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| Erya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Erya exhibit at Chinese Dictionary Museum (Jincheng, Shanxi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 爾雅 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 尔雅 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | approaching what is correct | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Nhĩ Nhã | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 爾雅 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 이아 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 爾雅 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 爾雅 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kana | じが | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheErya orErh-ya is the first survivingChinese dictionary. The sinologistBernhard Karlgren concluded that "the major part of itsglosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC."[1]
Chinese scholars interpret the first title characterěr (爾; "you, your; adverbial suffix") as aphonetic loan character for the homophonousěr (邇; "near; close; approach"), and believe the secondyǎ (雅; "proper; correct; refined; elegant") refers to words or language.[2] According toW. South Coblin: "The interpretation of the title as something like 'approaching what is correct, proper, refined' is now widely accepted".[3] It has been translated as "The Literary Expositor" or "The Ready Rectifier" (both byLegge), "Progress Towards Correctness" (von Rosthorn), "Near Correct" (Xue), "The Semantic Approximator" (Needham), and "Approaching Elegance" (Mair).
The book's author is unknown. Although it is traditionally attributed to theDuke of Zhou,Confucius, or his disciples, scholarship suggests that someone compiled and edited diverse glosses from commentaries to pre-Qin texts, especially theShijing.Joseph Needham et al. place theErya's compilation between the late 4th and early 2nd centuries BCE, with the possible existence of some core text material dating back to the 6th century BCE, and the continued additions to the text as late as the 1st century BCE.[4]
The first attempts to date the different parts of theErya separately began when the Tang scholarLu Deming (556–627) suggested that the Duke of Zhou only compiled theShigu (Chinese:釋詁;pinyin:Shìgǔ) chapter (1), while the rest of the text dated from later.[5] The Japanese historian and sinologistNaitō Torajirō analyzed theErya text and concluded it originated in the earlyWarring States period, with theJixia Academy having a considerable hand in it from c. 325 BCE onwards, and the text was enlarged and stabilized during theQin andWestern Han dynasty. Naitō connects theShigu chapter (1) with the first generations of theConfucian School (450-400 BCE), places the family relationships, astronomy, and meteorology chapters (4-8) in the time of Xun Qing荀卿 (300-230 BCE) with additions as late as 90 BCE, allocates the geographical chapters (9-12) to the late Warring States, Qin, and beginning of Han (300-200 BCE), puts the natural history chapters (13-18) between 300 and 160 BCE, and ascribes the last chapter (19) on domestic animals to the time ofEmperor Wen orEmperor Jing of Han (180 to 140 BCE).
TheErya was considered the authoritative lexicographic guide toChinese classic texts during theHan dynasty, andSong dynasty Confucians officially categorized it as one of theThirteen Classics, "making it one of the more revered works in the history of Chinese literature, not to mention lexicography".[6] Although the only ancientErya commentary that has come down to us is the (c. 310)Erya zhu (爾雅注, "Erya Commentary") byGuo Pu (276–324), there were a number of others, including the (early 1st century)Erya Fanshi zhu (爾雅樊氏注, "Mr.Fan'sErya Commentary") byLiu Xin, and the (late 3rd century)Erya Yinyi (爾雅音義, "Sounds and Meanings ofErya") bySun Yan, which popularized thefanqie system of pronunciation glosses.[4]
Most of these texts about theErya were still extant in theTang dynasty (618-907) but had disappeared by theSong dynasty (960-1279), when there was a revival of interest in theErya.[7] TheNorthern Song dynasty scholar Xing Bing (邢昺) wrote the (c. 1000)Erya shu (爾雅疏, "Erya Subcommentary"), which quoted many descriptions from both ordinary literature and medicinalbencao (本草, "pharmacopoeia; herbal") texts. A century later, Lu Dian (陸佃) wrote the (1096)Piya ("Increased [Er]ya") and the (1099)Erya Xinyi (爾雅新義 "New Interpretations of theErya") commentary. TheSouthern Song dynasty scholar Luo Yuan (羅願) subsequently wrote the (1174)Eryayi (爾雅翼, "Wings to theErya") interpretation. During theQing dynasty, Shao Jinhan (邵晋涵, 1743–1796) published theErya Zhengyi (爾雅正義, "Correct Meanings of theErya") and the naturalist Hao Yixing (郝懿行) wrote the (1808-1822)Erya yishu (爾雅義疏, "Subcommentary on Meanings of theErya").
In the history of Chinese lexicography, nearly all dictionaries werecollated by graphic systems ofcharacter radicals, first introduced in theShuowen Jiezi. However, a few notable exceptions, calledyashu雅書 "[Er]ya-type books", adopted collation by semantic categories such as Heaven and Earth. TheMing dynasty scholar Lang Kuijin (郎奎金) categorized and published theWuya (五雅 "Five [Er]yas"):Erya, (c. 150 BCE)Xiao Erya ("Little Erya"), (c. 200)Yiya ("Lost Erya" or theShiming), (c. 230)Guangya ("Expanded Erya"), and (1125)Piya ("Increased Erya"). The more importantErya-type books of the subsequent period are the 1579Tongya (通雅, Analogous toErya) compiled by Fang Yizhi (方以智), 1587Pianya (駢雅, A Book of Two-Syllable Words) by Zhu Mouwei (朱謀㙔), c. 1745Bieya (別雅, AnotherErya) by Wu Yujin (吴玉搢), and 1864Dieya (疊雅, A Book of Double-Syllable Words) by Shi Menglan (史夢蘭).[8] Chineseleishu encyclopedias, such as the (1408)Yongle Encyclopedia, were also semantically arranged. Needham takes theErya's derivative literature as the main line of descent for the encyclopedia in China.[7]
TheErya has been described as adictionary,glossary, synonymicon,thesaurus, andencyclopaedia. Karlgren explains that the book "is not a dictionaryin abstracto, it is a collection ofdirect glosses to concrete passages in ancient texts."[9] The received text contains 2094 entries, covering about 4300 words, and a total of 13,113 characters. It is divided into nineteen sections, the first of which is subdivided into two parts. The title of each chapter combinesshi ("explain; elucidate") with a term describing the words under definition. Seven chapters (4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 18, and 19) are organized into taxonomies. For instance, chapter 4 defines terms for: paternal clan (宗族), maternal relatives (母黨), wife's relatives (妻黨), and marriage (婚姻). The text is divided between the first three heterogeneous chapters defining abstract words and the last sixteen semantically arranged chapters defining concrete words. The last seven – concerninggrasses,trees,insects andreptiles,fish,birds,wild animals, anddomestic animals – describe more than 590 kinds offlora andfauna. It is a notable document ofnatural history and historicalbiogeography.
| Chapter | Chinese | Pinyin | Translation | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 釋詁 | Shigu | Explaining the Old [Words] | verbs, adjectives, adverbs, grammatical particles |
| 2 | 釋言 | Shiyan | Explaining Words | verbs, adjectives, adverbs |
| 3 | 釋訓 | Shixun | Explaining Instructions | adjectives, adverbs, mostly withreduplication |
| 4 | 釋親 | Shiqin | Explaining Relatives | kinship, marriage |
| 5 | 釋宮 | Shigong | Explaining Dwellings | architecture, engineering |
| 6 | 釋器 | Shiqi | Explaining Utensils | tools, weapons, clothing, and their uses |
| 7 | 釋樂 | Shiyue | Explaining Music | music, musical instruments, dancing |
| 8 | 釋天 | Shitian | Explaining Heaven | astronomy, astrology, meteorology, calendar |
| 9 | 釋地 | Shidi | Explaining Earth | geography, geology, some regional lore |
| 10 | 釋丘 | Shiqiu | Explaining Hills | topography,Fengshui terms |
| 11 | 釋山 | Shishan | Explaining Mountains | mountains, famous mountains |
| 12 | 釋水 | Shishui | Explaining Rivers | rivers, navigation, irrigation, boating |
| 13 | 釋草 | Shicao | Explaining Plants | grasses, herbs, grains, vegetables |
| 14 | 釋木 | Shimu | Explaining Trees | trees, shrubs, some botanical terms |
| 15 | 釋蟲 | Shichong | Explaining Insects | insects, spiders, reptiles, etc. |
| 16 | 釋魚 | Shiyu | Explaining Fishes | fish, amphibians, crustaceans, reptiles, etc. |
| 17 | 釋鳥 | Shiniao | Explaining Birds | wildfowl, ornithology |
| 18 | 釋獸 | Shishou | Explaining Beasts | wild animals, legendary animals |
| 19 | 釋畜 | Shichu | Explaining Domestic Animals | livestock, pets, poultry, some zoological terms |
The format ofErya definitions varies between the first section treating common terms (chapters 1–3) and the second treating specialized terms (4-19). Entries for common terms are defined by grouping synonyms or near-synonyms and explaining them in terms of a more commonly used word, and additional explanations if one of the words had multiple meanings. For instance, "Qiáo (喬),sōng (嵩), andchóng (崇) all mean 'high' (高).Chóng also means 'to fill' (充)." (ch. 1). Entries for specialized terms are defined by grouping related words and giving them a description, explanation, classification, or comparison. For example: "A woman calls her husband's fatherjiù (舅), and her husband's mothergū (姑). While alive they are calledjūnjiù (君舅) andjūngū (君姑). After their death they are calledxiānjiù (先舅) andxiāngū (先姑).[10]
Owing to its laconic lexicographical style, theErya is one of a fewChinese classics that have not been fully translated into English.
