Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/59

Rh A much more famous author, however, was Ku Ye-wang (顧野王) al. Ku Hsi-fêng (希馮). This man was a native of K'un-shan (崑山), in the Soochow Prefecture of Kiangsu, and lived from 519 to 581. He rose to high office under the Ch'ên dynasty, but his reputation as an official was eclipsed by his fame as a great scholar and an author. The work with which his name is most associated is the dictionary called "Yü-pien" (玉篇), in thirty chuan. This was finished and published in 543, but no copy of that edition has been in existence for a long time, the earliest known edition being that published in 675 by Sun Ch'iang (孫强). The "Yü-pien" was based on the "Shuo-wên" and followed the arrangement of that dictionary, adding and omitting characters. The current style of writing—the chiai (楷)—was substituted in it for the now obsolete characters used by Hsü Shên. It makes use of 542 classifiers (radicals), and gives throughout the fan-ch'ie way of spelling. Whether, however, this latter was the work of the original compiler may at least be doubted. As left by him the "Yü-pien" is said to have been very imperfect, omitting many characters, faulty in arrangement, and abounding in errors. Native scholars who may be disposed to regret the loss of the first edition may console themselves with the reflection that it was not so good as the one to which they now have access.

To the latter part of this period belongs another distinguished man, Yen Chih-t'ui (顔之推) al. Yen Tzŭ-fên (子分). He was born in 531 and lived to the end of the period. As he held office for a considerable time under the North Ch'i rulers he is generally spoken of as belonging to that dynasty. But he has come down to posterity only as an author, and specially as the author of the "Chia-hsün" (家訓), or Family Teaching. This treatise, as we have it now, is in two chuan, divided into twenty chapters; and it treats of many subjects connected with the good conduct and education of a family in a style easy and pleasant. Several chapters are devoted to subjects connected with the language, and these are among the most interesting. The whole of