A New Perspective On Rhyme Research In The Han Dynast

This article focuses on the study of rhyme groups in Han dynasty verses whose authors are clearly identifiable.The research mainly focuses on the exploration of the characteristics of different historical periods and dialects in Han dynasty rhyme groups.Based on the reorganization of the 597 Han dynasty verse rhyme foot characters(a total of 29,721 sentences,with 14,657 annotated rhyme foots and 3,051rhyme characters)collected from Yan Kejun’s"Complete Han Text,"(全汉文)Lu Qinli’s"Poetry from Pre-Qin to the Northern and Southern Dynasties,"(先秦两汉南北朝诗)and other materials in the Hong Kong"Han Da Wen Ku"collection,a convenient and searchable database of Han dynasty verse rhymes has been established.Subsequently,74 Han dynasty verse authors were examined according to their period of existence and place of origin.Combining Yang Xiong’s"Fang Yan"(方言)with relevant discussions on the dialect boundaries of the Han dynasty and previous research,the Han dynasty verse authors were classified into seven historical periods(each period lasting sixty years)and eight major dialect regions(Guanxi(关西),Xishu(西蜀),Guandong(关东),Qingxu(青徐),Zhao Wei(赵魏),Yan Chao(燕朝),Chu(楚),Wu Yue(吴越))for further discussion and research.In terms of studying the distance relationship between rhyme groups,the "Rhyme Separation Index" arithmetic statistical method was adopted to quantify the degree of distance between different rhyme groups more accurately.As the analytical basis,the "Six Vowel System" was adopted,in order to verify the accuracy and supplement of the sub-division of this system and how it evolved from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese.This article provides a comprehensive study and examination of different historical periods and dialect regions in Han dynasty rhyme groups,that is,in terms of both time and space.In terms of time,several commonalities in the changes of Han dynasty rhyme groups were discovered: 1.After the Eastern Han dynasty,most rhyme groups with non-front vowels experienced the separation of type-A and type-B syllables.2.The boundary between the "zhi"(脂)and "wei"(微)groups had changed compared with the Pre-Qin period.The "zhi"(脂)group shrank while the "wei"(微)group expanded,and words in the "zhi"(脂)group with TS initial or medial r or w were transferred to the "wei"(微)group during the Han dynasty.3.During the Eastern Han dynasty,except for some dialect regions,words with r medial in the "yang"(阳)group were generally transferred to the "geng"(耕)group,and type-A syllables with acute initial or medial r were transferred from the "yuan 1(元 1)" group to the "yuan2(元 2)" group.In terms of space,different phonetic characteristics were found among the various dialect regions of the Han dynasty: the Guanxi dialect’s qin(侵)group and ji(缉)group are close to the dong(冬),zheng(蒸)and zhi(职)group.We assume that the qin and ji group in Guanxi dialect had velar codas ‘-η /-k’ rather than labial codas‘-m/-p’.In the Xishu dialect,the "yu"(鱼)and "hou"(侯)groups have similar phonetic values,and except for the "qin" and "ji" groups,the "tan" and "he" groups also end with velar codas.Overall,the Guandong dialect is closest to the "Han Dynasty phonetic system" summarized by previous scholars like Wang Li.In reality,the Qingxu dialect should be divided into two sub-dialects: the Shandong Peninsula and the Xuzhou dialects.The Xuzhou region is characterized by the fact that the "geng"(庚)rhyme words in the "yang"(阳)group did not transfer to the "geng"(耕)group during the Eastern Han dynasty.The Shandong region is characterized by the phenomenon of the "wei"(微)rhyme with zhi(之)and zhi(支)in the seventh period.The Yan Chao dialect is relatively conservative,and the speed of the differentiation of type-A and type-B syllables during the Eastern Han dynasty was slower than that of other dialects.-an in the "yuan 1" group and-en in the "yuan 2" group maintained the pattern of the Pre-Qin period.The Chu dialect has conservative features similar to the Yan Chao dialect and can distinguish between the "zhi"(质)and "wu"(物)groups,and the "zhen"(真)and "wen"(文)groups,which are difficult to distinguish in other dialects.The "ge"(歌)group in the Wu Yue dialect has maintained a-j coda for a long time.Based on the rhyme usage in the Han dynasty,this article puts forward new ideas on the cause of the"Great Vowel Shift"in the Han dynasty and the issue of tone in Old Chinese.It also provides additional information on the reasons for the differentiation of the"yu"(鱼)group into the"yu"(鱼韵)"ma san"(麻三)rhyme groups in the Han dynasty.