Xinji Zangjing Yinyi Suihanlu (新集藏經音義隨函錄), Newly Compiled Sounds and Meanings of Tripitaka; Kehong Sound and Meaning) is a large work that identifies textual corruption in handwritten copies of Buddhist scriptures using informal (non-standard form) Chinese characters through sounds and meanings. It was written by Kehong based on Buddhist scriptures of the Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties Period to faithfully present the actual situation of the use of Chinese characters in copying Buddhist scriptures at that time, making considerable contribution to the research of classical Chinese, classical text proofreading, and corrections of large lexicographic works. Kehong Sound and Meaning contains a wide collection of “lexicographic entries” sorted by the sequence of appearance in scriptures, interpretations and explanations of the form, sound, and meaning of each entry with a range of jargons. In her doctoral thesis, A Study of Kehong Sound and Meaning: A Perspective of Characters, Xiaojing Han introduces the denotations and connotations of jargons including: “orthographical form”, “other form”, “also known form”, “alternative form”, “appropriate form”, “colloquial form”, “classical text”, and “classical text form”. This paper attempts to identify and explore the 114 entries of jargons explicitly marked as “classical text” in Xinjizangjingyinyisuihanlu published by the SWF Company (Tripiṭaka Koreana: XXXIV and XXXV) in order to elucidate the “classical text” citied in Kehong Sound and Meaning, and conclude that the phenomena of characters require special attention.

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.

Pronunciation and Meaning in the Complete Buddhist Canon (Yiqiejing Yinyi) by Master Huilin is a lexical and pronunciation work by Master Huilin adapted and edited from the works of Master Xuanying, Master Huiyuan, and Master Yungong. The work covers lexical entries, pronunciations, cross references, annotations, and character forms. Apart from being an important book for understanding and interpreting Buddhist canons, it provides rich resources and information for the research of Buddhist canon versions, languages, lexicons, and lost works. This research investigates the form and structure variations of some characters in the same or different lexical entries based on the Tripitaka Koreana annotated by Master Huilin, to sort out the form variations in Chinese characters, thereby tracing the sources, diachronicity, and circulation of form variations of the lexical entries in Pronunciation and Meaning in the Complete Buddhist Canon from the perspective of character development.

Based on the bamboo texts of the early Western Han dynasty excavated at Zhangjiashan, this thesis investigates the evolution of Han characters by tracing the origin of form mélange of radicals and components in Han characters. In this thesis, “mélange” refers to the phenomenon of miswriting characters and radicals of different forms, pronunciations and meanings, or components of irrelevant forms and meanings as those of the same form, without limiting to the mélange of characters of similar forms. First, the author set the prototypes of different sets of mixed radicals or components in the Zhangjiashan Han Bamboo Texts in order to restore their original appearances. Then, the author traced if the writing of particular mixed radicals or components are found in the survived bronzeware script of the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period, the characters of the six countries in the Warring Period or the characters of the Qin dynasty. The author also examined the influence on form mélange of the “clerical script transformation” where “contours” were transformed into “strokes” in Han characters, to elucidate the radical or component mélange of the Zhangjiashan Han Bamboo Texts.

Chinese characters underwent the process of conversion of seal script to clerical script, transitioning from lines to strokes in composition. the degree of tokenization components increased markedly. Some characters could no longer be classified by radicals as explained under the “unified by form and meaning” principle described in Shuowen Jiezi (《說文解字》). Thus in the Ming Dynasty, Zihui (《字彙》) eliminated and combined many of the radicals in Shuowen Jiezi (《說文解字》), and adopted the principle of “classification under form and not meaning” for classification purposes. The Kangxi Dictionary (《康熙字典》) from the Qing Dynasty continued the tradition of 214 radicals included in Zihui (《字彙》). Though radicals were established and classified according to two principles: convenient perusal and being true to the meaning of characters created by ancients, the form and meaning of characters become disassociated after conversion of seal script to clerical script, though the original theory of character creation which linked external composition of character with internal meaning was passed on. As the two radical classification principles of classification through form and classification through meaning conflicted with one another, the book adopted the principle of radical classification through form to facilitate convenient perusal. Thus, some radicals were iconized, losing their function to convey meaning or sound in characters. From the perspective of the development of clerical script, clerical script from the Qin Dynasty (qinli) is also referred to as “ancient clerical script” (guli), an early form of clerical script during this transition period between ancient and modern characters. Development of clerical script reached maturation in the Han Dynasty, with the Eight Points (bafen) script. This paper attempted to organize the mark process that Chinese characters underwent during the conversion of seal script to clerical script, through utilizing ancient texts which have been unearthed, Han Dynasty steles, and texts from Qin and Han Dynasty bamboo and wooden slips unearthed in the past few decades as research material. The hope was to uncover the evolutionary process and original form of iconized radicals as they formed.

Compound ideographs (會意, Hui Yi) are formed by two or more phonetic or semantic parts. But when both parts are radicals, how should we classify the character? This issue involves not just identification of the syntax, but also the context. In other words, the issues lies in how the radical of a compound ideograph signifies the meaning of the character through the logic of the radical and what role the radical plays in the overall definition of the character. This has been a puzzling issue to many and calls for in-depth exploration. Classification of Chinese character radicals can be divided into two major systems; philology principles and dictionary reference principles. The former is mainly based on the meaning and supplemented by the form. This radical system emerged from the Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字), emphasizing the relationship between the radical and the subordinate part in terms of the structure and semantics. The latter is mainly based on the form and supplemented by meaning. This system emerged from Wujing Wenzi. The “Li Bu (立部)” and “Gui Bu (歸部)” classification system used in the Kangxi Dictionary, on the other hand, follows the principle, “Easy to reference with logical grouping of semantics without contradicting the intended meaning given by the creator.” This principle was an attempt to integrate the systems of philology principle-based and dictionary reference principle-based radical systems. Based on the above, this research studies the “Gui Bu” classification of compound ideographs, focusing on the “frequently-used characters” published by the Ministry of Education, with an attempt to clarify the issues relating to the “Gui Bu” classification of the commonly-used compound ideographs in the Shuowen Jiezi and Kangxi Dictionary.