Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/75

Rh The number of characters of which the meanings and sounds are given is 53,525, or above 27,000 more than the "Kuang-yun" had. Several distinguished scholars were engaged in its compilation and revision, chief among them being Sung Ch‘i (宋祁), Chêng Ch‘ien (鄭戩), Chia Chang-ch‘ao (賈昌朝), Ting Tu (丁度), and Li Shu (李淑), all men of famous learning. Their work, the "Chi-yun," was taken at the time of its publication as an authority for the sounds of characters, and it was several times republished with additions and corrections. By some it was ranked above and by others below the "Kuang-yun." The original edition, however, seems to have soon gone out of print, and the earliest which has survived is perhaps that brought out under the revision of Ssŭ-ma-kuang in 1067.

While the "Kuang-yun" was being prepared another new work of the same kind was being compiled. This also was produced under orders from the Throne, and was published at the same time with the "Kuang-yun." The name which it bore at first was simply "Yun-liao" (韻略), and it was compiled by Ch‘i Lun (戚綸) and others. The authors took the "Ch‘ie-yun" as basis, and by liberal pruning and careful selection produced a treatise which at once found favour. Their work was adopted as the authority on the subject of rhyming words by the Li Pu (Board of Ceremonies) for the State Literary Examinations. In 1038 there appeared a new edition revised by Ting Tu, mentioned above, and issued by the Imperial Academy. This edition received the title "Li Pu Yun-liao," and the work through all its changes has ever since borne that title. The careful and scholarly way in which this dictionary was compiled made it popular with students generally, and even during the Sung period it was several times republished, usually with additions and alterations. Originally it gave the sounds and meanings of only 9,590 characters, being thsothose [sic] of most frequent occurrence, but this number was not adhered to in the various editions. At first also the book was merely a compendium (liao), containing only those head-characters the