Dengyun Tu

Overview

Dengyun Tu, also known as Yun Tu or "rhyme tables," is a systematic chart tool used in Chinese phonology to analyze the structure of Chinese speech sounds [1-2]. Beginning in the late Tang and Song dynasties, scholars arranged representative example characters from rhyme books into charts with consonants as vertical columns and vowels as horizontal rows, creating what became known as "dengyun tu" or "rhyme tables." Representative rhyme tables include Yunjing, Qiyin Lüe, Qieyun Zhizhang Tu, and Sisheng Dengzi. From these rhyme tables emerged a series of concepts related to phonology, such as "deng" (grade), "she" (rhyme category), and "zhuan" (rhyme division), along with methods to explain inconsistencies between the rhyme tables and the fanqie (character spelling) system of the Six Dynasties, forming a specialized field of study known as "dengyun xue" (rhyme table studies) [4].

History

Chinese dengyun studies emerged in the Tang dynasty, developed in the Song dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and can be divided into two main developmental stages: Song-Yuan dengyun studies and Ming-Qing dengyun studies [5].

The maturation of Song dynasty qieyun (rime dictionary) theory provided methods and reference points for explaining the numerical theories of the Book of Changes. Shao Yong's Huangji Jing Shishu·Shengyin Changhe Tu was the first to combine qieyun theory with the theoretical framework of "heavenly sounds and earthly musical pitch" to explain the principles of all sounds in the universe. Zhu Mi's Qishu Jue further diagrammed this theoretical system using rhyme tables [5].

Yunjing and Qiyin Lüe are the oldest surviving rhyme tables, both reflecting the phonological system of the Qieyun tradition of rhyme books. Both consist of forty-three charts with very similar lists of rhyme characters, organized according to open and closed mouth positions, which直观地 (intuitively) show the open and closed mouth positions of medieval dental consonants. However, due to different compilers and source materials, they have both similarities and differences [7].

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, influenced by Shao Yong's Shengyin Changhe Tu theory, a series of works emerged that combined dengyun theory with the Book of Changes and metaphysical theories, forming the "Huangji Jingshi series of dengyun literature" with unique theoretical systems in the history of Chinese dengyun studies. Representative works include Zhao Huiqian's Huangji Shengwen Zi Tong and Chen Jinmo's Huangji Tün Yun from the Ming dynasty, which made various innovations and integrations in rhyme table construction and phonological system analysis [5].

Qing dynasty rhyme tables also reflected the evolution of actual speech sounds. For example, in Dengyun Tu Jing, the guo and zhuo rhyme categories merged into one rhyme category during the Qing dynasty, forming the modern Beijing pronunciation vowels (e), iε, u(e), yε, a process that also reflects changes influenced by Southern Mandarin and the rising status of Beijing dialect [6].

Key Information

Structure

Dengyun tu adopts a tabular format that presents consonants vertically and vowels and tones horizontally, creating a two-dimensional phonological coordinate system:

• Consonant Notation: Uses the five musical notes gong (宫), shang (商), jiao (角), zhi (徵), and yu (羽) to correspond to the five articulation positions: throat, velum, tongue, teeth, and lips.
• Phoneme Expansion: Adds two auxiliary phonemes: half-zhi (半徵, semi-lingual sounds) and half-shang (半商, semi-dental sounds).
• Syllable Position: Each cell in the chart represents a specific consonant-vowel-tone combination syllable [2].

Cultural Significance

Through the analogy of musical terms and articulation positions, dengyun tu provides a visual tool for studying ancient Chinese phonology. Its "five sounds and two divisions" method became an important foundation for studying the medieval Chinese phonological system. Zheng Qiao, in Qiyin Lüe, borrowed the musical terms gong, shang, jiao, zhi, and yu to represent the articulation positions of consonants, and added half-zhi and half-shang (semi-lingual and semi-dental sounds) as open sounds beyond the five main categories [1].

Modern Status

Dengyun xue is an important link between Chinese and Korean peninsula languages. In the process of cross-language and cross-cultural application, dengyun tu shows both universality and variability. Chinese dengyun studies had a significant influence on Korean phonological research. Korean scholars, while following the framework of Chinese dengyun tu, adapted it to the actual phonological features of Korean, promoting the development of Korean phonological analysis systems [8].

The adaptation of Chinese dengyun tu on the Korean peninsula can be mainly divided into two categories: localized rhyme tables and improved rhyme tables. The first category includes works like Hunmin Jeongeum Yunhae by Seong Jeong-joon, which adapted rhyme tables using the framework of Shao Yong's Huangji Jingshi·Shengyin Changhe Tu combined with Hangul letters to explain pronunciation principles [8].

The second category includes works like Choi Seok-jeong's Gyeongje Jeongyeon Tosol and Hwang In-sik's Unhak Bonwon, which used Hangul transliteration to transform and integrate Chinese rhyme tables like Yunfa Hengzhi Tu [8].

Related Research

Professor Li Jun discovered that Qiezi Jieyao was the prototype of Yunfa Zhi Tu, and after ten years of research, published the monograph Research on Qiezi Jieyao. He also leads the National Social Science Fund major project "Integration of Chinese Dengyun Literature, Database Construction, and Series of Special Studies" [3]. Modern scholars have proposed a new periodization of Chinese dengyun studies, including the early Tang-Five Dynasties qieyun studies, Song-Yuan qieyun studies, Ming-Qing dengyun studies, and the post-phonetic alphabet era dengyun studies [9]. Systematic research on the "Huangji Jingshi series of dengyun literature" has explored both the theoretical innovations and phonological historical value of this series in the history of Chinese dengyun studies from both theoretical and practical phonological perspectives [5].

References

1. Zheng, Qiao. (12th century). Tongzhi·Qiyin Lüe (Comprehensive Treatise·Seven Sounds Appendix). Song Dynasty.

2. Wang, Li. (2002). Hanyu Yinyuxue Tonglun (Comprehensive Discussion of Chinese Historical Phonology). Zhonghua Book Company.

3. Li, Jun. (2018). Qiezi Jieyao Yanjiu (Research on Qiezi Jieyao). Shanghai Educational Publishing House.

4. Norman, J. (1988). Chinese. Cambridge University Press.

5. Chen, Naigen. (2015). Ming Qing Dengyunxue Yanjiu (Research on Ming-Qing Rhyme Table Studies). Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House.

6. Yu, Xiushan. (2000). Beijing Fayin Shilun (Historical Discussion of Beijing Phonology). Peking University Press.

7. Coblin, W. S. (1983). A Textual and Phonological Study of the Qieyun*. Academia Sinica.

8. Lee, Ki-Moon. (1972). History of the Korean Language. Cambridge University Press.

9. Zhang, Zhigang. (2016). Zhongguo Dengyunxue Fazhanshi (Development History of Chinese Rhyme Table Studies). Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House.