Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den
Encyclopedia
The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den is a famous example of constrained writing
by Yuen Ren Chao
(1892–1982) which consists of 92 characters, all with the sound shi in different tones
when read in Mandarin.
The text, although written in Classical Chinese
, can be easily comprehended by most educated readers. However, changes in pronunciation over 2,500 years resulted in a large degree of homophony
in Classical Chinese
, so the poem becomes completely incomprehensible when spoken in Modern Standard Chinese or when written in romanization.
, Gwoyeu Romatzyh
, and Chinese traditional/simplified characters
. Pinyin orthography recommends writing Chinese numbers
in Arabic numerals, so the number shí ("十") would be written as 10. To preserve the homophony in this case, the number 10 has also been spelled out in Pinyin.
Meaning in English:
Also, many characters in the passage had distinct sounds in Middle Chinese
. All the various Chinese spoken variants have over time merged and split different sounds. For example, when the same passage is read in Cantonese
, there are seven distinct syllables - ci, sai, sap, sat, sek, si, sik - in six distinct tone contours, leaving 22 distinct character pronunciations. In Min Nan
or Taiwanese, there are six distinct syllables - se, si, su, sek, sip, sit – in seven distinct tone contours, leaving 15 character pronunciations. Even with Dioziu (Chaozhou/Teochew), there are eleven distinct syllables - ci, cik, sai, se, sek, si, sip, sik, chap, chiah, chioh - in six distinct tone contours, leaving 22 distinct character pronunciations. However, it is still debatable whether the passage is any more comprehensible when read aloud in other dialects than it is in Mandarin.
, along with its pronunciations in Pinyin; Chinese characters (simp.
) with pinyin
transcription added using ruby
annotations.
similar to The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den:
四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十。
This tongue-twister translates to "Four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty." In Standard Mandarin, it is pronounced as follows:
sì shi sì, shí shi shí, shísì shi shísì, sìshí shi sìshí.
In some southern dialects of Mandarin, however, where speakers do not pronounce the ʂ (sh) but replace it with [s], the tongue-twister is pronounced as follows, with all the syllables homophonous
except for their tones:
sì si sì, sí si sí, sísì si sísì, sìsí si sìsí.
Constrained writing
Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern.Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form....
by Yuen Ren Chao
Yuen Ren Chao
Chao Yuen Ren was a Chinese American linguist and amateur composer. He made important contributions to the modern study of Chinese phonology and grammar....
(1892–1982) which consists of 92 characters, all with the sound shi in different tones
Tone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
when read in Mandarin.
The text, although written in Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...
, can be easily comprehended by most educated readers. However, changes in pronunciation over 2,500 years resulted in a large degree of homophony
Homophone
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
in Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...
, so the poem becomes completely incomprehensible when spoken in Modern Standard Chinese or when written in romanization.
The text
The following is the text in Hanyu PinyinPinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
, Gwoyeu Romatzyh
Gwoyeu Romatzyh
Gwoyeu Romatzyh , abbreviated GR, is a system for writing Mandarin Chinese in the Latin alphabet. The system was conceived by Y.R. Chao and developed by a group of linguists including Chao and Lin Yutang from 1925 to 1926. Chao himself later published influential works in linguistics using GR...
, and Chinese traditional/simplified characters
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
. Pinyin orthography recommends writing Chinese numbers
Chinese numerals
Chinese numerals are characters for writing numbers in Chinese. Today speakers of Chinese use three numeral systems:the ubiquitous Arabic numerals and two indigenous systems....
in Arabic numerals, so the number shí ("十") would be written as 10. To preserve the homophony in this case, the number 10 has also been spelled out in Pinyin.
- « Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »
- Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
- Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
- Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
- Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
- Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
- Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
- Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
- Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
- Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
- Shì shì shì shì.
- « Shi Shy shyi shi she »
- Shyrshyh shyshyh Shy Shyh, shyh shy, shyh shyr shyr shy.
- Shyh shyrshyr shyh shyh shyh shy.
- Shyr shyr, shyh shy shy shyh shyh.
- Shyh shyr, shyh Shy Shyh shyh shyh.
- Shyh shyh shyh shyr shy, shyh shyy shyh, shyy shyh shyr shy shyhshyh.
- Shyh shyr shyh shyr shy shy, shyh shyrshyh.
- Shyrshyh shy, Shyh shyy shyh shyh shyrshyh.
- Shyrshyh shyh, Shyh shyy shyh shyr shyh shyr shy.
- Shyr shyh, shyy shyr shyh shyr shr, shyr shyr shyr shy shy.
- Shyh shyh shyh shyh.
- « Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den »
- In a stone den was a poet called Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions.
- He often went to the market to look for lions.
- At ten o'clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market.
- At that time, Shi had just arrived at the market.
- He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die.
- He brought the corpses of the ten lions to the stone den.
- The stone den was damp. He asked his servants to wipe it.
- After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions.
- When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses.
- Try to explain this matter.
Explanation
Classical Chinese is a written language and is very different from spoken Chinese. Different words that have the same sound when spoken aloud will have different written forms, comparable to deer and dear in English.Also, many characters in the passage had distinct sounds in Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese , also called Ancient Chinese by the linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties...
. All the various Chinese spoken variants have over time merged and split different sounds. For example, when the same passage is read in Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
, there are seven distinct syllables - ci, sai, sap, sat, sek, si, sik - in six distinct tone contours, leaving 22 distinct character pronunciations. In Min Nan
Min Nan
The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....
or Taiwanese, there are six distinct syllables - se, si, su, sek, sip, sit – in seven distinct tone contours, leaving 15 character pronunciations. Even with Dioziu (Chaozhou/Teochew), there are eleven distinct syllables - ci, cik, sai, se, sek, si, sip, sik, chap, chiah, chioh - in six distinct tone contours, leaving 22 distinct character pronunciations. However, it is still debatable whether the passage is any more comprehensible when read aloud in other dialects than it is in Mandarin.
« Si1 si6 sik6 si1 si2 » (Cantonese Jyutping Jyutping Jyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme... )
|
« » (Min Nan Min Nan The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora.... or Taiwanese) |
« si1 si6 ziah8 sai1 se2 » (Teochew)
|
|
« Si1 si5 sik7 si1 si3. » (Gan Chinese)
|
« si zi zeh si si. » (Wu Chinese)
|
« si1 si5 sit8 si1 si3 » (Hakka Chinese)
|
Poem text in vernacular Chinese
While the sound changes merged sounds that had been distinct, new ways of speaking those concepts emerged. Typically disyllabic words replaced monosyllabic ones. If the same passage is translated into modern Mandarin, it will not be that confusing. The following is an example written in Vernacular ChineseVernacular Chinese
Written Vernacular Chinese refers to forms of written Chinese based on the vernacular language, in contrast to Classical Chinese, the written standard used from the Spring and Autumn Period to the early twentieth century...
, along with its pronunciations in Pinyin; Chinese characters (simp.
Simplified Chinese character
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Xiandai Hanyu Tongyong Zibiao for use in Mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of many standard character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language...
) with pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
transcription added using ruby
Ruby character
are small, annotative glosses that can be placed above or to the right of a Chinese character when writing languages with logographic characters such as Chinese or Japanese to show the pronunciation...
annotations.
《 》 ， ， 。 。 ， 。 ， 。 ， ， 。 ， 。 ， 。 ， 。 ， ， 。 。 |
||
| Chinese characters (trad. Traditional Chinese character Traditional Chinese characters refers to Chinese characters in any character set which does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. It most commonly refers to characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong, or in the Kangxi... ) |
Chinese characters (simp. Simplified Chinese character Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Xiandai Hanyu Tongyong Zibiao for use in Mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of many standard character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language... ) |
|
|---|---|---|
他常常去市場看獅子。 十點鐘，剛好有十隻獅子到了市場。 那時候，剛好施氏也到了市場。 他看見那十隻獅子，便放箭，把那十隻獅子殺死了。 他拾起那十隻獅子的屍體，帶到石室。 石室濕了水，施氏叫侍從把石室擦乾。 石室擦乾了，他才試試吃那十隻獅子。 吃的時候，才發現那十隻獅子，原來是十隻石頭的獅子屍體。 試試解釋這件事吧。 |
他常常去市场看狮子。 十点钟，刚好有十只狮子到了市场。 那时候，刚好施氏也到了市场。 他看见那十只狮子，便放箭，把那十只狮子杀死了。 他拾起那十只狮子的尸体，带到石室。 石室湿了水，施氏叫侍从把石室擦干。 石室擦干了，他才试试吃那十只狮子。 吃的时候，才发现那十只狮子，原来是十只石头的狮子尸体。 试试解释这件事吧。 |
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| Pinyin Transcription of the Vernacular Chinese | ||
«Shī Shì chī shīzi jì» Yǒu yí wèi zhù zài shíshì lǐ de shīrén jiào Shī Shì, ài chī shīzi, juéxīn yào chī shí zhī shīzi. Tā chángcháng qù shìchǎng kàn shīzi. Shí diǎnzhōng, gānghǎo yǒu shí zhī shīzi dào le shìchǎng. Nà shíhòu, gānghǎo Shī Shì yě dào le shìchǎng. Tā kànjiàn nà shí zhī shīzi, biàn fàng jiàn, bǎ nà shí zhī shīzi shā sǐ le. Tā shí qǐ nà shí zhī shīzi de shītǐ, dài dào shíshì. Shíshì shī le shuǐ, Shī Shì jiào shìcóng bǎ shíshì cā gān. Shíshì cā gān le, tā cái shìshi chī nà shí zhī shīzi. Chī de shíhòu, cái fāxiàn nà shí zhī shīzi, yuánlái shì shí zhī shítou de shīzi shītǐ. Shìshi jiěshì zhè jiàn shì ba. |
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Classical Chinese pronunciation in antiquity
| Old Chinese Old Chinese The earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at a site near modern Anyang identified as Yin, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1200 BC.... pronunciation in IPA (according to Karlgren Bernhard Karlgren Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods... ) |
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Middle Chinese , also called Ancient Chinese by the linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties... pronunciation in IPA |
|
|---|---|---|
ɕia dʲi̪ěɡ dʲi̪ək ʂi̪ər sli̪əɡ dʲi̪ǎk ɕi̪ět ɕiəɡ dʑi̪əɡ ɕia dʲi̪ěɡ, dʲi̪ər ʂi̪ər, dʲi̪ad dʲi̪ək dʲi̪əp ʂi̪ər. dʲi̪ěg dʲi̪əɡ dʲi̪əɡ ɕi̪ěk dʲi̪əɡ dʲi̪ər ʂi̪ər. dʲi̪əp dʲi̪əɡ, ɕi̪ěk dʲi̪əp ʂi̪ər ɕi̪ěk dʲi̪əɡ. dʲi̪ěg dʲi̪əɡ, ɕi̪ěk ɕia dʲi̪ěɡ ɕi̪ěk dʲi̪əɡ. dʲi̪ěg dʲi̪ər dʲi̪ěg dʲi̪əp ʂi̪ər, dʲi̪əɡ ɕi̪ər ɕi̪ad, sli̪əɡ dʲi̪ěɡ dʲi̪əp ʂi̪ər dʲi̪ad ɕi̪ad. dʲi̪ěɡ dʲi̪əp dʲi̪ěɡ dʲi̪əp ʂi̪ər ɕi̪ər, ɕi̪ěk dʲi̪ǎk ɕi̪ět. dʲi̪ǎk ɕi̪ět ɕi̪əp, dʲi̪ěɡ sli̪əɡ dʲi̪əɡ ɕi̪ək dʲi̪ǎk ɕi̪ět. dʲi̪ǎk ɕi̪ět ɕi̪ək, dʲi̪ěɡ ɕi̪əɡ dʲi̪ək dʲi̪ěɡ dʲi̪əp ʂi̪ər. dʲi̪ək dʲi̪əɡ, ɕi̪əɡ ɕi̪ək dʲi̪ěɡ dʲi̪əp ʂi̪ər, dʲi̪ět dʲi̪əp dʲi̪ǎk ʂi̪ər ɕi̪ər. ɕi̪əɡ ɕi̪ak dʲi̪ěɡ dʑi̪əɡ. |
ɕie̪ ʑie̪ː dʑi̪ək ʂi ʂiː ʑi̪ɛk ɕi̪ět ɕi dʑiː ɕie̪ ʑie̪ː, ʑi ʂi, ʑi̪ɛi dʑi̪ək ʑi̪əp ʂi. ʑie̪ː ʑi ʑi ɕi̪ɛk ʑiː ʑiː ʂi. ʑi̪əp ʑi, ɕi̪ɛk ʑi̪əp ʂi ɕi̪ɛk ʑiː. ʑǐe̪ː ʑi, ɕi̪ɛk ɕie̪ ʑie̪ː ɕi̪ɛk ʑiː. ʑie̪: ʑi: ʑǐe̪ː ʑi̪əp ʂi, ʑi ɕiː ɕi̪ɛi, ʂiː ʑǐe̪ː ʑi̪əp ʂi ʑi̪ɛi ɕi̪ɛi ʑie̪ː ʑi̪əp ʑǐe̪ː ʑi̪əp ʂi ɕiː, ɕi̪ɛk ʑi̪ɛk ʑi̪ět. ʑi̪ɛk ɕi̪ět ɕi̪əp, ʑie̪ː ʂiː ʑi ɕi̪ək ʑi̪ɛk ɕi̪ět. ʑi̪ɛk ɕi̪ět ɕi̪ək, ʑie̪ː ɕiː ɕi dʑi̪ək ʑǐe̪ː ʑi̪əp ʂi. dʑi̪ək ʑi, ɕiː ɕi̪ək ʑǐe̪ː ʑi̪əp ʂi, dʑi̪ět ʑi̪əp ʑi̪ɛk ʂi ɕiː. ɕi ɕi̪ɛk ʑǐe̪ː dʑi. |
Related tongue-twisters
In certain Southern Mandarin-speaking areas of China, speakers have a tongue-twisterTongue-twister
A tongue-twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken word game. Some tongue-twisters produce results which are humorous when they are mispronounced, while others simply rely on the confusion and mistakes of the speaker for their...
similar to The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den:
四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十。
This tongue-twister translates to "Four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty." In Standard Mandarin, it is pronounced as follows:
sì shi sì, shí shi shí, shísì shi shísì, sìshí shi sìshí.
In some southern dialects of Mandarin, however, where speakers do not pronounce the ʂ (sh) but replace it with [s], the tongue-twister is pronounced as follows, with all the syllables homophonous
Homophone
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
except for their tones:
sì si sì, sí si sí, sísì si sísì, sìsí si sìsí.
See also
- Homophonic puns in Mandarin ChineseHomophonic puns in Mandarin ChineseMandarin Chinese, like many Sinitic varieties, has a significant number of homophonous syllables and words due to its limited phonetic inventory. All languages have homophones, but in Chinese they are especially abundant. The Cihai dictionary lists 149 characters representing the syllable "yì"...
- Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
- James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacherJames while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher"James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher" is an English sentence used to demonstrate lexical ambiguity and the necessity of punctuation,which serves as a substitute for the intonation,...
- One syllable articleOne syllable articleA one-syllable article is a type of constrained writing found in Chinese literature. They take advantage of the large number of homophones in the Chinese language, particularly when writing in Classical Chinese...
Chinese
- A list of other Classical Chinese texts based entirely on modern homophones
- 【整理】十一篇“同音文”的参考译文（有的译文相当强大！）_“缘定沧桑居”_百度空间
- 對聯：30. 巧聯妙對
External links
- The recordings in Mandarin carry marked accents e.g. many tones are wrongly pronounced and the place of articulation of the initial sh is too advanced
- The Three "NOTs" of Hanyu Pinyin has a similar but different text, and it explains that the intention of Zhao Yuanren (Yuen Ren Chao) was not to oppose Chinese Romanization.
- a YouTube video showing the text read aloud in Mandarin