Chinese Phonological History

The earliest examples of writing in China which can be dated back to the thirteenth century BC; poetry which has its roots in early Chinese civilisation in the Zhou Dynasty; we have accounts of the unification of China and its subsequent language reforms during the Qin dynasty; the change of the major political centres of the Han eras, subsequent invasions and disintegration of China into shortlived kingdoms, the Sui reunification which lead to the flowering of Chinese culture again under Tang, the Confucian revival of the Song Dynasty, foreign conquest by the Mongols, followed by an interlude of Ming contact with the arrival of the Europeans, and then Manchu conquest until the Republic of the twentieth century. All the while, the Chinese language and writing had grown, spread and even changed in its usage and pronunciation.

However, from a linguistic point of view, how do we date the changes in a convenient manner? The use of these signposts will help us to discuss the differences in Chinese phonology. The divisions below are my own, and it will differ with other authors on the subject.

Linguistic
Period 		Early
Late		 Date Dynastic Periods Writing, Dictionaries, etc
Ancient
Chinese 		Ancient
Chinese 		before
771 BC 		Xia
Shang 商 17th Century BC - 1122 BC
Western Zhou 西 周 1122BC - 771 BC 		Oracle Bones 甲 骨 文 (c. 1300)
Bronze inscriptions 金 文
Great Seal Script 大 篆 (King Xuan 周 宣 王 827-781)
Old
Chinese
上 古 		Early Old
Chinese 		770 BC
to
256 BC 		Eastern Zhou 東 周 770 BC - 221 BC
Spring Autumn Era 春 秋 770 BC - 476 BC
Warring States 戰 國 476 BC - 221 BC 		ShiJing 詩 經
Confucian 孔 子 (Analects 論 語 )
Mencius 孟 子
LaoZi 老 子 (YiJing 易 經 )
Late Old
Chinese 		256 BC
to
220 AD 		Qin 秦 221 BC - 206 BC
Early Han 西 漢 206 BC - 25 AD
Late Han 東 漢 25 - 220 		Small Seal Script 小 篆 (Qin 秦 Li Si 李 斯 ) [~3000 字]
XuanCuanPian 訓 篡 篇 (5 AD) [5340 字]
ShuoWen Ji (100) [9353 字]
Middle
Chinese
中 古 		Early Middle
Chinese		 220
to
750 		Three Kingdoms 三 國 220 - 265
Jin 晉 265 - 420
Northern and Southern Dynasties 南 北 朝 420 - 581
Sui 隋 581 - 618
Early Tang 盛 唐 618 - 750 		ZiLin 字 林 (c. 4th Century) [12824 字]
SiShengPu 四 聲 譜 (c.502-513)
YuPian 玉 篇 (543) [16817 字]
QieYun 切 韻 (601)
Late Middle
Chinese 		750
to
1279 		Late Tang 晚 唐 750 - 907
Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms 五 代 十 國 907 - 960
Northern Song 北 宋 960 - 1127
Southern Song 南 宋 1127 - 1279 		YunJing 韻 鏡 (late Tang)
ShuoWen JieZi - XinFu 說 文 解 字 ˙ 新 附 (916-991)
GuangYun 廣 韻 (1008) [~26000 字]
JiYun 集 韻 (1037) [30000 字]
LeiPian 類 篇 (1039) [31000 字]
TongZhi 通 志 QiYinLue 七 音 略 (1104-1162)
QieYun ZhiZhangTu 切 韻 指 掌 圖 *****?
Recent
Chinese
近 代 		Early Recent
Chinese 		1279
to
1644 		Yuan 元 1279 - 1368
Ming 明 1368 - 1644 		ZhongYuan YinYun 中 原 音 韻 (1324)
HongWu ZhengYun 洪 武 正 韻 (1375)
QiongLin YaYun 瓊 林 雅 韻 (1398)
CiLin YaoYun 詞 林 要 韻 (1483)
YunLue YiTong 韻 略 易 通 (1442)
ZiHui 字 匯 (1615) [33179 字]
YunLue HuiTong 韻 略 匯 通 (1642)
Late Recent
Chinese 		1644
to
1911 		Qing 清 1644 - 1911 ZhengZiTong 正 字 通 (1670) [33000 字]
PeiWen YunFu 佩 文 韻 府 (1704)
KangXi ZiDian 康 熙 字 典 (1716) [47035 字]
PianZi LeiPian 騙 子 類 篇 (1719)
JingJi ZhuanGu 經 籍 撰 詁 (1799)
ShuoWen JieZi Zhu 說 文 解 字 注 (1808)
ShuoWen JieZi YiZheng 說 文 解 字 義 證 (19th C)
ShuoWen TongXun DingSheng 說 文 通 訓 定 聲 (1833)
ShuoWen ShiLi 說 文 釋 例 (1850)
ShuoWen JuDu 說 文 句 讀 (1850)
Modern
Chinese
現 代 		Modern
Chinese 		1911
to
present 		The Republic 民 國 1911 - present ZhongHua Da ZiDian 中 華 大 字 典 (1915) [48000 字]
Zhongwen Da CiDian 中 文 大 詞 典 (1968) [49905 字]
HanYu Da ZiDian 漢 語 大 字 典 (1986) [56000 字]

Hakka Page
With thanks to lilo.wong for correcting my error.
© Dylan W.H. Sung 1999 onwards.
This page was first created on Monday 16th August 1999,
and was recently updated on Friday 20th April 2007.

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