Shuowen jiezi 說文解字

Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 "Explaining simple and analyzing compound characters", short Shuowen 說文, is the oldest and one of the most important character dictionaries of ancient China. It was compiled by the Later Han-period 後漢 (25-220 CE) scholar Xu Shen 許慎 (c. 58-c. 147). The book was finished in 100 CE but was only submitted to the court in 121 by the author's son, Xu Chong 許衝.

The characters are arranged in 540 so-called radicals (bushou 部首) in 14 chapters, plus one chapter including a list of the radicals and Xu Shen's own postface (xu 叙).

The initial point of Xu's dictionary was the fact that during the Former Han period 前漢 (206 BCE-8 CE) a lot of different Confucian books had come to light, written in different styles of script, from the modern chancery script (lishu 隸書) used for the so-called "modern-script classics" jinwenjing 今文經) to the old seal script (zhuanshu 篆書), with which the so-called "old-script classics" guwenjing 古文經) were written. In order to provide a tool for the study of these texts, especially the old-script classics, which began to dominate Confucian scholarship at the beginning of the Later Han period, Xu Shen provided a dictionary which analysed the seal script characters and their meaning. The allegedly more original old-script versions seemed to be more reliable than the new-script texts.

The lemmata heads of the Shuowen are written in small-seal script (xiaozhuan 小篆), while the analytic and explanatory text is written in contemporary chancery script. From the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) on, editions of the Shuowen also added transcriptions of the seal-script characters, the large seal-script characters (zhouwen 籀文, also known as dazhuan 大篆), the old characters (guwen 古文) and popular variants (suti 俗体) which had been provided by Xu Shen to some of the standard small seal-script characters.

Figure 1. Beginning of the Shuowen jiezi

Beginning of the Shuowen jiezi, Sibu congkan 四部叢刊 edition, reproducing a print from the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) from the collection of the family Iwasaki 岩崎氏 in Setagaya 世田谷, Tōkyō (Seikadō Studio 靜嘉堂).

In his postface (xu) to the Shuowen, Xu Shen gives an account on the development of the Chinese script. It is said to have been invented by Cang Jie 倉頡, a minister of the mythological Yellow Emperor 黃帝, after he had seen the traces of bird feet on the soil. The simple characters he created are mainly illustrations of objects and ideas, simple in appearance and therefore called "patterns" (wen 文). In a later stage the characters or ideographs were combined from an ideographic part (xing 形 "shape") and a phonetic part (sheng 聲). This type of compound characters is called zi 字. Today both terms are combined to the word wenzi 文字, meaning "Chinese character" or "Chinese script". Xu Shen discerns six theoretical types of characters, the liushu 六書 "six types of script":

Xu Shen developed a special syntax for his analysis. Huiyi characters are generally analysed with the sentence cong A, B 从甲、乙, or cong A, cong B 从甲从乙 "from A and B". Xingsheng characters are analyzed with the sentence cong A, B sheng 从甲乙聲 "from A and the sound of B". One part of the huiyi characters is in many cases also used phonetically, in which case Xu Shen writes cong A, cong B, B yi sheng 从甲从乙，乙亦聲 "from an and B, B is also used phonetically". In a lot of characters the phonetic part is abbreviated, a phenomenon which in huiyi type characters also occasionally occurs. Xu Shen's formula for this phenomenon is cong B sheng sheng 从乙省聲 "from abbreviated B, used phonetically".

The arrangement of the radicals follows the contemporary conceptions of the universe, which is based on "one" 一, "above" 上, "religious matters" 示, the trinity Heaven, Earth and Man 三, and king 王, and ends with objects of human craftsmanship, like carts and tools, and the element earth 土, one of the Five Agents (wuxing 五行). The last radicals are the higher numbers and celestial stems and terrestrial branches. The sequence of the radicals was explained by later commentators of the Shuowen. It many cases the sequence is graphically, with the next character being derived from a part of the preceeding one, for instance:

Figure 2. Beginning of the radicals list in the Shuowen jiezi

Beginning of the radicals list (biaomu 標目) in the Shuowen jiezi, Sibu congkan edition. Click to enlarge.

Figure 3. Complete list of the Shuowen radicals

Complete list of the Shuowen radicals (synopsis of six leaflets - modern transcription see Table 3), in seal script (zhuanshu 篆書), with transcription in standard chancery script (lishu 隸書) and indication of the pronuncation according to the fanqie system 反切; 1873 edition of Chen Changzhi's 陳昌治 reprint of Sun Xingyan 孫星衍 (1753-1818; Pingjinguan congshu 平津館叢書), who had reproduced a Song-period edition.

The characters listed under each radical are arranged in a very complicated sequence not easily to perceive. Words with positive connotations are listed first, those with negative meanings last. Technical terms important for state rituals and in the world of thought are also listed relatively before very common words. Words with similar meaning are listed in one group. Within such groups, tautologies are very common (X is Y.//Y is X.). Without index it is therefore very time-consuming to detect a character. At the end of each radical paragraph, the total number of characters listed under the particular radical is stated, as well as the additional writing variants with old and large seal script characters. Later scholars have added some characters not listed in the Shuowen. These are listed as newly appendend (xinfu 新附) at the end of each radical section.

For each character, the meaning is provided first. Then Xu Shen analyses the character itself. In many cases he quotes from the Confucian classics to provide the reader with an example from the literature he might be familiar with. Sometimes he also adds a phonetic instruction of the type of du ruo X 讀若某 "read like X" (a system called zhiyin 直音). In the last place he gives alternative writings (often another radical) or the ancient shape of the character, which often totally differs from the small seal script style.

The Shuowen jiezi lists 9,353 characters as a lemma, and 1,163 alternative characters (old styles, and so on). This large number covers practically all words occurring in the ancient literature. Some characters have later been added, especially such from Han-period literature not used in pre-Han texts. The Shuowen does not cover characters from the ancient state of Chu 楚 memory of which was lost during the Han period, and not those exclusively used on bronze vessel inscriptions from the early Zhou period 周 (11th cent.-221 BCE). It does of course also not list the most ancient form of Chinese characters as used in the oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang period 商 (17th-11th cent. BCE) that were only discovered in the early 20th century. It was, nevertheless, easier to read these inscriptions with the help of the Shuowen jiezi. Without Xu Shen's indications, this would have been far more difficult.

Quotation 2. Examples from the Shuowen jiezi

1.1. 【 】 【 】
【一】惟初太始道立於一。造分天地，化成萬物。凡一之屬皆從一。(於悉切。)【弌】古文一。	一 [Unity, one] is where the start of the Great Beginning of the Way is based upon. In unity, Heaven and Earth are separated from each other [unity or one thus becoming two] and then transformed into the ten thousand creations. All things related to "one" are written with the radical 一 [e.g. 元 "origin", 天, "Heaven", 丕 "grand", 吏 "administrator of men"]. (Pronounced /ʔ-i̯ĕt/. [Note: Pronunciation hints were added during the Song period. For this translation, Bernhard Karlgren's phonetic reconstruction is used.]) 弌 is an old-script character variant for 一.
1.3. 【 】
【天】顛也。至高無上。從一、大。(他前切。)	天 [Heaven] (/tʰien/): is the summit (/tien/ [Note: puns were very popular during the Han period]), or the highest point which nothing can surpass. The character is composed of "one" and "great". (Prounounced /tʰ-ien/.)
2.1. 【 】 【 】
【丄】高也。此古文上。指事也。凡上之屬皆從上。(時掌切。)【上】篆文上。	丄 [Above, ontop] means high. It is the old-style character for 上, character type "pointing to situation". All things related to "above" are written with the radical 丄 [e.g. 帝 "deified ancestor", 旁 "vast", 下 "below"]. (Pronounced /ʑ-i̯aŋ/.) 上 is the Small Seal script character for 丄.
2.2. 【】 【】
【帝】諦也。王天下之號也。從上、朿聲。(都計切。)【𢂇】古文帝。古文諸上字皆從一，篆文皆從二。【二】古文上字。辛、示、辰、龍、童、音、章，皆從古文上。	帝 [Emperor] (/tiei/): is careful (/tiei/). Denomination for the true ruler of the earth. The character is composed of 上 "above" and the phonetic 朿 (ce or qi). (Pronounced /ti-ei/.) 𢂇 is an old-style character for 帝. All old-style characters with the radical 上 are written with a simple stroke 一, and the Small Seal style characters with a double stroke 二. 二 is an old-style character for 上. The following characters are written with the old-style 上: xin 辛 (one of the Celestial Stems), shi 示 "to display", chen 辰 (one of the Terrestrial Branches), long 龍 "dragon", tong 童 "young, inferior", yin 音 "sound" and zhang 章 "stanza".
287.1. 【】
【人】天地之性最貴者也。此籀文象臂脛之形。凡人之屬皆從人。(如鄰切。)	人 [Man] the worthiest of all beings between Heaven and Earth. This is the Large Seal style character depicting of a man with arms and legs. All things related to "man" are written with the radical 人. (Pronounced /ȵʑ-i̯ĕn/.)
302.1. 【】
【老】考也。七十曰老。從人、毛、𠤎，言鬚髮變白也。凡老之屬皆從老。(盧皓切。)	老 [Old] (/lɑu/) means "aged". Seventy years is old. The character is composed of the characters "man" 人, "hair" 毛 and "change" 𠤎, saying that beard and hair have become white. All things related to "old age" are written with the radical 老 [e.g. 耆 "auld", 壽 "long life", 孝 "obedient towards the elder"]. (Pronounced /l-ɑu/.)
302.2. 【】
【考】老也。從老省、ㄎ聲。(苦浩切。)	考 [Aged] (/kʰɑu/) means "old". The character is composed of abridged 老 "old" and the phonetic 丂 (kǎo). (Pronounced /kʰ-ɑu/.)
480.1. 【】
【土】地之吐生物者也。二象地之下，地之中物出形也。凡土之屬皆從土。(它魯切。)	土 [Soil] is what the earth produces of living creatures. The two horizontal strokes depict the surface of the soil and what is below, [and the vertical stroke] depicts what comes out of the earth. All things related to "earth" are writteh with the radical 土. (Pronounced /tʰ-uo/.)
480.2. 【】 【】
【地】元氣初分輕清陽為天，重濁陰為地。萬物所陳列也。從土、也聲。(徒內切。)【𡒰】籀文地，從䧘。	地 [Earth] (/dʱi/) means, the primordial spirit in the beginning divided light, clear and bright things in the shape of Heaven from heavy, muddy and dark things symbolizing Earth. [Earth] is how the ten thousand beings are arranged. The character is composed of "soil" and the phonetic 也 (/jia/) [Note: it seems rather that the word "uterus" 也 has to be taken literally - the earth as a producer of things -, rather than phonetically]. (Pronounced /dʱ-i/.) 𡒰 is a Large Seal style character for 地, derived from 䧘.
513.1. 【】 【】
【甲】東方之孟陽氣萌動，從木戴孚甲之象。一曰：人頭空為甲。甲象人頭。凡甲之屬皆從甲。(古狎切。)【𠇚】古文甲，始於十，見於千，成於木之象。	甲 [Shield, or the first of the Celestial Stems] means, when the young sunrays from the east imbue the sprouts, they begin to move. The character depicts a wooden handle headed with a hard shield. One author says, that hollow skulls of humans were the used as shields, the character depicting a man's head. All things related to "shield" are written with the radical 甲 [note: there are actually no derivative characters]. (Pronounced /k-ap/.) 𠇚 is an old-style character for 甲, symbolizing the beginning with ten, apparearance with thousand, and completed in a tree. [Duan Yucai comments: should read "[sprouts] begin at the bottom/below the surface of the earth (下, i.e. also the lower part of the character), become apparent ontop (上) of it (i.e. the upper part), and are completed as full-grown plants."]
525.1. 【】 【】 【】
【子】十一月陽氣動萬物，滋人以為偁。象形。凡子之屬皆從子。李陽冰曰：子在中足併也。(即里切。)【㜽】古文子，從川象髮也。【𢀈】籀文子，囟有髮臂脛在几上也。	子 [Son, or the first of the Terrestrial Branches] means, in the eleventh month, the yang spirit moves the ten thousand beings, nourishing man to full accordance with nature. The character is a picture (of a child). All things related to "child" are written with the radical 子 [e.g. 孕 "pregnant", 字 "to raise a child", 孺 "infant", 季 "youngest child", 孟 "oldest child", 孤 "orphan", 存 "to care for",...]. Li Yangbing says: It depicts a baby in its diapers, the feet side by side. (Pronounced /ts-i/.) 㜽 is an old-style character for 子, three strokes depicting the hair. 𢀈 is the Large Seal Script character, the fontanel having hair, arms and legs and lying on a small table.

Xu Shen's analysis is enormeously helpful for understanding the history of Chinese characters and the original meaning of them. Without his providing the seal script shape and its analysis, it would not be possible to really perceive the acutal meaning of a lot of characters, because the modern chancery script shape is often simplified and does not reveal the origional shape, like 夜 "night", derived from 夕 "evening", 亦, derived from a standing person 大, or 春 "spring", which is a composition of 艸 "grass", 日 "sun" and 屯 "sprout". The Shuowen jiezi served as a model for all later character dictionaries based on an arrangement of the characters according to radicals.

Unfortunately the Shuowen jiezi has suffered from an unhappy history of transmission. The Tang-period 唐 (618-907) scholar Li Yangbing 李陽冰 (c. 750) edited the Shuowen after he had made a lot of amendings concerning the small seal script of the lemmas. He also added his own commentary, which was, according to testimony of later scholars, very unreliable and unscholarly. It was only during the Five Dynasties period 五代 (907-960) that the brothers Xu Xuan 徐鉉 (916-991) and Xu Kai 徐鍇 (920-974) from the state of Southern Tang 南唐 (937-975) started recovering the ancient text of the Shuowen jiezi. Xu Kai published it with his own commentary in the 40-juan long Shuowen jiezi xichuan 說文解字繫傳.

Figure 4. Beginning of the Shuowen jiezi xichuan

Beginning of the Shuowen jiezi xichuan, Sibu congkan 四部叢刊 edition, reproducing a combination of a Song-period manuscript from the collection of the family Zhang 張氏 in Wucheng 烏程, Jiangsu (Shugutang Studio 述古堂), and a Song-period print from the collection of the family Qu 瞿氏 in Guli 古里 close to Changshu 常熟, Jiangsu. Click to enlarge.

Xu Xuan became a subject of the Song dynasty 宋 (960-1279) and presented his own, much shorter, commentary to the Shuowen jiezi, to the Song court. He had eliminated the errors by Li Yangbing and added a pronunciation guide according to the fanqie system 反切 used in Sun Mian's 孫愐 (fl. 751) character dictionary Tangyun 唐韻 from the Tang period, and some notes to a part of the characters. He divided each of the 15 original chapters into two half-chapters. It was also Xu Xuan who added the new characters to the text which appear in ancient writings, especially such from the Han period, but which were missing in the original Shuowen jiezi.

Xu Xuan's imperially acknowledged version (also called Da-Xu ben 大徐本 "Version of the older Xu") was printed, as well as the version of his brother (the Xiao-Xu ben 小徐本 "Version of the younger Xu"). The first is included in the series Sibu congkan 四部叢刊. The original print from the Song period was owned by the Jiguge Studio 汲古閣 (i.e. Mao Jin 毛晉, 1599-1659), later by Lu Xinyuan 陸心源 (1834-1894), and now by the Seikadō Library 静嘉堂文库 in Tokyo. It has also been included in Sun Xingyan's 孫星衍 (1753-1818) series Pingjinguan congshu 平津館叢書. This version has been reprinted several times and is very widespread. A manuscript version from the Shugutang Studio 述古堂 (owner Qian Zeng 錢曾, 1629-1701) of Xu Kai's Shuowen jiezi xichuan has been reprinted in the series Sibu congkan. It was also printed by the Qing-period publisher Qi Guizao 祁嶲藻 (1793-1866).

There is a Tang-period manuscript preserved, but only in a very small fragment of 188 characters from the section of the radical 木 "tree". It has been commented and published by the Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Mo Youzhi 莫友芝 (1811-1871) with the title Tang xieben Shuowen jiezi mubu jianyi 唐寫本說文解字木部箋異. The original is now kept in the Kyō'u shōku Library 杏雨書屋 in Osaka. Another fragment from the section of the radical 口 "mouth" is a manuscript written in Japan.

Figure 5. Tang-period fragments of the Shuowen jiezi

First page of Mo Youzhi's 莫友芝 (1811-1871) transcription of the Tang-period fragment of the Shuowen jiezi found in the possessions of Zhang Lianchen 張廉臣, district magistrate of Yixian 黟縣, Anhui. The fragment had been part of the collection of Mi Youren 米友仁 (1074-1153), son of the famous Song-period calligrapher Mi Fu 米芾 (1051-1107). Xuxiu Siku quanshu 續修四庫全書 edition.

Xu Kai also wrote an index to the Shuowen jiezi, the Shuowen jiezi yunpu 說文解字韻譜, in which the characters are arranged according to the rhyme system valid since the Tang period. The index has later been amended by Xu Xuan. The Southern Song-period 南宋 (1127-1279) scholar Li Tao 李燾 (1115-1184) wrote another index, Shuowen jiezi wuyi yunpu 說文解字五音韻譜, which is geared to the Song-period rhyme system, which has fewer rhyme groups than that of the Tang period. All three books were printed.

The corpus of Qing-period studies on the Shuowen jiezi is quite vast. The dictionary attracted the attention of scholars of all fields, from palaeographers and phonologists to botanists. The most important studies and commentaries are Duan Yucai's 段玉裁 (1735-1815) Shuowen jiezi zhu 說文解字注, Gui Fu's 桂馥 (1736-1805) Shuowen jiezi yizheng 說文解字義證, Wang Yun's 王筠 (1784-1854) Shuowen judu 說文句讀, and Zhu Junsheng's 朱駿聲 (1788-1858) Shuowen tongxun dingsheng 說文通訓定聲.

The book of Duan Yucai is a very detailed analysis of the whole text of the Shuowen jiezi. He quotes a lot of ancient literature in his analysis of the meaning Xu Shen has attributed to the character, in order to trace the expansion of the original meaning of the character. This was often done by borrowing the character for another word. Duan also tries to establish the original pronunciation of the character. In spite of some errors, the Shuowen jiezi zhu is an excellent early modern standard commentary.

The book by Gui Fu is in first case a source book providing material from original sources supporting or contradicting the analysis of Xu Shen. Of secondary importance is Gui's analysis of the main text and of the commentaries of the Xu brothers.

The book of Wang Yun was compiled as an extract of the large works of Duan and Gui, to make it easier for the reader to deal with the large amount of material. Wang also made some corrections to the text. He also wrote the book Shuowen shili 說文釋例, an analysis of the basic guidelines with which the Shuowen had been written.

Zhu Junsheng arranged the characters according to rhyme groups. He analyses the original text of Xu Shen and the particular parts of the characters, the exended meaning (while Xu Shen only provides the original meaning of the character) and for which words the character was borrowed. Zhu also added some more characters from Han- and Wei-period 曹魏 (220-265) sources not included in the Shuowen jiezi text.

In 1928 Ding Fubao 丁福保 (1874-1952) published a compilation of all previous commentaries to the Shuowen in a large, eight-volume (modern reprints have even more volumes) edition called Shuowen jiezi gulin 說文解字詁林. The commentaries are assembled according to the characters, so that it is very easy to see all comments under one single heading.