An Investigation on Jinzuo Characters in Daguang Yihui Yupian
Yupian (Jade Chapters) edited by Gu Ye-Wang (519-581) in the Liang Dynasty is an important work in the history of lexicography, grammatology, and philology of Chinese characters. In 674, during the Tang Dynasty, Sun Qiang revised and expanded Yupian. In 1013, a scholar in the Song Dynasty, Chen Peng-Nian further revised Yupian and expanded into Daguang Yihui Yupian (Expanded and Enlarged Jade Chapters). In this work, Gu analyzes and interprets Chinese characters mostly with the terminology used in Shuowen Jiezi (Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters) by Xu Shen (c. 58 – c. 148), where jinzuo (modern form) is a term involving topics covering “orthographic form and modern form”, “variant”, “derivative characters”, and “phonetic loan characters”. To trace the origins of such changes, this paper investigates the origins of the form and interrelations of characters in their modern form through a comparative study of archaeological findings, historical literature, the surviving parts of Gu’s Yupian, and Daguang Yihui Yupian published by Chung Hwa Book Company, Limited.