CC BY-NC-ND
11
Ma Kun
Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Sun Yat-sen University; 9filippo@gmail.com
A study of phonological issues in the text variants of Xiaochu and Dachu hexagrams, Zhouyi
This paper discusses some phonological issues with the Xiaochu (JS) and Dachu (^S) hexagrams by using text variants from three versions of the unearthed Zhouyi (S^). We point out that the reading of the character ^ fu 'spoke', which rhymes with g mu 'eye' in the current version of Xiaochu, is the result of phonetic assimilation. We also propose that the phonetic M zhu 'pursue' be assigned to the *-uk group instead of *-iwk in the Baxter-Sagart (2014) system.
Keywords: Old Chinese language; Zhouyi hexagrams; Chinese rhymes; phonological reconstruction.
The third line statement of the current version of the Xiaochu hexagram in Zhouyi
(S^-JS) has the following passage: "A.H, ^^fg, ^SMg "1. Commentators from Han to Wei periods proposed diverse interpretations for the word ^ fu: both Wang Bi's Zhouyi zhu S^i^) and Yu Fan's Zhouyi zhu (^H, S^^) noted that ^fu represents the wheel spoke of a chariot, while Ma Rong (Mi) and Zheng Xuan had another version which
used the character W fu instead. According to Ma and Zheng, W fu is a component of the chariot which connects the axle with the compartment The textual variation between ^ fu
and W fu also triggers certain phonological issues which will be discussed in this paper.
During the Song and Ming dynasties, philologists usually followed Wang Bi's version. For instance, in his Zhouyi benyi (MM^») , Zhu Xi (^S) explained "ffitf as "spokes detach from the wheel" 3. During the Qing dynasty, however, while using Old Chinese rhyming analysis, scholars became suspicious about the character f fu in Wang Bi's version. In Yi Yin, Yinxue Wushu (W^Efr MW), Gu Yanwu (H^;) examined all of the rhyming passages in the Zhouyi and pointed out that f fu does not rhyme regularly in the Xiaochu (j§) line statements. He noted:
The character ff rhymes with fllj, {, ^ in Fa tan, Shi Jing (^ • 112.2A), with ® and 8 in Zhen-gyue (EH, 192.10A) , with ^ and ^ from quotations of lost Shi (1^) in Yunzi whereas @ mu rhymes
with and ^ in The second year of duke Xuan, Zuozhuan (fe® • a—^), with M in The sixteenth year of duke Cheng One cannot force ff to rhyme with hence ^ should be the correct version in the
Xiaochu hexagram (The first volume of Yi Yin, Yinxue Shishu)4.
Acknowledgments: The research leading to this paper has received funding from Science Foundation of Ministry of Education of China — Youth Project (NO.17YJC740066). I would like to thank Prof. Shen Ruiqing and Prof. George Starostin for their detailed suggestions and corrections. All faults are mine.
1 "The third NINE, undivided, suggests the idea of a carriage, the strap beneath which has been removed, or of a husband and wife looking on each other with averted eyes."
2 This paper deals only with phonological issues; we will address the controversial statements in the commentaries elsewhere.
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Journal of Language Relationship • Вопросы языкового родства • 17/1 (2019) • Pp. 18-25 • © The authors, 2019
Gu believed that @ mu in the Xiaochu line statement originally rhymed with ffi fu, and that the character f fu in the current version was due to text corruption. Gu's opinion was later adopted by many other scholars, such as Duan Yucai Jiang Yougao ()X^tp),
Wang Niansun (i^JJ), etc. Their detailed rhyming analyses are as follows5:
Table 1. Rhyming patterns of Xiaochu
Xiaochu(/W) line statements
Gu Duan Jiang Wang
m o o o o
a— o o
AH o o
AE
AE
SMcgMc ' Sii-HM" SfffiM" o o o
Duan, Jiang and Wang agree with Gu Yanwu that f fu in the current version should be revised to ffi fu. Jiang Yougao's analysis coincides with Gu in linking the rhyming words ffi fu and @ mu. Apart from that, Duan Yucai and Wang Niansun recognize fu 'return' in the second line as a rhyme word along with ffifu 'wedge' and @ mu. We follow Duan and Wang's opinion.
Qing scholars sometimes quoted commentaries from Ma Rong and Zheng Xuan, in which an alternate text variant Mttffi from Xiaochu was preserved. Shuowen also features the same quotation Ml&ffi, but it is hard to determine whether it is from Xiaochu (j§) or Dachu The rhyming contexts in the Dachu hexagram are as follows:
Table 2. Rhyming patterns of Dachu
Dachu (^W) line statements
Gu Duan Jiang Wang
m
a— ffi^MA ° o o
AH ° BPsWfT
AE
AE o o
Neither Gu Yanwu nor Jiang Yougao had identified the rhyming pattern in the second and third line statements. Both Duan Yucai and Wang Niansun pointed out that ffi fu 'wedge' rhymes with ^ zhu 'pursue', and that ^ gu 'livestock' rhymes with ^ yd 'tooth' and ® qu 'broad street'. Here we follow Duan and Wang's analyses.
The phrase Mftffi can further be compared to the Dazhuang (y^i) hexagram. The rhyming situations are as follows:
5 Rhyme words are marked with underlining; A, B, C represent different rhyme groups.
Table 3. Rhyming patterns of Dazhuang.
Dazhuang ( line statements
Gu Duan Jiang Wang
m
Ä □
AH AAffl^A - gifflHA -ÄS ° PSAMJI o o o
AE
AE
±A o o o
Jiang did not identify the rhyming patterns in Dazhuang (^±). Duan believed that zhuang rhymed with H wang in the third line and that M tui rhymed with M sui and ^(J li in the sixth line statement; Gu and Wang agreed with Duan, except that they believed that ^(J li did not rhyme, due to certain inherent features of Zhouyi (MM): divinatory idioms such as "good fortune" (^), "bad fortune" (^), "disappearance of repentance" ('^t) and so on should be excluded from the line statements, hence they do not rhyme under any circumstances. As for the character ^ fu, it is commonly agreed that it does not rhyme in this hexagram.
There are now several unearthed pieces of evidence supporting the revision of ^ fu. Three versions of unearthed Zhouyi are available to us: 1) Shangbo version (Aff^), which is written on bamboo strips, dated to the late Warring States period (312-221 BC); 2) Fuyang version also written on bamboo strips, dated to the late Western Han period (206 BC -
9 AD); 3) Boshu version which is written on silk, also dated to the late Western Han.
Their preservation situation varies greatly: Boshu version contains all sixty-four hexagrams, including the hexagram's name (iF^), the hexagram statement (^¡i), and six line statements (^¡i), as well as parts of "Ten Wings" (+S), such as Xici and even texts that were lost
in history, including Er san zi Yi zhi yi (M^^), Yao (^), Miuhe f), Zhaoli (HA);
Shangbo version contains about half of the sixty-four hexagrams with no Ten Wings attached; Fuyang version is severely damaged, with hexagram fragments found only occasionally6.
The characters ^ fu or f fu in the current versions indeed find their correlations in these unearthed versions of the Zhouyi7:
Boshu Xiaochu upper line 84) :
(1) °
'The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject, by the attraction (of the former line), returning (to the proper course). There will be good fortune.8
The third NINE, undivided, suggests the idea of a carriage, the <strap> (wedge) beneath which has been removed, or of a husband and wife looking on each other with averted eyes.'
Here ^ fu corresponds to f fu in the current version; in Shangbo and Fuyang Zhouyi, however, this hexagram has been lost. The character ^ fu has the same phonetic component as ^ fu, which fits well with Qing scholars' prediction. According to the principle of "tong sheng
6 For details, see Han Ziqiang (^ggS) 2004, Ma Chengyuan 2003, and Qiu Xigui (^ff^) 2014.
7 For now, we only deal with text variants which are associated with rhyming activities.
8 This paper uses James Legge (2013)'s English translation of Zhouyi, with several modifications.
bi tong bu" since m fu and m fu share the same phonetic they must have had an
identical or close pronunciation in the Old Chinese period.
Shangbo Dachu (Jlfl|2|y 7^(11), third volume, strip 20) has:
(2)
"The second NINE, undivided, shows a carriage with the strap under it removed. The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject urging his way with good horses."
Whereas the Boshu version of Dachu (^ ^ (§), line 11) has:
(3) °
(refer to the previous translation)
Here M fu and m fu correspond to m fu in the current version. Their pronunciation in the Old Chinese period is also close since they share the same phonetic component. Boshu Dazhuang (^ line 33) has:
(4) AH: M^mt:' ^mm^fm > xt^mzm. °
"The fourth NINE, undivided, shows (a case in which) firm correctness leads to good fortune, and occasion for repentance disappears. (We see) the fence opened without the horns being entangled. The strength is like that in the wheel-spokes of a large wagon."
Here m fu corresponds to m fu in the current version. This hexagram has been lost in both Shangbo and Fuyang Zhouyi.
Connecting the rhyming words above, we have the following table:
Table 4. Rhyming behaviors of m fu in various versions of Zhouyi.
Rhyme group OC MC Notes
m fu ..sag X *m-puk bjuwk
g mu ..sag X *C.muk mjuwk
m fu ..sag X *m-puk bjuwk
m fu ..sag X -- -- Boshu Xiaochu and Dachu
M fu *m-puk bjuwk Shangbo Dachu
H fu № *pak pjuwk The current version of Xiaochu
M zhu ..sag X *lriwk drjuwk The current version and Boshu Dachu
Efi you rn *lu yuw Shangbo Dachu
There are two irregular rhyming behaviors in the table above, all of which are related to the Middle Chinese rhyme -juwk (MhM^#). According to the reconstruction of Baxter, Sagart (2014) as well as other "six vowel" systems, -juwk has several Old Chinese origins, and they merged mainly under the influence of initial consonants (see below).
The first issue is that f§ fu (*pak) in the current version of Xiaochu (j§) should not rhyme with characters from group *-uk (XoB) or group *-u
Boshu version Current version
{ {
m *buk > bjuwk > fu 'wedge, a borrowed form of m' g *muk > mjuwk > mu 'eye' f§ *pak > pjuwk > fu 'spoke'
^ fu rhymes with g mu in the Boshu version, and they have the same final in both Old Chinese and Middle Chinese. This situation is parallel with Dachu (A§) in Shangbo and the current version (see table 4). Whereas f fu and g mu in the current version do rhyme together in Middle Chinese but have different main vowels in Old Chinese, which indicates that *-dk had already assimilated into -juwk at the end of the Western Han period. The *-a group and the (M) group have a paralleled development under the same condition, for instance:
(5) M *[G]wa? > hjuwX > you 'have, exist' ^ *kwaq > kjuwng > gong 'bow'
Such assimilation could be blocked by pharyngealization or medial *-r-, for instance:
(6) 'g *kwfra-s > kweajH > guai 'strange'
^ *[G]Wra? > hwijX > wei 'name of a river'
The rhyming behavior of f fu in the current version of Xiaochu (j§) can be explained by the above phonological development. Namely, *-ak was assimilated into -juwk under the influence of a non-pharyngealized labial initial. After this happened, f fu (MC pjuwk) and gmu (MC mjuwk) could still rhyme together, since they have the same Middle Chinese final, which led to the change of rhyme word from ^ fu to f fu at that time. It may be therefore concluded that the rhyme word f fu in the current version of Zhouyi reflects a phonological phenomenon of Early Middle Chinese. In the rhyming passage of Minming, Jiutan by Liu Xiang (Ml,
am^) "mm^ws^, ¡«urn»; ^«mffiir^, «AE^»', »u rhymes
with M fu, which also reflects assimilation *-ak > -juwk in late Western Han times:
(7) M *lriwk > drjuwk > zhu 'pursue' M *[b]ak > bjuwk > fu 'cloth'
The second issue is the assignment of -juwk (MhmA#) characters after splitting up the traditional Jue group. This rhyme group includes Middle Chinese -owk (divison-I), -aewk (divison-H), -juwk (divison-M) and -ek (divison-IV). According to the "front-vowel hypothesis" (Baxter 1992), two different main vowels must be reconstructed with front and non-front contrasts, namely, *-iwk and *-uk. Middle Chinese words in the -juwk rhyme group should be assigned to *-iwk or *-uk according to their rhyming or xiesheng behaviors. For instance:
(8) *C(r)uk > Cjuwk
§ *qhuk > xjuwk > xu 'nourish'; it rhymes with *-uk category words in Ode 188.2A, 202.4A; ^ xu, xu, and xu, which share the same phonetic § xu all belong to the *-uk category.
(9) *C(r)iwk > Cjuwk
ff *mriwk > mjuwk > mu 'harmonious'; it rhymes with *-iwk category words in Ode 282.1B.
In table 4, according to Baxter (1992) and Baxter-Sagart (2014), ^ fu, M fu, ^ fu, M fu, g mu and you all belong to the *-uk category, while M zhu belongs to the *-iwk category. Apparently, M zhu is abnormal in this table. In both current and Boshu versions of Zhouyi, this abnormality repeats itself:
(10) : 't ' ^M^M ' SM ° ° (The current version of Kui hexagram) "The first NINE, undivided, shows that (to its subject) occasion for repentance will disappear. He has lost his horses, but let him not seek for them — they will return of themselves. Should he meet with bad men, he will not err (in communicating with them)."
It is well agreed among Qing scholars that M zhu rhymes with m fu. However, M zhu is replaced by ^ and M <M> respectively in Shangbo and Boshu version, which is similar to the above situation in Dachu (A§):
(11)m : ^CfS)t:=(t:' OM ' 'm MM) > §&(?!) - - (Shangbo m
' strip 32, refer to the previous translation).
(12)m : M№)t:=(£: ° t:)m%m<m> ' M - ' - (Boshu Glial m&), upper line 75, refer to the previous translation.)
The character M zhu does not appear in the Shijing. However, there does exist a rhyme word M zhu with M zhu as phonetic:
(13)atm»' °
' ° (/jva-at^» 188.2A)
"I travelled through the open country, luxuriant are the Rumex; with a view to (our) marriage, I went and lodged with you; but you did not cherish me, I go back and return (home)."9
M zhu rhymes with ^ su, § xu, and m fu in this stanza (188.2A); all rhyme characters belong to the traditional Jue (X) group. Baxter-Sagart (2014)'s reconstructions are as follows:
Table 5. Rhyming situation of M in the Shijing (188.2A).
Traditional group OC MC
M zhu 10 Jue («) *hlrjiwk (*lriwk) drjuwk
® su Jue («) *s[u]k sjuwk
§ xu Jue («) *qhuk-s xjuwX
m fu Jue («) *m-puk bjuwk
According to their reconstruction, M zhu is abnormal in the above table, parallel with the situation with M zhu in Table 4, where *-uk and *-iwk categories were also mixed up. It is thus clear that both M zhu and M zhu are rhyming with *-uk words in the Shijing and Zhouyi. Hence, we propose that the phonetic M zhu should be assigned to the *-uk group in the Baxter-Sagart (2014) system:
(14) M *lriwk ^ *lruk > drjuwk > zhu 'pursue'
M *hlrjiwk (*lriwk) ^ *lruk > drjuwk > zhu 'sheep's-foot (name of grass)'
However, there is a case where M zhu in the current version of Zhouyi became entangled with the *-iwk category:
(15) ' ^ ' ' ^MM ' ° (The current version of Yi (®) hexagram) "The fourth SIX, divided, shows one looking downwards for (the power to) nourish. There will be good fortune. Looking with a tiger's downward unwavering glare, and with his desire that impels him to spring after spring, he will fall into no error."
9 This paper uses Karlgren (1974)'s English translation of Shijing.
10 Baxter and Sagart (2014) do not include the item M zhu; Baxter (1992) reconstructs it as *hlrjiwk, which is equivalent to *lriwk in their new system.
We adopt the conclusion of Qing scholars' analyses that the Yi (l) hexagram does not rhyme, apart from its first line statement11. The character M zhu is replaced by ff you and ® di in Shangbo and Boshu versions respectively:
(16)ae : mm' ^ - > mmm&=mm) > trtsrn - (shangbo n mi
strip 25, refer to the previous translation.)
(17)^0:11® ' ^ - [=] (*□ № [№] ) '
MM) (Boshu Yi (|), upper line 19, refer to the previous translation.)
We can conveniently join all the text variants of M zhu in the following table:
Table 6. Text variants of M zhu in the Yi (|) hexagram.
Traditional group Old Chinese Middle Chinese
M zhu Jué («) *lriwk drjuwk
f you You (ft) *liw yuw
® di Jué («) *liwk12 dek
It seems that the phonological status of the three versions of the Yi (®) hexagram is somewhat identical: all the variants have a front vowel *-i. Note that this passage does not intend to rhyme, which might lower the standards for correspondences. Moreover, the characters in question actually form binomes, such as MM, ffff and which do not
always faithfully reflect the phonological phenomena13. For instance, in the received version of Laozi (also called Wangbi version (ï®^^^ ), we have Itlt^^^; however, tt is replaced by the loan binome ffiffi in the Xiang'er version by in the Hanjian version
and by WW in the Boshu version Although all these binomes have similar
syllabic structures as well as initials and main vowels, they do have quite different onsets or final consonants:
(18) ttt *Ca.laq Ca.laq ~ *ma.laq ma.laq > shéngshéng "abundant" ffiffi *m.raq m.raq > yingying "abundant"
*lamaj lamaj ^ *lam lam > yiwëi yiwëi "abundant" WW *sa-lam sa-lam > xunxun "abundant"
There are nine characters in the xiesheng series of M zhu. According to the Guangyun shengxi (ffiai®:^), they could be divided into four groups: 1) drjuwk (^A®): MMMMMM; 2) trhjuwk (ftA®): M; 3) xjuwk (WW®): M; 4) dek (|^M®): S. In Grammata Serica, Karlgren
11 ""The first NINE, undivided, (seems to be thus addressed), 'You leave your efficacious tortoise, and look at me till your lower jaw hangs down.' There will be evil." Gu Yanwu (H^®), Duan Yucai and Wang Niansun propose that ft gut rhymes with | yi, while Jiang Yougao believes there is no rhyming. Here we follow Gu, Duan and Wang's analyses.
12 Baxter and Sagart (2014) have not reconstructed the item ® di; however, the character ^ di with the same Middle Chinese reading as^di is reconstructed as *liwk in Baxter (1992). We provisionally assume that ®di and ^ di had the same pronunciation in Old Chinese.
13 ^ di rhymes with M *m-puk > fu, # *m-[d]Juk > du in 257.11A ^ di, M fu and # du are assigned to the traditional Jue (®) group. However, after the split of Jue (®) by Baxter and Sagart (2014), ^ di is assumed to have had a different main vowel from M fu and # du. A probable explanation is that ^ di might come from a late version of the Shijing.
recorded three characters (GSR 1022): M drjuwk > zhu, M dek > zhu, and M trhjuwk > zhu. However, according to the Guangyun (ffiai), M zhu is equivalent to ® di 'Chinese flute', which was invented in the middle of the Western Han period (around 157-87 BC)14. Hence, the pronunciation of division-IV word M dek > zhu might be of late origin and should not be used as evidence to reconstruct Old Chinese front vowel *i.
References
Baxter, William. 1992. A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology. Mouton de Gruyter.
Baxter, William, Laurent Sagart. 2014. Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction. Oxford University Press.
Duan, Yucai 1988. Liushu Yinyun Biao [Phonological Tables of the Liushu], in Shuowen Jiezi Zhu
[Annotations of Analytical Dictionary of Characters]. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe
Gu, Yanwu (J|^®). 2012. Ri Zhi Lu [Records of Daily Knowledge]. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe
Han, Ziqiang 2004. Fuyang Hanjian Zhouyi Yanjiu —S^ffiM—W^ [Study of the Fuyang Zhouyi].
Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe
Jiang, Yougao (>!^§o). 1993. Yinxue shi shu [Ten Books on Old Chinese Phonology]. Beijing: Zhonghua
shuju j«:
Karlgren, Bernhard. 1974. Book of Odes (Chinese text, transcription and translation). The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
Legge, James. 2013. I Ching (Book of Changes). Kessinger Publishing.
Ma, Chengyuan 2003. Shanghai Bowuguan Cang Zhan'guo Chu
[Shanghai Museum Collection of Chu Bamboo Books from the Warring States Period (III)]. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe
Qiu, Xigui (^f^^). 2014. Mawangdui Hanmu Jianbo Jicheng Ä^^ÄSffi^®^[Integration of Bamboo Slip and Silk Documents in Mawangdui Han Tomb]. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Shen, Jianshi 1985. Guangyun shengxi mbm^^ [The Xiesheng system of Guangyun]. Beijing: Zhonghua
shuju.
Ма Кунь. Исследование фонологических проблем в вариантах текста гексаграмм сяочу и дачу («Книга Перемен»)
В статье обсуждаются вопросы фонологической реконструкции ряда древнекитайских слов, встречающихся в гексаграммах Сяочу и Дачу «Книги перемен» с при-
влечением новых данных, полученных по трем альтернативным версиям памятника, найденным в результате археологических раскопок. Обосновывается гипотеза, что необычная рифмовка между знаками Ш /й 'колесничная спица' и Щ тй 'глаз', наблюдаемая в канонической версии Сяочу, вызвана фонетической ассимиляцией. Также высказано предположение, что фонетик Ш гНй 'преследовать' необходимо отнести к группе рифм *-ик вместо *4шк, как это предложено в системе Бэкстера и Сагара (2014).
Ключевые слова: древнекитайский язык; гексаграммы Ицзина; китайская система рифм; фонологическая реконструкция.
14 «ШШШШ» : °«ШШ» Щ{М!>""
