Zhongyuan Yinyun literally meaning "The phonology of the Central Plains", is a rime book from the Yuan Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

 compiled by Zhou Deqing (周德清) in 1324. An important work for the study of historical Chinese phonology

Historical Chinese phonology

Historical Chinese phonology deals with reconstructing the sounds of Chinese from the past. As Chinese is written with logographic characters, not alphabetic or syllabary, the methods employed in Historical Chinese phonology differ considerably from those employed in, for example, Indo-European...

, it testifies many phonolgical changes from 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...

 to Mandarin, such as the reduction and disappearance of final stop consonant

Stop consonant

In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...

s and the reorganization of the tones. Though often termed a "rime dictionary

Rime dictionary

thumb|upright=1.0|A page from Shiyun Hebi , a rime dictionary of the [[Qing Dynasty]]A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genres requiring rhymes. A rime dictionary focuses on pronunciation and collates...

", the work does not provide meanings for its entries.

Background

Zhongyuan Yinyun continued the tradition of Qieyun

Qieyun

The Qieyun is a Chinese rime dictionary, published in 601 CE during the Sui Dynasty. The title Qieyun literally means "cutting rimes" referring to the traditional Chinese fănqiè system of spelling, and is thus translatable as "Spelling Rimes."Lù Făyán was the chief editor...

 and other rime books. However, due to the phonological changes took place from the Sui Dynasty

Sui Dynasty

The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

 to the Yuan Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

, the information needed to be updated in accordance with the then phonological system.

From the middle of the 13th Century to the end of the 14th Century, Beiqu (北曲, Northern Verse) underwent quick development. The author of Sanqu

Sanqu

Sanqu was a type of verse, compiled by Zhou Deqing , popular in the Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, with tonal patterns modeled on tunes drawn from folk music.-Yuan Dynasty Sanqu:...

 (散曲), Zhou Deqing, delved into the research on Beiqu, discovering that it created many problems by not adhering to the rules of classical poetic composition. He thought that in order to better develop Beiqu , one would need to make a definite standard, especially in respect to language. According to his own experience, he was able to propose a set of rules for composing and reciting Běiqǔ, which came to be known as Zhongyuan Yinyun.

Structure

In the earlier rime books, characters are first grouped by tone, then by rime. However, in Zhongyuan Yinyun, the selected 5,866 characters , commonly rhymed in songs of the time, are first grouped into 19 rime groups, then further into four tonal groups: ping sheng yin

Tone name

In the Chinese and Vietnamese languages, tone names are the names given to the tones these languages use.*In Chinese, tone names are given in terms of the four tones, namely level , rising , departing , and entering , as well as dark and light , and high and low .* Standard Vietnamese has six...

 (陰平 "feminine level tone"), ping sheng yang

Tone name

In the Chinese and Vietnamese languages, tone names are the names given to the tones these languages use.*In Chinese, tone names are given in terms of the four tones, namely level , rising , departing , and entering , as well as dark and light , and high and low .* Standard Vietnamese has six...

 (陽平 "masculine level tone"), shang sheng

Tone name

In the Chinese and Vietnamese languages, tone names are the names given to the tones these languages use.*In Chinese, tone names are given in terms of the four tones, namely level , rising , departing , and entering , as well as dark and light , and high and low .* Standard Vietnamese has six...

 (上聲 "rising tone"), qu sheng

Tone name

In the Chinese and Vietnamese languages, tone names are the names given to the tones these languages use.*In Chinese, tone names are given in terms of the four tones, namely level , rising , departing , and entering , as well as dark and light , and high and low .* Standard Vietnamese has six...

 (去聲 "departing tone"). The traditional ru sheng

Entering tone

A checked tone, commonly known by its Chinese calque entering tone , is one of four syllable types in the phonology in Middle Chinese which are commonly translated as tone. However, it is not a tone in the phonetic sense, but rather describes a syllable that ends in a stop consonant, such as p, t,...

 (入聲 "entering tone") is assigned to three groups according to contemporary rules in some modern Ji-Lu guanhua dialects. This novel way of dividing the traditional four tones is known as "dividing the level tones into yin and yang, assigning the entering tone to the other three tones" (平分陰陽，入派三聲).

Within each rime-tonal group, homophonic characters are further grouped together, with each homophonic group separated by an empty circle. As a common character, whose pronunciation every literate person is supposed to know, is used to head each homophonic group, fanqie

Fanqiè

In Chinese phonology, fanqie is a method to indicate the pronunciation of a character by using two other characters.-The Origin:...

 spelling is not employed, as in the earlier rime books, for indicating the pronunciations of the characters.

Zhou regarded the principal works of the Four Great Yuan Playwrights (元曲四大家 Yuanqu si dajia) as foundational to verse in general; he considered their works to be "rimes joined with nature, words able to connect with the language of the world" (韻共守自然之音，字能通天下之語), and at the same time also distinguished where the playwrights used rimes in non-standard places.

Zhongyuan Yinyuns second half, Zhengyu Zuoci Qili (正語作詞起例), employs various examples to explain in detail both the rime charts' methods of use as well as issues concerning Beiqu's creation, standards and other aspects.

Table of rimes

No.	Name	Pinyin name	Final
1	東鍾	Dōng-Zhōng	-ung
2	江陽	Jiāng-Yáng	-ang
3	支思	Zhī-Sī	-ï
4	齊微	Qí-Wēi	-i
5	魚模	Yú-Mó	-u
6	皆來	Jiē-Lái	-ai
7	真文	Zhēn-Wén	-ən
8	寒山	Hán-Shān	-an
9	桓歡	Huán-Huān	-on
10	先天	Xiān-Tiān	-en
11	蕭豪	Xiāo-Háo	-au
12	歌戈	Gē-Gē	-o
13	家麻	Jiā-Má	-a
14	車遮	Chē-Zhē	-e
15	庚清	Gēng-Qīng	-əng
16	尤侯	Yóu-Hóu	-ou
17	侵尋	Qīn-Xún	-əm
18	監鹹	Jiàn-Xián	-am
19	廉籤	Lián-Qiān	-em

Influence

In respect to contemporaneous and later Beiqu works, Zhongyuan Yinyun has played a very strong guiding role; moreover, many later rhyme works have regarded it as a model on which they based their interpretations. Up until the flourishing of Nanqu (南曲 -- "Southern Verse"), Zhongyuan Yinyun still held a tremendous influence.