Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/91

Rh corrrespond to that of the p'ing tone into upper and lower (上 and 下), but one can easily see for himself that such is not the case, at least not always. The "Chung-yuan-yin-yun" further distributes the ju or short-tone words, of which there are seventeen groups, among the four other tones, adding them at the end of the section to which they belong. It also distinguishes what it calls pi-k'ou-yun (閉口韻)or "shut-mouth finals," of which there are three groups. The words of these classes in Mandarin at present all end in n, and cannot be distinguished as to ending from others which in this work are in different classes. But at the time of the compiler the "shut-mouth finals" were probably for him, as Dr. Edkins says, words ending in m. It must be remembered, however, that the "Chung-yuan-yin-yun" is not to be taken as a perfect authority for the spoken Mandarin of any part of China in the 14th century. It was compiled as a help to the makers and singers of plays and ballads in North China; and it was for these and similar persons that the proper distribution of the short tone words was taught. In the common speech of the people the short tone words were used as such.

To this period belongs also the "Lei-yun" (類韻), a work in thirty chuan, which was published in 1321. It is generally ascribed to Li Poh-ying (李伯英), but he was only to a certain extent the compiler. His father, Mei-hsien (梅軒), began and a brother continued the compilation. Poh-ying himself spent ten years in preparing the book but died before it was printed. The aim of the "Lei-yun" was to correct errors in the popular use of words by supplying the true forms, sounds, and meanings from old authorities. But the book itself contained many serious errors, and it does not seem to be much known.

A nephew of Poh-ying, by name Wên-chung (文仲), in order to soothe the mind of his uncle "under the nine hills," published a book which he called the " Tzǔ-chien " (字鑑) or Mirror of Characters. In this small treatise we have a large