Tong Ya "philological Research

In the late Ming Dynasty when the theory of Wang was prevailing, Fang Yizhi wrote Tong Ya Which was based on philological productions of the precursors. The achievements of the book are versatile: First it tried to search the origination of sound by description of contemporary and dialectal sound, study of ancient phonetic and consulting western phonetics; Secondly it revised the written words by dealing with Shuo Wen and antique materials in a scientific way; Thirdly through the theory and the practice of Chinese ancient hermeneutics, It brought the meanings into contact with the sounds; In addition, the research on Binomes and ancient phrases and vernaculars made a breakthrough in the study of vocabulary. Having its scientific and businesslike effect on research returning to language itself and notable attainments in philology, Tong Ya opened a new era for development of Xiao Xue in Qing Dynasty,...