Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn
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Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn (Traditional Chinese: 中原音韻; Simplified Chinese: 中原音韵; "The phonology of the Central Plains") is a rime book from the Yuan Dynasty compiled by Zhōu Déqīng (周德清) in 1324. An important work for the study of historical Chinese phonology, it testifies many phonolgical changes from Middle Chinese to Mandarin, such as the reduction and disappearance of final stop consonants and the reorganization of the tones. Though often termed a "rime dictionary", the work does not provide meanings for its entries.
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[edit] Background
The Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn continued the tradition of Qieyun and other rime books. However, due to the phonological changes took place from the Sui Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, the information needed to be updated in accordance with the then phonological system.
From the middle of the 13th Century to the end of the 14th Century, Běiqǔ (北曲) underwent quick development. The author of Sanqu (散曲), Zhōu Déqīng, delved into the research on Běiqǔ, discovering that it created many problems by not adhering to the rules of classical poetic composition. He thought that in order to better develop Běiqǔ , one would need to make a definite standard, especially in respect to language. According to his own experience, he was able to propose a set of rules for composing and reciting Běiqǔ, which came to be known as "Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn".
[edit] Structure
In the first part of Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn, Zhou took 5,866 characters commonly rhymed in songs of the time and, according to how they were used in Mandarin, divided them into 19 rime groups, each group in turn subdivided into seven categories:
ping sheng yin (平聲陰) "Feminine level tone"
ping sheng yang (平聲陽) "Masculine level tone"
shang sheng (上聲) "Rising or falling-rising) tone"
qu sheng (去聲) "Departing tone"
ru sheng zuo ping sheng (入聲作平聲) "Entering tone as level tone"
ru sheng zuo shang sheng (入聲作上聲) "Entering tone as rising tone"
ru sheng zuo qu sheng (入聲作去聲) "Entering tone as departing tone"
The entering tones, though, were assigned to the aforementioned groups according to contemporaneous songs' Xingqiang (行腔) recitation rules. (Xingqiang was a practice by which performers would interpret a song's melody within the confines of classical Chinese poetry's rules.) The entering tones were also sorted into homophonic character groups, called Xiaoyun (小韻 -- "small rimes"), according to a method called Meikong shi Yiyin (每空是一音 -- "each space is one sound"). All told there are 1,627 Xiaoyun, and they do not use fanqie (反切) phonetic notation.
Zhou regarded the principal works of The Four Great Yuan Playwrights (元曲四大家 -- Yuanqu si dajia) as foundational to verse in general; he considered their works to be "rimes joined with nature, words able to connect with the language of the world" (韻共守自然之音，字能通天下之語), and at the same time also distinguished where the playwrights used rimes in non-standard places.
Zhōngyuan Yīnyun's second half, Zhengyu Zuoci Qilie (正語作詞起例), employs various examples to explain in detail both the rime charts' methods of use as well as issues concerning Běiqǔ's creation, standards and other aspects.
[edit] List of rimes
歌戈韻 Ge-Ge
家麻韻 Jia-Ma
車遮韻 Che-Zhe
齊微韻 Qi-Wei
支思韻 Zhi-Si
魚模韻 Yu-Mo
皆來韻 Jie-Lai
蕭豪韻 Xiao-Hao
尤侯韻 You-Hou
寒山韻 Han-Shan
先天韻 Xian-Tian
桓歡韻 Huan-Huan
監鹹韻 Jian-Xian
廉籤韻 Lian-Qian
真文韻 Zhen-Wen
侵尋韻 Qin-Xun
庚清韻 Geng-Qing
江陽韻 Jiang-Yang
東鍾韻 Dong-Zhong
[edit] Influence
In respect to contemporaneous and later Běiqǔ works, Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn has played a very strong guiding role; moreover, many later rhyme works have regarded it as a model on which they based their interpretations. Up until the flourishing of Nanqu (南曲 -- "Southern Verse"), Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn still held a tremendous influence.
