Shiming

The Shiming (traditional Chinese: 釋名; simplified Chinese: 释名; lit.: 'Explanation of Names'), also known as the Yìyǎ (逸雅; I-ya; Lost Erya), is a Chinese dictionary that employed phonological glosses, and "is believed to date from c. 200 [CE]" (Miller 1980: 424).

For other uses, see Shiming (disambiguation).

Shiming
Traditional Chinese	釋名
Simplified Chinese	释名
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shìmíng Wade–Giles Shih^4-ming^2 IPA [ʂɨ̂mǐŋ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sīk-mèhng Jyutping Sik^1-meng^4 Southern Min Tâi-lô Sik-miâ

This dictionary is linguistically invaluable because it records the pronunciation of an Eastern Han Chinese dialect. Sinologists have used their data to approximate the dates of phonological changes, such as the loss of consonant clusters which took place between Old Chinese and Middle Chinese.

Format

The 1,502 definitions attempt to establish semantic connections based upon puns between the word being defined and the word defining it, which is often followed with an explanation. For instance (chapter 12: 愛哀也愛乃思念之也), "Love (ài 愛 "love; like; be fond of") is sorrow (āi "哀 sorrow; grief; lament"). If you love, then you remember fondly." The Chinese call these paronomastic glosses yīnxùn (音訓; yin-hsün; "sound teaching"), meaning "to use the pronunciation of a word to explain its meaning." This semantic association of like-sounding words goes back to the "Rectification of Names" (zhèngmíng 正名, discussed under Confucianism), which hypothesized a connection between names and reality. The Shiming preface explains this ancient Chinese theory of language.

In the correspondence of name with reality, there is in each instance that which is right and proper. The common people use names every day, but they do not know the reasons why names are what they are. Therefore I have chosen to record names for heaven and earth, yin and yang, the four seasons, states, cities, vehicles, clothing and mourning ceremonies, up to and including the vessels commonly used by the people, and have discussed these terms intending to explain their origin. (tr. Miller 1993: 424)

Work authorship and internal organization

There is controversy whether this dictionary's author was Liu Xi (劉熙; Liú Xī; Liu Hsi; who flourished around 200 CE) or the more-famous Liu Zhen (劉珍; Liú Zhēn; Liu Chen; who died in 126 CE). The earliest reference to the Shiming is a criticism in the late 3rd century Records of Three Kingdoms biography of Wei Zhao (韋昭; 204-273); while in prison, Wei wrote a supplement to Liu Xi's Shiming because it lacked information on official titles. The next reference is in the mid 5th century Hòu Hàn Shū biography of Liu Zhen, which notes that he wrote an otherwise unknown Shiming in 30 chapters (篇). The received text has 8 fascicles/volumes (卷) and 27 sections that the Shiming preface, written in Liu Xi's name, calls 27 chapters (篇). Bibliographies in official histories simply listed the Shiming as having eight fascicles without mentioning the number of chapters. The Ming Dynasty scholar Zheng Mingxuan (鄭明選; flourished during Wanli era 1572–1620) questioned the difference in chapters and doubted the book's authenticity. The Qing Dynasty commentator Bi Yuan (畢沅; 1730–1797), who published the 1789 Shiming shuzheng (釋名疏證; "Exegetical evidence for Shiming") critical edition, believed that the work was begun by Liu Zhen and completed by Liu Xi who added his preface. Another Qing scholar Qian Daxin (錢大昕; 1728–1804) concurred that Liu Xi was the author based upon studies of his students' biographies. Based on internal evidence, Bodman (1954: 4) concludes, "It is not impossible that Liu Zhen did compose such a work and that Liu Xi might have used some of its material in his work, but the chance of this having happened is very small." The date of the Shiming is almost as controversial as its author. However, it is undisputed that Liu Xi lived at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and was a refugee (who fled to Jiaozhou, present-day Hanoi) from the turmoil between the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 and the dynastic collapse in 220 CE.

Contents

Chapter	Chinese	Pinyin	Translation
01	釋天	Shi tian	Explaining Heaven
02	釋地	Shi di	Explaining Earth
03	釋山	Shi shan	Explaining Mountains
04	釋水	Shi shui	Explaining Rivers
05	釋丘	Shi qiu	Explaining Hills
06	釋道	Shi dao	Explaining Roads
07	釋州國	Shi zhouguo	Explaining Geography
08	釋形體	Shi xingti	Explaining Physical Bodies
09	釋姿容	Shi zirong	Explaining Appearances
10	釋長幼	Shi changyou	Explaining Age-group Terms
11	釋親屬	Shi xinshu	Explaining Kinship Terms
12	釋言語	Shi yanyu	Explaining Speech and Language
13	釋飲食	Shi yinshi	Explaining Foods and Drinks
14	釋綵帛	Shi caibo	Explaining Dyes and Silks
15	釋首飾	Shi shoushi	Explaining Hair Ornaments
16	釋衣服	Shi yifu	Explaining Clothing
17	釋宮室	Shi gongshi	Explaining Dwellings
18	釋床帳	Shi chuangzhang	Explaining Beds and Curtains
19	釋書契	Shi shuqi	Explaining Writing and Documents
20	釋典藝	Shi dianyi	Explaining Literature and Arts
21	釋用器	Shi yongqi	Explaining Utensils and Implements
22	釋樂器	Shi yueqi	Explaining Musical Instruments
23	釋兵	Shi bing	Explaining Weapons
24	釋車	Shi che	Explaining Wheeled Vehicles
25	釋船	Shi chuan	Explaining Boats
26	釋疾病	Shi jibing	Explaining Diseases and Illnesses
27	釋喪制	Shi sangzhi	Explaining Mourning Rites

From this table of contents, the Shiming clearly followed the Erya's organization into semantically arranged chapters and all their titles begin with the word shì ("explain; explaining").

See also

• Xiao Erya
• Guangya
• Piya

References

• Bodman, Nicholas Cleaveland (1954). A Linguistic Study of the "Shih Ming": Initials and Consonant Clusters. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Miller, Roy Andrew (1993). "Shih ming". In Loewe, Michael (ed.). Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide. pp. 424–428. ISBN 1-55729-043-1.
• Wei Yuwen 魏宇文 (2000). "Comprehensive Summary On Shi Ming". Journal of Jiaying University. (in Chinese)

External links

• Shiming 釋名, Chinaknowledge
• 釋名 Shiming text (in Chinese)
• Chinese Text Project – 釋名 (Chinese)