Where did the ancients speak dialects in the Tang and Song Dynasties?

A summary of the study of Tang and Song dialects in the Six Dynasties

Clicks: updated on 2007-11-19 at 23: 30: 58.

There have been differences in dialects in Chinese since ancient times. At the same time, the original dialect of Chinese was formed [1]. However, as can be seen from the literature, at least in the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, there was a contradiction between dialect and elegance, such as the well-known Analects of Confucius: "Shu Ya is elegant, scholars and Shu are elegant in Li Zhi."

Traditional dialectology is an integral part of China's traditional linguistics, but it does not occupy a prominent position. The traditional linguistics in China is the so-called "primary school", which includes philology, exegetics and phonology. Dialectics exists as a vassal of exegetics. In Sikuquanshu, only the dialect written by Yang Xiong was included in the exegesis of primary schools. For a long time, the study of historical dialects has been neglected to some extent, which is not only biased in academic concepts, but also because it is too difficult. First, it is difficult to find historical dialect materials; Second, historical dialect materials are difficult to verify; Third, the adjustment of knowledge structure and the accumulation of academic preparation are difficult to work in a short period of time [2].

China's first monograph on traditional dialectology was Dialect written by Yang Xiong at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, and its compilation also marked the establishment of China dialectology. There was dialect research in China in the pre-Qin period, and Zhou emissaries collected, collected and preserved dialect songs everywhere in the light van every year during the slack season. However, this kind of investigation record is the political need of the rulers. There are also some records of dialect differences in handed down literature.

As a branch of Chinese philology, the history of Chinese dialects began in the 20th century. Luo Changpei's A Brief History of Chinese Dialect Studies is a pioneering symbol of the discipline of Chinese Dialect History. Therefore, the research on the history of Chinese dialects is still weak on the whole.

A Brief History of Chinese Dialect Research by Mr. He Gengyong is the earliest and only monograph on the history of Chinese Dialect Research so far. In the preface, Mr. Wang Li praised: "The materials he collected are very precious, from which we can see the outline of the development of Chinese dialects." [3] Dialects should have a history of dialectology, but ancient historical dialectology and modern descriptive dialects should be written separately.

As far as ancient historical dialectology is concerned, it should be divided into stages. Only by studying dialects dating back to the past can we write a good general history of dialectology. But what is the standard of staging? Mr. He Jiuying believes: "The staged characteristics caused by the ancients in Chinese learning are the main basis for our staging" [4]. On this basis, Mr. He divided the history of ancient linguistics in China into six periods: pre-Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, Yuan and Ming Dynasties and Qing Dynasty. Similarly, this standard is also applicable to the history of ancient dialectology, but the "stage characteristics" caused by the ancients in dialect research are not completely equivalent to the whole history of ancient linguistics in China, so the stages of the history of dialectology are not exactly the same as those of ancient linguistics. Mr. Hua Xuecheng divided the history of ancient dialectology into four periods. "According to its own stage characteristics, the study of ancient dialects can be divided into four periods: Zhou, Qin, Han, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to Tang and Song Dynasties, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Qing Dynasty to primary schools." [5]

The study of the history of dialectology was originally a weak point, but the study of the history of dialectology in the Six Dynasties, Tang and Song Dynasties was weak, because at this stage there is no monograph on dialectology like Dialect, and there are no books focusing on dialects like Shuowen and Shiming. However, if we want to study historical dialectology comprehensively, we can't help but talk about dialect research at this stage, which is an important link in the whole history of Chinese dialectology. However, the materials of dialect research at this stage are scattered in various documents.

There is no direct record of dialect division in Song Dynasty in historical documents, and there are no concentrated works such as Yang Xiong's Dialect, Notes on Dialect of Jinguopu and Er Ya Zhu for analysis and judgment. However, we can still test the dialect division at that time through the following three aspects: first, the immigration data in the Tang and Song Dynasties; Second, the scattered records of dialect categories in Song people's notes; The third is to compare the administrative divisions of the Northern Song Dynasty with the divisions of modern dialects, and seek the overlapping parts.

It can be seen from the records of dialects in Notes of Song Dynasty that people had some opinions on the categories of dialects at that time. Their opinions indirectly reflect the fact of dialect division. For example:

Lu You's Notes on the Old Learning Hall (Volume 6): If there is something wrong with the sound of the quartet, the rhyme is completely wrong. For example, Fujian people misinterpret the word "Gao" and call "Gao" a song and "Lao" Luo; When the Qin people misinterpreted the word "Qing", they called it "Qi" and "Jing" as "Ji". Shu people mistakenly use the word "Deng", and they all feel the same way; When Wu misinterpreted the word "fish", he said every rhyme. He put it here. Luoyang is the only place with the most correct pronunciation in the Central Plains. However, quite a few people call strings "Xuan", "Xuan" is called "string", "dog" is called "send" and "send" is called "dog". [6]

Zhao Yanwei's Clouds on the Foothills Volume 14: Different from the sounds in four directions. The words "country, Mexico, North, and confusion" are called "valley, wood, divination, and welcome" by northerners, while the southern sound is slightly changed to lip sound. Northerners approach vulgarity, while southerners approach elegance. [7]

At least two points can be seen from these scattered materials:

First, the northern dialect has formed a relatively consistent dialect area. The concept of northern dialect as a whole did not appear in historical books until the Song Dynasty. From the pre-Qin classics to Yang Xiong's Dialect in the Han Dynasty and Guo Pu's Dialect Notes in the Jin Dynasty, the northern dialect is not regarded as a unit, but divided into several blocks and discussed separately. This shows that there are great differences in the north, and ordinary people have not yet formed the concept of "northern dialect" It was not until the Northern Song Dynasty that Shen Kuo first put forward the concept of "Northern Yin", that is to say, he began to realize that "Northern Yin" could be discussed as a unit. Although Lu Fayan's "Preface to Qieyun" in the Sui Dynasty has already mentioned "right and wrong between north and south, bridging the gap between ancient and modern times". But "North-South" is probably a general term, and it doesn't really refer to the northern dialect or the southern dialect.

By the Han Dynasty, the northern Chinese was still different. This can also be seen from many areas listed in dialects. After the funeral at the end of the Han Dynasty, the disputes between the three countries and the scuffle between the five lakes and sixteen countries, the scale and number of population movements in the north were very large. This historical background promoted the integration of Chinese in the north. Later, after the long-term and stable development of the Sui, Tang and Song San generations, the northern Chinese was further integrated with each other, and the internal consistency was greatly enhanced. As a dialect area, "Northern Dialect" was gradually clarified in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It was at this time that the northern dialect was formally established as the basic dialect of Chinese. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, there appeared many literary works based on the northern spoken language at that time, such as poems, novels and plays.

Second, there were at least three dialects in the Southern Song Dynasty: Wu dialect, Jingchu (Hunan) dialect and Min dialect. It is particularly noteworthy that the records of Min dialect only appeared after the Tang and Song Dynasties. The concept of "Fu Lao" (Min people) also began to appear in the Tang Dynasty. The pronunciation of Fujian dialect is different from that of literary and colloquial pronunciation. The imperial examination system prevailed in Tang and Song Dynasties. In order to meet the needs of examinations, scholars borrowed literary pronunciations from northern dialects. The spread of phonetic characters is the centripetal force of Fujian dialect.

The study of ancient dialects can be based on the documents recorded in ancient dialects, inferred from modern dialects, or a combination of the two. In addition, non-linguistic factors such as immigration history can also be used as an important reference for studying ancient dialects, especially the geography of historical dialects.

Among all kinds of records of ancient dialects, the monograph on ancient dialects is the most direct and detailed. The monographs on dialectology before the end of Qing Dynasty can be divided into three categories. One is Chinese character materials, such as Dialect by Yang Xiong, Dialect Annotation by Guo Pu in Jin Dynasty, Yu Shu in Ming Dynasty, etc. The second category is Chinese dialect works by foreign scholars. The third category is materials recorded in pinyin, mainly works of western missionaries. Throughout the literature of the Six Dynasties, Tang and Song Dynasties, there are still many materials for dialect research, only scattered in various documents. Dialect research materials in the Six Dynasties, Tang and Song Dynasties mainly