The ''Zilin'' (; c. 350) or Forest of Characters was a
Chinese dictionary compiled by the
Jin dynasty (266–420)
The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...
lexicographer Lü Chen (呂忱). It contained 12,824
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
head entries, organized by the 540-
radical system of the ''
Shuowen Jiezi
''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the ''Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give t ...
''. In the history of Chinese
lexicography
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoreti ...
, the ''Zilin'' followed the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' (121; with 9,353 character entries) and preceded the ''
Yupian
The ''Yupian'' (; "Jade Chapters") is a c. 543 Chinese dictionary edited by Gu Yewang ( 顧野王; Ku Yeh-wang; 519–581) during the Liang dynasty. It arranges 12,158 character entries under 542 radicals, which differ somewhat from the original ...
'' (c. 543; with 12,158 entries).
Text
Lü Chen compiled the ''Zilin'' to supplement the ''Shuowen jiezi'', and included more the 3,000 uncommon and
variant Chinese characters. Yong and Peng describe the ''Zilin'' as a "more influential character dictionary" than the ''Shuowen jiezi''.
Lü Chen's younger brother Lü Jing (呂靜) was also a lexicographer, who compiled the ''
Yunji'' (韻集; "Assembly of Rimes"; c. 280). Other than their dictionaries, little is known about either brother.
The title ''Zilin'', translated as "Forest of Characters" or "The Character Forest", combines ''zì''
字 "character; script; writing; graph" and ''lín''
林 "forest; woods; grove; group; collection of literary works; many; numerous". Titles of several
Japanese dictionaries
have a history that began over 1300 years ago when Japanese Buddhist priests, who wanted to understand Chinese sutras, adapted Chinese character dictionaries. Present-day Japanese lexicographers are exploring computerized editing and electronic ...
adapted this ''rin'' 林 "forest" metaphor, such as ''
Daijirin
is a comprehensive single-volume Japanese dictionary edited by , and first published by in 1988. This title is based upon two early Sanseidō dictionaries edited by Shōzaburō Kanazawa (金沢庄三郎, 1872–1967), ''Jirin'' (辞林 "Forest o ...
'' (大辞林; "Great Forest of Words", 1988) and ''Dai Kangorin'' (大漢語林; "Great Forest of Chinese"; 1992).
History
The ''Zilin'' was popular in the
Northern and Southern dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...
period (420–589), when "lexicography in China entered the stage of exploration and development. There were more new dictionary types coming into being and discoveries were waiting to be made in format and style, in mode of definition, and in phonetic notation.".
During the
Liu Song dynasty
Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period ...
(420-479), Wu Gongceng (吳恭曾) from
Yang Province
Yangzhou, Yangchow or Yang Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China mentioned in historical texts such as the ''Tribute of Yu'', '' Erya'' and '' Rites of Zhou''.
Name
There are four different theories regarding the origin of t ...
compiled the first commentary to the ''Zilin'', the ''Zilin yinyi'' (字林音義; "Pronunciations and Meanings in the ''Zilin''") in 5 volumes.
Jiang Shi (江式) was a renowned
calligrapher
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
and
epigraphist
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
during the
Northern Wei (386–535) dynasty. His biography in the ''
Book of Wei'' (554) history included the ''Lunshu biao'' (論書表; "Memorial on Calligraphy"; 514), in which Jiang Shi described the ''Zilin''. When
Prince of Yiyang (r. 349–350) was enfeoffed at Rencheng (任城)
commandery
In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...
(present-day
Yanzhou District
Yanzhou ( postal: Yenchow; ) is a district in the prefecture-level city of Jining, in the southwest of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It was also the name of one of the Nine Provinces in ancient China, where Yu combated floods ...
), Lü Chen presented the ''Zilin'' in 6 volumes.
It generally follows the example of the 'Shuowen jiezi'' It cites extensively and identifies and differentiates ancient characters, characters of the ''zhou'' style, odd characters, and characters easily confusable. Its writing style is the standardized official script of the Han Dynasty. It has, to a large extent, captured the essence of ''xiaozhuan''.
''Zhòuwén'' (籀文; "
Large Seal Script
The large seal script or great seal script () is a traditional reference to Chinese writing from before the Qin dynasty (i.e. before 221 BCE), and is now popularly understood to refer narrowly to the writing of the Western and early Eastern Zhou ...
") and ''xiǎozhuàn'' (小篆; "
Small Seal Script") were archaic forms of
Chinese calligraphy
Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high este ...
. Thus, the ''Zilin'' followed the ''Shuowen jiezi'' format of giving the head character entry in Small Seal Script and the definition in
clerical script
The clerical script (; Japanese: 隷書体, ''reishotai''; Korean: 예서 (old spelling 례서); Vietnamese: lệ thư), sometimes also chancery script, is a style of Chinese writing which evolved from the late Warring States period to the Qi ...
.
The
Northern Qi
Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...
dynasty (550-577) scholar
Yan Zhitui
Yan Zhitui (, 531–591) courtesy name Jie () was a Chinese calligrapher, painter, musician, writer, philosopher and politician who served four different Chinese states during the late Northern and Southern dynasties: the Liang Dynasty in so ...
's (581) ''Yanshi jiaxun'' (顏氏家訓; "Family Instructions of the Yan Clan") referred to the usefulness of consulting the ''Zilin''. After accompanying the Emperor on a tour, Yan Zhitui wanted to look up the origins and archaic pronunciations of two obscure
place names
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
, but could not find the answers in any books, until he checked the ''Zilin'' and ''Yunji'' character dictionaries. Yan Zhitui also referred to Lü Chen (without the ''Zilin'' title) in stressing the importance of character dictionaries. "Words and characters are fundamental. For students nowadays, they rarely have a better knowledge of characters: when they read the Five Classics" they follow the civil official
Xu Miao
Xu Miao (172–249), courtesy name Jingshan, was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao, who was the ''de facto'' head ...
rather than the lexicographer
Xu Shen
Xu Shen ( CE) was a Chinese calligrapher, philologist, politician, and writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-189). He was born in the Zhaoling district of Run'an prefecture (today known as Luohe in Henan Province). During his own lifetime, ...
, "and when they practice writing ''fu''-poems," they believed in the ''
Chuci
The ''Chu ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu,'' ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period ...
'' poet
Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan ( – 278 BCE) was a Chinese poet and politician in the State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the '' ...
's interpretations but neglected Lü Chen's.
The ''
Book of Sui
The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...
'' (636), the official
Sui dynasty (581–618) history, "Biography of Pan Hui" (潘徽) criticized the ''
Cangjiepian
The ''Cangjiepian'', also known as the ''Three Chapters'' (, ''sāncāng''), was a BCE Chinese primer and a prototype for Chinese dictionaries. Li Si, Chancellor of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), compiled it for the purpose of reforming writte ...
'' and ''
Jijiupian
The ''Jijiupian'' is a Chinese character primer that was compiled by the Han dynasty scholar Shi You around 40 BCE. Similar to an abecedarium, it contains a series of orthographic word lists, categorized according to character radical, and brief ...
'' character primers and ''Shuowen jiezi'' and ''Zilin'' character dictionaries and praised the ''Shenglei'' and ''Yunji''
rime dictionaries.
Previous works like ''Three Cang Primer'' 蒼and ''The Instant Primer'' 就have merely retained some texts and quotations; those like ''An Explanatory Dictionary of Chinese Characters'' 文and ''The Character Forest'' 林only focus on differentiating the form and structure of characters. As for the study of speech sounds and rhymes, there is much doubt and confusion. Either through speculation on ancient characters or interpretation of contemporary ones, the investigations have mostly missed the target. It is in ''The Dictionary of Initial Consonants'' 類and ''The Collection of Rhymes'' 集that the voiceless is differentiated from the voiced and the tones are demarcated in five scales 判清濁才分宮羽 (76)
The ''Book of Sui'' "
Bibliography" section includes Lü Chen's ''Zilin'' in 7 volumes and Wu Gongceng's ''Zilin yinyi'' (字林音義) in 5 volumes.
Up through the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
(618–907), the ''Zilin'' "was considered as important as the ''Shuowen jiezi'', but it was later lost. Yan Yuansun (顏元孫; d. 732), the Tang author of ''
Ganlu Zishu
''Ganlu Zishu'' () is a Chinese orthography dictionary of the Tang Dynasty. The first surviving orthographical dictionary for the regular script, it was authored by Yan Yuansun (顏元孫), a descendant of the famous scholar Yan Shigu. It is rou ...
'' "Lexicon for Seeking a Salary", used the ''Zilin'' as a source for determining the ''zheng'' 正 "correct" (suitable for government examinations) forms of characters.
The ''Fengshi wenjianji'' (封氏聞見記; "Master Feng's Record of Knowledge"; c. 770), written by the Tang dynasty scholar Feng Yan (封演), described the ''Zilin'' in a list of early Chinese dictionaries (
2[cf. .]). During the Jin dynasty, Lü Chen sought out unusual characters and compiled the ''Zilin'' in 7 volumes, following the
'Shuowen jiezi'' system of540 radicals, it included 12,824 characters. Among all the ''Shuowen jiezi''-based dictionaries, Lü Chen's was the most beneficial.
The last remaining copies of the ''Zilin'' were lost before the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960-1279). The ''
Book of Song'' (1493) only mentions this dictionary once. A discussion of different vehicle types (18, 禮五) quotes the ''Zilin'' that a ''píngchē'' (軿車; "curtained carriage") had cloth curtains but no rear ''yuán'' (轅; "(cart/carriage) shaft"), while a ''zīchē'' (輜車; "ancient covered wagon") had a rear shaft.
During the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
(1644-1911), scholars collected surviving fragments of the ''Zilin'' and quotations in other books. For example, the ''
Kangxi Dictionary
The ''Kangxi Dictionary'' ( (Compendium of standard characters from the Kangxi period), published in 1716, was the most authoritative dictionary of Chinese characters from the 18th century through the early 20th. The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing ...
'' (1716) quotes its definitions and pronunciations over 180 times. Ren Dazhuang (任大樁; 1738–1789) compiled the 8-volume ''Zilin kaoyi'' (字林考逸; "Examining the Lost ''Zilin''") in, and Tao Fangqi (陶方琦; 1845–1884) compiled the ''Zilin kaoyi buben'' (字林考逸補本; "Supplement to Examining the Lost ''Zilin''").
References
*
Footnotes
Further reading
* Yip, Po-ching (2000), ''The Chinese Lexicon: A Comprehensive Survey'', Psychology Press.
External links
Zilin 字林 "The Forest of Characters" Chinaknowledge
Chinaknowledge, with the subtitle "a universal guide for China studies", is an English-language hobbyist's web site that contains a wide variety of information on China and Chinese topics. The site was founded by and is maintained by Ulrich Theo ...
{{Dictionaries of Chinese
Chinese dictionaries
Lexicography