The Shìmíng (Chinese: 釋名/释名; Wade-Giles: Shih Ming; "Explaining Names" or "Explanation of Names") is a Chinese dictionary that employed phonological glosses, and "is believed to date from c. 200 [CE]" (Miller 1980: 424). Its 1502 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 paranomastic glosses yínxùn (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" (zhēngmíng 正名, discussed under Confucianism), which hypothesized a connection between names and reality. The Shìmíng preface explains this ancient Chinese theory of language. Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. ... A definition is a form of words which states the meaning of a term. ... It has been suggested that dajare be merged into this article or section. ... Confucian temple in Jiading district, Shanghai. ...

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 with a view to explaining their origin. (tr. Miller 1993: 424)

There is controversy whether this dictionary's author was Liú Xī (劉熙/刘熙; Liu Hsi; who flourished around 200 CE) or the more-famous Liú Zhēn (劉珍; 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 Liú Xī's Shiming because it lacked information on official titles. The next reference is in the mid 5th century Hòu Hàn Shū biography of Liú Zhēn, which notes that he wrote an otherwise unknown Shìmíng 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 Shìmíng as having eight fascicles without mentioning the number of chapters. The Ming Dynasty scholar Zheng Mingxuan (鄭明選; fl. during Wanli era 1572-1620) questioned the difference in chapters and doubted the book's authenticity. The Qing Dynasty commenter 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 Liú Zhēn 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 [Liú Zhēn] did compose such a work and that [Liú Xī] might have used some of its material in his own 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 Liú Xī 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. Events Asia First year of the Yongjian era of the Chinese Han Dynasty. ... The Records of Three Kingdoms (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Sanguo Chih), is the official and authoritative historical text on the period of Three Kingdoms covering from 189 to 280, that was composed by Chen Shou in the 3rd century. ... The Book of Later Han (Chinese: 後漢書; pinyin: ) is a history of the Chinese Empire which was compiled by Fan Yeh (范晔; 398-445), using a number of earlier histories as sources. ... For other uses, see Ming. ... Wanli Emperor (September 4, 1563 - August 18, 1620) was emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1572 and 1620. ... The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun; Mongolian: Манж Чин), occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1644 to 1912. ... The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese characters: 漢朝, Simplified Chinese characters: 汉朝, pinyin Hàncháo 202 BC - AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ... Hanoi (Vietnamese: Hà Ná»™i, Hán Tá»±: 河内)  , estimated population 3,145,300(2005), is the capital of Vietnam. ... Combatants Yellow Turbans Han Dynasty Commanders Zhang Jiao Zhang Bao Zhang Liang He Jin Huangfu Song Lu Zhi Zhu Jun Dong Zhuo Cao Cao Strength 360,000 Various Casualties Unknown Unknown The Yellow Turban Rebellion, sometimes also translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion, (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ) was a...

Contents

From this table of contents, the Shìmíng clearly followed the Eryā's organization into semantically arranged chapters and all their titles begin with the word shì ("explain; explaining"). The Shìmíng was also known as the Yìyǎ (逸雅; I-ya; "Lost [Er]yā]"). It has been suggested that Pinyin method be merged into this article or section. ... The Erya (爾雅) is a Chinese dictionary from before the first century. ...

This dictionary is linguistically invaluable because it records the pronunciation of Hàn-era spoken Chinese. Sinologists have used its data to approximate the dates when phonological changes, such as the loss of consonant clusters, took place between Old Chinese and Middle Chinese. A consonant cluster is a linguistic term, simply meaning a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. ... The Seal script characters for harvest (later year) and person. ... Middle Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 中古漢語; Pinyin: zhōnggÇ” HànyÇ”), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ...

See also

• Xiao Erya
• Guangya
• Piya

The Xiao Erya (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsiao Erh-ya; Little [Er]ya) was an early Chinese dictionary that supplements the Erya. ... The Guangya (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang Ya; Expanded [Er]ya) was an early 3rd century CE Chinese dictionary, edited by Zhang Yi (張揖; Chang I; fl. ... The Piya (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Pi-ya; Increased [Er]ya) was a Chinese dictionary compiled by Song Dynasty scholar Lu Dian (陸佃/陆佃, 1042-1102 CE). ...

References

• Bodman, Nicholas Cleaveland. 1954. A Linguistic Study of the Shih Ming: Initials and Consonant Clusters. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Miller, Roy Andrew. 1980. "Shih ming" in Michael Loewe (ed.), Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, 1993, pp. 424-428, ISBN 1-557-29043-1
• 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)

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