldthis, we must try to deduce it, a difficult task made even more vexing by thefact that the text is fragmentary. At the outset we see in the material a concernwith structural matters, i.e., the thirty-member set of initials, the interplay oiheavy and light components, and the allotment of syllables to the four levels.This is all 'technology'. what was its purpose? Examining the remainingmaterial, what we find there is first of all an overriding concern with aberran:or peculiar finqid; secondly, alertness to the fact that such faulty constructionsend up spelling nothing; and thirdly, preoccupation with where things are'assigned'or where they belong. In what context would these matters harebeen of concern? In the first case, one supposes that the aberrant finqid wereproblematical because the entities they spelled would be hard to say for personswho were using the QiEyin (or some other text) as a guide to pronunciation. I:one encountered such a dilemma, how was one to deal with it? How would heknow where the problem lay and what its nature was? perhaps the answer c:our compiler is that if one were familiar with the initials, of which there wer;only thirty to learn, with the principles of light and heavy, and with the associate;four levels, then one could apply this knowledge to a troublesome finqid an:diagnose whatever difficulty had arisen. Some problematic combinations woul:belong to large sets of known aberrations, the so-calledldig6. others would midiosyncratic and would need to be identified entirely on the basis of intern:,incongruity. But the basic tools for dealing with the problem would be thercand perhaps in more detail than we now know, since we are denied access ::the lost parts of the text. The second concern may have been mainly a proble:
i-
-:-!-:._-.N- -----f.#-
li,,
#r{
1il1
$
&
fli)i
t,]L
REFLECTIONS ONTT{E SHOUWENFRAGMENTS 121
for 'qi&makers', i.e., those who, in writing commentaries or glosses mightwish to create finqidto indicate pronunciation. Given the probable complexityand variety of individual pronunciations among writers, we can imagine that
the creation of finqii which were defective from the standpoint of the Qidynnand/or later systems was a genuine hazatdfor latter-day grd-makers. Presumably,
an ability to apply the principles found in our document might have aided in
avoiding such problems. The third matter of concern seems fairly transparent.
Suppose one felt fairly, or even absolutely, certain how a syllable in a text was
pronounced but wanted to see how it was defined in the Qidyin, in case itinere a known word with an unfarniliar meaning. If one located what seemed
to be the proper homophone group in the glossary and did not find the syllable
there, what should one do? The final section of Fragment 2 addresses just such
a problem and gives representative sets of homophone gloups, to aid the
searcher in his quest. Al1 of the materials and techniques in the documentq'ould be useful to any reader who viewed the QiEyin as a lexicographicallool. They would be worth owning, or copying for one's own use. Even more
serviceable, however, would be a full working out of the principles outlined in
lre Sh5uw6n text, in particular those found in Fragment 1. If, with the initials
and the principles of light and heavy in hand, someone then proceeded to make
=1l sets of four-level tables covering the entire syllabic inventory, the result.n ould be much more useful than the mere setting forth of the theoretical
:r:nciples found in the Sh6uwEn manuscript. It would save the user the effort
=r rpftying the principles himself. It is the sort of practical utilization oftrc,q!'that sells handbooks, or in our times, software.
The idea that the rime tables were really handbooks for looking up the
;E€nt pronunciation of finqidcombinations is actually quite old. It was already
:,ciined in the prefatory matter to the Ynnjing by the Sbng-time rime table
3:ror. A.nngLnzhilfaffil..' In modem times Li Xinkuf has also suggested itui ar least one of the tables' major functions (1983:3-4). The principle is
;;mple. if somewhat laborious to describe. Assume that one is an eleventhyr-rnu]' reader. If given a finqiE formula for a problematic word, one identifiesqi eff the general, 'ball-park' sound value of the final in the finqid lowerrmrrbcter (finqid xidzi E-+rlT +) of the forrnula and turns to the broad grouping
rrr :larts (nowadays called sld ffi) which seems to share the overall sound
;:rur-acteristics of the final. Then, noting the tone of the lower character, one'{l.rms' ror. in pre-printing times, quite literally 'scrolls') back and forth through
rm :articularly grateful to my good friend, Dr. Laurent Sagart, for drawing my attentionu }.tog I inzhi's"th"eory, and ds6 Ior the many fruitful discussi,ons we have had on it over the
nruur irc:1ears. I have never failed to benefit frbm his insighful observations on these matters.ftu s :r i".rlrse in no way responsible for any errors of fact or opinion expressed in the present
IlIIIM
t22 W. SOUTH COBLIN
the charts of the appropriate sfid until he finds in one of the them a horizontal
line of cells containing characters having the same final as the lower character'
Next, one identifies tfi" iniiiuf of the fiiqiiupper syllable (i'e', finqid shdngzi-ili-y+>of
the formula and locates that initial among the list of initial types
listed along the top eJge of the chart. (For aid in doing this there is usually a
;;il;;h#attached to rime tables, allowing readers who are.unfamiliar with
the technical no*"n"iutrre of initiai classification to perform the identification
entirelybyear.)fn"n,utfutt,onegoes.downtheverticalcolumnundertheidentified initial typ"'unO finds thi point where this intersects the above-
mentioned horizontal line. At this point one will find a cell containing a
common, easily .""ogrir"J Juruct"ihuving the pronunciatiort represented by^
the original, proUt"*]ii" fintqidcombinatioi. Bylooking r.-the left margin of
the table, one will ufro i*"iiately find there the name of the QidyDn rime to
which the target ryiiuUf" U"fong.. If one's search began with a finqid gloss
from some source other than tnl qieyan, such as a commentary or syllabary,
then one now has ";;;se tJtnl Qidynnfor comparison, consultation of
semantic glosses, "t".'on"
simply goes tirectly to the identified rime heading
in the Qidynnand scans the htmophone groups' The character found in the
rime table cell will usuuuy be the head character of the requisite homophone
group, and somew# il ihut g.oup will be the problematic word itself, with
its attendant semantic giorr"r. it "
ilrOing pro".it, though long in the telling'
can in fact be "*""otld"in
seconds. It requles no technical knowledge of initial
classes or of the ,*r" and characteristics of the four levels, nor any other
,opt,l,ti"ution in the field of traditional phonology. It is open to anyone who
has the book and i, uut" to pronounce ryilubl"r in something approaching the
general phonological system associated with the tables'
The materials in ihe Sh6uw6n fragments do not constitute a rime table'
and there is no real indication that they were written as annotations on an1
rime table. But it ,"*, quite possible ihat information and techniques of the
sort they embody InGt, huu" U""n refined and expanded into real rime tables'
as part of ongoing e"fforts to deal with the probl"*t inherent in the finqii
,p"tting *"trria. Unlike their readers, the table makers would have needed :
sophisticated com*und of the finqid system in the Ql'eyr)n-related glossaries'
an ability to apply the principl", oi h"uuy and light vis-d-visthe initial classe'
and the four levels, und u "1"*
enough subjective awaleness of current, broad1.,
uiitir"a pronunciation types to ensure thatlhe end result of a user's search u as
a phonologi"utty "o.r""irok", syllable in the appropriate rime table cell. T:
the extent that this awzreness comprised structural familiarity with such culrei--
pronunciationtypes,it*u.p"tt'upt'analysis'ofsorts'Butifso'itwasscrutn'of a practical, hard-nosed variety, rather than abstract, descriptive ratiocinatic:
pursued for the pure love of phonology'
TFmrn
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