Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/103

89 wen." The compiler was Wang Chên (王溱) a native of Ch‘ang-lo in Fuhkien, and the work was published in 1848. It has been reprinted several times and is very popular with the numerous students of that province.

In the year 1700 a small but important work was published, the "Wu-fang-yuan-yin," the genuine words of the Empire. This thesaurus was compiled by Fan T‘êng-fêng (樊騰鳳) al. Ling-hsü (凌虛) of T‘ang-shan in the south of Chihli. In 1710 there appeared a revised and improved edition with a preface by Nien Hsi-yao (年希堯) al. Yun-kung (允恭), its editor. The work was further enlarged and published in a new form in 1780, and there have been several reprints of the 1710 edition. In this dictionary the characters are arranged according to a new system. There are twelve finals and twenty initials, the former being in two classes, each of six finals. The first six are called "light and clear" and they do not admit any ju-shêng words. These last are all lodged in the second class, the words of which are "heavy and indistinct." There are five tones, the p‘ing being divided into upper and lower, corresponding to the yin-p‘ing and yang-p‘ing of Chou Tê-ch‘ing. It is acknowledged by native students that the system of the "Wu-fang-yuan-yin" is not a good one, and the work is not regarded as an authority. The 1710 edition, however, forms a convenient book of reference and is largely consulted by provincial students learning Mandarin. It has also been used by Dr. Williams in compiling his Dictionary, and an account of it will be found in the introduction to that work. Dr. Williams has there given what he calls a translation of Yao's preface, and it is about as bad a specimen of translation as could be produced.

We next notice the contributions to the study of the language made by Chiang Yung (江永) al. Shên-hsiu (愼修). Chiang (Kiang) was a native of Wu-yuan in Anhui and lived from 1681 to 1762. He was a man of great learning and ability,