Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/57

Rh in Chekiang. He lived from 441 to 513 and held various offices, but all his love through life was for learning and the society of scholars. Several historical and other works were composed by him, but his fame rests chiefly on his contributions to the study of the language. These were made in a treatise called "Ssŭ-shêng-yun-pu" (四聲譜韻韻譜 [sic]) or Record of Finals (or words) according to the Four Tones. This treatise did not survive very long, apparently, but it did not perish until it had been greatly used and had gained a high reputation. It was based on the treatise above mentioned by Chow Yen-lun, and as the two men were contemporary, Shên may have derived from Chow his learning on the "four tones." But some think that Shên was the first to discover these and make them known. He is represented as saying that though men had written poetry for thousands of years they had not noticed the distinction which he alone discovered by silent thought. Others tell us that Shên was the first to present in a tabulated form a system of initials and finals according to the four tones. He is said to have adopted Chow's system of giving the pronunciation, and to have illustrated it by the rhymes in the "Shi-ching," adding the results of his own thought and reading. The following description of the four tones is sometimes ascribed to Shên Yo, but it is perhaps due to a later writer. The p‘ing shêng is said to be sad and even, the shang fierce and raised, the c'hü clear and receding, and the ju direct and shortened. It is interesting to compare this description with those given in other places, for example with the one given in the Introduction to Kang-hsi's Dictionary. One critical objection that has been made to Shên Yo's etymological teachings is that he wished to mademake [sic] the sounds of his native place the standard for the empire, to regard the dialect of Wu as the language of China.

That Shên Yo was not the first to discover the existence of the "four tones" and mark their differences scarcely admits of doubt, notwithstanding the assertion to the contrary made by