Han Wei liu chao yun pu 漢魏六朝韻譜 [Rhyme Charts of the Han, Wei, & Six Dynasties]

Several folding tables. Three vols. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper cover, new stitching. Beijing: Zhonghua yinshuju, 1936.




First edition. Much of Chinese historical phonology has focused on the study of rhyme books and poetry. The rhyme books are a kind of dictionary in which Chinese characters are arranged by rhyme. When modern historical phonology emerged in the early 20th century from the two traditions of European comparative linguistics and Qing-era philology, the focus was on the rhyme books of the Sui and Tang periods, and on the rhymes used in the ancient Poetry Classic. Rhyme books only existed from the Sui dynasty (581-618 CE) onward, so it was not possible to use them as a source for earlier periods. To fill this gap, Yu Anlan used poetry and rhyme prose from various historical anthologies, as well as epigraphic material. The way writers of the past rhymed in their literary writings allowed him to establish which sounds had sounded alike at various moments in the past.


"This book assembles sources of a wide range and is complete in its source coverage...It received much attention from scholars both domestically and overseas, with many scholars giving it high praise." (Li et al., Yinyunxue lunzhu zhiyao yu zongmu, 161).


Yu Anlan (original name Yu Haiyan 于海晏, b. 1902) studied literature and phonology in graduate school at Yenching University in Beijing. After 1949, he taught at Henan University in Kaifeng. He was also a calligrapher of note.


The book was edited by Xie Guoyan 謝國彥. The titles on the slips on the outside covers are written in the calligraphy of Qian Xuantong 錢玄同 (1887-1939), a leading intellectual of the era. A letter from Qian to Yu is included in the front matter. The book also contains Prefaces by Liu Pansui 劉盼遂 (1896-1966), who had the nickname "living dictionary," and Wen You 聞宥 (1901-85). The Prefaces reproduce both writers' original calligraphy.


On the inside cover, a previous owner has pasted a review of our book, by prominent linguist Wang Li (style name Wang Liaoyi 王了一, 1900-86), printed in the Shanghai newspaper Dagong bao 大公報 on 17 September 1936.


Very fine set, preserved in a hantao.



References


Li Wuwei 李无未 et al., eds. Yinyunxue lunzhu zhiyao yu zongmu 音韵学论著指要与总目. Vol. 1. Beijing: Zuojia chubanshe, 2007.


Ma Hui 马辉 & Yu Liwen 于立文. Zhongguo shufajia da cidian 中国书法家大辞典. Vol. 2. Harbin: Heilongjiang meishu chubanshe, 2011.