''■:vM: UC-NRLF ^C 15 TSD S V I'.vf i'Vii .(,■,.. ,1',' ■' :-;'.' '■■,■, i_!.'^' •.|^^< f^;.' illiiiiilM^ iHvi '■;'/''-'"' {■ni;, ■■'.■'■V- -, <'^' ■ ■ ' .'■ •' ^ -..f ■,"■', , '■ # :*■ _# ^' >W' GIFT Of Harry ■'^. Stevens -g-^ ■-^^v i!*V 2S -^ .^ /-. >i5f!.. .~Jj -<::>. 'M Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/earlychinesewritOOchalrich MEMOIES j,o > • >' • » >«* « • « -a > v* ^'■i»,i» 1 'i' 1 '■.:> 'ail': OF THE OARNEaiE MUSEUM. VOL. IV. NO. 1. EARLY CHINESE WRITING. By Rev. Frank H. Chalfant. I. Illustrations of Early Writing Derived from Ancient Inscriptions. II. Notes upon the " Shuo Wen." III. The Royal Edict Confirming the Domain of San. IV. Ancient Inscriptions upon Bone and Tortoise Shell. Prefatory Note. The Rev. Frank H. Chalfant, who for nineteen years has been a missionary in the Province of Shantung, China, has devoted much time to the study of Chinese archaeology, and more particularly to the ancient Chinese writings which tend to throw light upon the origin of the present written and printed symbols. Upon the occasion of a recent visit to the United States the writer induced Mr. Chalfant to put into shape for publication the following memoir upon which he had for several years been laboring at moments of leisure. It embodies a large amount of interesting and curious information collated from Chinese sources, which, though in part known to students of the Chinese language, has not been put into a form easily accessible to philologists. Mr. Chalfant in his memoir has not confined himself to material known hitherto, but has embodied in his paper the results of original observations made by him upon archajological material acquired by himself and others from the Province of Honan, consisting of inscriptions of great antiquity upon bone and tortoise-shell. This material when further examined promises to yield valuable results. For the first time, so far as is known to the writer, a tenta- tive translation of the edict designated by Mr. Chalfant as " The San Edict" is given. This is a legal paper of undoubted antiquity, going back at least to 1000 B. C. 1 759952 • c r ft , • , c . " . . t ' • „' » 2. ,. , ; MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM f or >f) radical " affixed. The names of wooden things contain the sign for " tree " (;^). The names of metallic objects are accompanied by the "metal ('^) radical."^ There are now two hundred and fourteen radicals, reduced from the five hundred and forty "primitives" or "classifiers" of the Shuo Wen, A. D. 120, (see infra). Many of them designate incongruous groups of symbols not mutually related, and often utterly at variance with the meaning of the radical. This has happened through the accidental coincidence of forms in many symbols which have been evolved from widely dissimilar roots. A marked example of this incongruity is the group of symbols under Rad. 44 (/^ "corpse"), very few of which have any relation to death. Familiarity with Chinese modes of thought, methods of work, and social customs aids much in determining the significance of certain old signs. The history of ancient institutions which have now passed away, or been modified, also helps in the same manner. For example, it is a tradition among the Chinese that the East Palace was the hall of audience and place for administering the laws. When we find an old symbol for "judge" composed of the elements "east" (^) and "speak" (E)) we see an appropriateness in the combination from the ancient custom of "judging" in the "East" Palace.* ^Tlie Chinese name is !X! ^p (s'i-pu "word-class" or "classifier." The collo<|nial term is l|Z &■ M nm " word-raotber." 'This is nsnally termed the "gold radical." It means metal of any kind, and " gold " only by its preeminence as a metal. ^^^ ^^^ author of the Shuo Wen adds that when men made nails of metal and wood, these were allied in form to a sting ("]")• I prefer to consider the nail as the original basis of the sign. CHALFANT : EARLY CHINESE WRITING 9 development, and while he introduces some absurdities, yet in the main makes a plausible argument for his theory of the origin of the written language. Many of these primitive pictographs are still in use, but so altered, owing to the present changed style of penmanship, that they are not recognizable until they are compared with the successive preceding forms. Take, for example, the modern symbol for "elephant" (%). How little it resembles that animal! But note the evolution of the symbol through extant earlier forms: ^<^<^<^<^<^- To anyone accustomed to study orthographic changes, the proof is positive that ^ is only the original pictographic "elephant," with position altered for convenience in writing vertical lines. The same evolution may be discerned in the symbols for most of the animals known to the Chinese, as dog, sheep, cow, horse, deer, tiger, fish, snake, tortoise, toad, worm, bird, and swallow. The sign for " man " (Latin homo), /^, is plainly a picture, derived thus, /^< /^ the legs being apparently the only surviving members. Plant life was also pictorially portrayed. ;:^ "wood" was originally ^ " tree," showing branches and roots. ;|;;^'Ms two trees and signifies "forest" or "grove." ^}. "herbs" was once ^'i/, depicting leaves and twigs. ^ "indicator" can be traced back to ^ a " line-tree " or " hedge," marking the boundary of a field, being a clump of bushes pictorially suggested. Inanimate objects came in for a full share of pictorial representation. -^ "ship," in its modern form, is scarcely recognized as an ideogram, but trace it back thus, •j^<^ ^ > ^>^>\5- Bii'ds seek their nests at sunset, hence the idea "West." "Determination" was ^ formed from "issue" (Ht. "sprout";!;), and "heart" {^), hence "heart-sprout," "heart-issue," i. e., "purpose," "determi- mination." "Still older forms of this show interlaced branches of trees. "Another old form is §»,. 10 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM "To look" was light streaming from the eye, thus, ^ (now written fl) based upon a peculiar notion still held by the Chinese that when blind " no light comes out of the eyes" (§& ^ /fj )^). "Large" was a man on another's shoulders — a man above another — (/^ ^ r*» ^ "1^ ^ ^' *^^® ^^^^ being the modern form). The popular idea that ^ (" large ") is a " man " (A) above the " average height " (shown by the horizontal line) is hardly sustained by the oldest forms. Elaborately wrought pictograms were attempted at a very early date, of which two examples will suffice as illustrations : • f^ "pao" (now, ^) denotes "valuable," "precious," ideas suggested by a ^jj, "house" (f^) containing "jade beads" (f or J), "shell" (^) and an ^^ "earthern jar" (^), articles of value to primitive man." Fig. 3. " To cook " was perhaps the most complicated of all the ancient symbol^ /or symbols. It is now written •^,''^ which retains all the elements of the cookiug- original idiogram. It is now pronounced feVari and signifies "stove," stove. and is obsolete, a simpler symbol having taken its place. The analysis is as follows : ($3 from \i^ and ^ " millet-bowl " and "jar"; H " oven-mouth " ; %%, "wood-wood," i. e.,fuel; ^^ "two hands" ; D^ "fire," — all the essentials of cooking. EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN SYMBOLS. From comparison of the earlier and later forms of Chinese ideograms we ascer- tain four ways in which the modern style was evolved. 1. Contraction of early complex forms. 2. Expansion of early simple forms. 3. Artificial alteration, to conform to the inflexible system of radicals and phonetics. 4. Mechanical invention of new symbols, along conventional lines, by combin- ing existing forms. 1. Contraction of Early Complex Forms. This process is common to all languages, whether ideographic or alphabetic. It grows out of the impatience of writers with unnecessarily complicated signs. ii? (old form J^.) '"«^ " also," " but," has dwindled to JJ)- '^^^e change was per- haps thus, ]^>'^>^>^'i>f2>T!f. "This symbol appears with many variations in old inscriptions, sometimes ornately distorted, as ^aS, ^$J, ^. ''Complex as this symbol is, it is placed among the five hundred and forty primitives in the Shuo Wen and must be of great antiquity. CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 11 :^ ching, "a well," soon became 4^, discarding the well mouth and retaining only the curb. It now appears as ^. The ancient division of land into nine plots, thus, ^, had for its symbol #• This, from its resemblance to the symbol for "well," gave rise to the expression "well-field" in common parlance. Doubtless this had some influence in simplifying the sign for " well." ^^ si^, "retainer," became g] (modern 5\) by rejecting the significant sign 'W (modern 't) " bind." It passed through the meaning of " petty-officer " to that of the verbal sense "manage." i^ hsin "heart," originally a picture of that organ, is now merely <0- •' "^ hung " together," originally two pairs of hands united, became it. f^ kung "fear" was at first " hands raised as in terror," but is now reduced to f\ (used only in combination). Many of the earliest extant forms had already been contracted from more elaborate ideograms, now lost, thus rendering their original significance difficult to determine. 2. Expansion of Early Simple Forms. At an early stage in the development of the language, confusion arose out of the coincidence in form of symbols having widely different meanings. Thus | shih "ten" gradually became -}-, and coincided with an existing symbol -j- which meant "at" or "here." The latter was accordingly expanded to -^ tsai by the addition of .^ a sign of disputed significance. A like confusion arose between -j- " ten " and -|- an early contraction of ^ kia (now ^) "finger-nail." The latter resumed its more complex form. ^ teo " left-hand " ^^ and ^ i/"- " ''ig^^^^'hand " "^ seem to have been satisfactory signs till after B. C. 1000, when they became respectively ^ (;^) and ^ (;;^). Why the sign x (" labor ") should have been added to strengthen the idea of " left " is hard to say, unless the left-hand was once used to such an extent as to make it the impor- tant member for work, b "mouth" was added to emphasize "right-hand," pos- sibly because that member was used in eating. Whatever may have been the significance of these additions, the fact remains that the older symbols were thus amended. Another strange instance was that of l^ or ^ tso, " make," to which J\ " man " was added, thus, (|^ (modern ■{^) as if to indicate that man is the prime inventor." "Some writers in describing these signs have reversed them. The right hand naturally points toward the left and vice versa. This is plainly shovjn in the old forms for ^ and ^, viz., ^ and M . " The sign ^ is of very obscure origin. It resembles an inverted ax ((j) with stroke added. _ Possibly an ax or adz in position of chopping. This is a mere conjecture. 12 ■ MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM 3. Artificial Alteration of Old Symbols. The earliest recorded attempt to artificially reduce the heterogeneous written signs to a system was by one Chou (^|), of the eighth century, B. C, Avho became a hterary authority in the state of Chou (Ji]). His very flowery system of writing has since borne his name, being referred to in all Chinese works upon the history of the language as "Chou Wen" (Chou-writing).^^ Following this, but of disputed date, was the catalogue of signs called Er Ya (^ Jjl). The next great effort to classify the existing symbols was by the author of the Shuo Wen, Hsii (^^), whose posthumous lexicon appeared A. D. 120, as already stated. He classified all existing characters under 540 primitives, which gave rise to the modern classification under 214 primitives ("radicals"). This conventional- ization of the written language forced many incongruous symbols into classes with which they had no etymological affinity. These isolated ideograms were artificially changed that they might be classified for ease of lexicography. A marked instance of this was the symbol ^ piao, to which reference has been made above. This was originally the picture of a mulberry bush or other shrub used to mark the boundary of a field. It depicts a bunch of sprouts. Later it took the general meaning of "indicator" and to-day it is applied to any instrument which records or marks degrees, as a watch, barometer, cyclometer, etc. This interesting sign now appears under the "radical" or primitive ^ "cloak" in the anomolous form ^, seemingly composed of a modified i "lord" and ;^ "cloak," neither of which signs have any- thing to do with its original form or meaning. ^ wan ("myriad") is another case in point. It now is classified as if derived from ^Y "plants," but this is an artificial modification, for the oldest forms are ^ and ^, picturing some prolific creature as the scorpion or frog.^^ The antennae of the scorpion or fore-legs of the frog have been confounded with ff (-\f-) " plants." The modern character ;^, yii, "fish," happens to be itself a "radical," but has been so altered as to appear to contain the symbol /n'* (modified form of ;^), " fire." This is misleading, for the "fire " is only the fish's tail ; thus ^> |t>§ >^>S>^^- The symbol for "swallow" (a bird) j^t is analogous to that for "fish," but now is classified under the radical %^ " fire," contrary to its origin, the develop- ment of the pictograph having taken place as follows : ^ ^ m .iat- The above examples plainly show that the radical and phonetic system was an invention at a date long after the heterogeneously devised symbols had become current in writing, and even the compounding of signs had come into vogue. " This highly ornate style of writing was not generally adopte<1 on acconnt of the complexity of the symbols. " Analogous to the Egyptian use of the sign " frog " for 100,000. chalfant: early chinese writing 13 4. Mechanical Invention of New Symbols. This class of new characters forms by far the largest, comprising perhaps nine- tenths of the forty-five thousand symbols known to Chinese lexicographers. Ten thousand signs is an ample number to put to the credit of the Chinese language at the beginning of the Christian Era. Tiiis roughly marks the date when the mechanical multiplication of characters became excessive. The process was simple, that of com- bining existing forms according to the conventional system of radicals and phonetics. Indeed, for purposes of etymology three thousand symbols are all that need be ex- amined, the artificial combination of signs having been begun as early as 500 B, C. In every branch of industry new usages were requiring new names. This lack was supplied by the simple, though often clumsy, union of two or more existing signs, usually annexing a "radical" to suggest the nature or material of the new thing. Most of these new characters were short-lived, and to-day the basis of the written language, as used by scholars, is still the few thousand symbols of the class- ical period (B. C. 500-200). Erroneous Deductions from the Modern Style of Chinese Writing. Mistakes in comparative orthography frequently occur by drawing conclusions from the modern Chinese "square-character," which has so far departed from the original pictographic style as to be an unsafe guide to the casual observer. Occa- sionally symbols are found, which to-day approximate their originals more closely than do the intermediate " seal characters." A few examples may be cited of such pictographs as have passed from a prim- itive angular style through the rounded form of the "seal character" into the modern " square-character," in which form they coincide with the original shape. Take the modern symbol \±J fien, "field." Formerly it was ©, but originally it was H, a subdivided square farm. Q ivei, " enclosed area," was originally, as now, a square, but w^as long written thus Q, when curved lines prevailed. But in gen- eral it is unsafe to use the modern style of writing for philologic deductions. The following will serve as examples of the misleading nature of modern forms : The symbol ^ mu, " tree," might suggest a rooted tree projecting above the ground, and, indeed, has been frequently so interpreted, but the original form, ^ or ^, shows a tree with branches and roots. ^flp'eng, "friend," looks as if it were twin moons (J^) or, as has been actually inferred, the duplicated sign for " flesh." ^° But in fact this symbol is a contraction of a more complex form ^^, " a pair of birds," a happy symbol of " friendship." ""llj. "flesh," in combination usually appears as f[. Some have supposed 00 to have been ^^, "a pair of shells," but I find no authority for such a derivation. 14 MEMOIRS OF TflE CARNEGIE MUSEUM A certain writer has assumed the sign 3 to be the original of Q, "sun," and on this erroneous liypothesis he makes the imaginary sign 3 to correspond to " the tri- dent of the three seasons of Orion." Had he noticed that Q was once Oi such a conclusion would have been impossible. pi, "ought," a sign of duty or necessity, looks like " heart" (/O) cut by a stroke. Imagination might work out a theory based upon the heart cut or pricked by a sense of duty. "No such psychological process is even hinted at by the early forms of this character, which are ^ >^< *^ "^ 6c X jM- '^'^^ ^^^^ °^ these enig- matic forms ()^() is the "small seal" character of the Han Dynasty, which is the nearest chronologically to the modern " square character " /J^v The two vertical curved lines of the older form correspond to the right and left dots of the pres- ent form, while the part ^ has now become ^, the central portion of tbe modern symbol. The resemblance to " heart " is thus merely accidental. None of the old forms have any suggestion of^, which is the old writing of /\^\ " heart." '^^ Incongruity Between Form of Symbol and Meaning. Let us now glance at another phenomenon of orthographic evolution, the enig- matic form and sense of many Chinese symbols. Certain modern forms have such a variety of unrelated and conflicting mean- ings as to raise the suspicion that they present under one form a common resultant from several different roots. Thus 4^ t'ai, " lofty, large," is defined in the Shuo Wen as "slippery." A comparison of the old forms shows a divergence, as we go back, toward two separate roots, viz., ^, which is three times the sign ^, "large," forming an intensive signifying " very great," and ^, composed of " clay " j£, "hands" l^\ and "water" ;|;, a very appropriate symbol for "slippery." The modern symbol contains elements of both of these roots, though it retains only the meanings derived from its root ^. It is safe to conclude that ^ t'ai is a com- posite of both of the old symbols described. The sign ^^^ jile means "harmonious," and also "a certain mythical tree." These apparently incongruous definitions can be reconciled when we find among the old forms ^, three hands together, i. e., " harmony." Again, we encounter *|*, which is a symbol of vegetation and suggests the "tree," of which ^^ jiie is the name. These both coalesced in J^^ and so give us the one symbol from the two widely different roots. '^tang, means "ought," "count," "considered," "to pawn," to "obstruct," "There is a striking analogy in some of tlie old forms of ij^ with those of ^(^ ek'io "omen," viz., W '/y 'll'l' 'M*' supposed to be lines on tortoise shell used tor divination. CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 15 etc., etc. The phenomena exhibited in its old forms lead us to suspect that it, too, is an incongruous composite from more than one root. Tlie character ^^ [Ghih) is the name of a river, and also means "to govern," " to control." The oldest forms show confusion of origin. |§ plainly designates a river, i'|; being an old form for >^ "stream," but $«|^ fo),!^, ^^so occur as synonyms, and are analogous to |^ (now o) " to govern "). A possible conclusion is that these varied forms have coalesced in y^, which retains the several meanings of its components. Just as in other languages, the early juggling with orthographic signs has led to puzzles in the shape of monographic signs which are the despair of the philologist, unless he can recover the lost key. A curious phase of this juggling with writing-signs appeared at an early date in the development of the Chinese language. I refer to the habit of reversing or inverting an existing sign to signify its opposite in meaning. This forms a distinct class of mechanically devised symbols. The process may be illustrated thus : Having accepted an English word " hard " as descriptive of unyielding substances, we might have adopted " drah " (the reversed spelling of " hard ") as suitable for the opposite meaning " soft." Or, being familiar with the meaning of "child," we might have reserved it to signify a child of good conduct, and then have written " p^iqo " (letters inverted) to mean a " prodi- gal son" who has turned normal conditions upside down. Such a conception actually seized the ancients in China when they represented " unfilial " by <^ (now written ^ fu), the inverted character ^ for " son " (now written ^ te'i). Another instance is that of the now obsolete sign ^ i which was formerly written ]^ and signified "to turn back." It is the reversed symbol ^ (^ shcn) for "body," and hence was considered appropriate for the idea of "about face." £2 (now twisted into ^) means " deficient," and in form it is the reverse of J[ cMng "exact," the latter being the older symbol. Again, having become familiar with the sign H (now altered to ^^^^ chile) as meaning "sever," depicting "cut silk " (^), it was little short of an inspiration that led some scholar to adopt the reverse ^ for the idea of "connect," a symbol now enlarged to ^,j^ "H." The effort to construct ideographs for the negatives "no," "not," "not yet," "without" and " do not," seems to have taxed the ingenuity of the ancient sign- '2 We have in this form a survival of an old variant written ^5 composed of " silk," " knife "and " knot " equally suggestive of "cutting." It is further curious to note, among the old forms of ^j^ ki, "to connect," several which seem to be III with variations. This may he 4-^fei, " not," and ^^, " sever," which would beanother way of reversing the meaning of the sign. 16 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM makers of China, as will be seen by noting the special list of negatives (see Plate XXVIIL). The most complicated of all these is the sign ^ " Wu," -'minus," "without." In its modern garb it suggests a likeness to iiiz hsile, " blood," and ^huo, " fire." In fact, it is connected with neither of these, though for convenience it is classed under the latter. Taking the old form ^ as a means of comparison, we find the upper part ( ^ ) has been cond^sed into j^, leaving the " two trees " ( ^^ ) as the origin of the base of the modern symbol i>i\. The Shuo Wen defines it as "lost" probably from the sign ct in many old forms, which has that meaning. The inference by the commentators of the Shuo Wen is, " 'man' ( JL ) 'lost' (d) in the 'woods' {^^) hence 'missing' 'minus.'" This is a far-fetched explanation and fails to account for an essential part of the old symbol :^ ^. The list of pictographs and ideograms represented in Plates I.-XXIX. is neither complete nor strictly logical in arrangement. They have been selected somewhat at random to illustrate the pictorial nature of the language. Many of the symbols given will not be found in the current Chinese-English dictionaries, for the obvious reason that these works are abridged, excluding many obsolete signs which, how- ever, played an important part in the early development of the written language. I have tried to give the original meanings (where ascertained), which often seem remote from their modern significance. No attempt has been made to indicate the old pronunciation, which forms a different branch of philology from that herein discussed. I have followed, in the main, the Wade system of Romanization, with a few changes which seem expedient in view of the poverty of sounds in the Peking Dialect, upon which Sir Thomas Wade based his system.^* I have departed from this system in distinguishing between the two initial sounds "ch" and "k," which coalesce in Pekingese, and have introduced a few minor changes noted in the key. Of the many systems of Romanization in vogue, that by Sir Thos. Wade is the most widely known. It is the standard of pronunciation used l:)y the British Con- sular Body, by the Chinese Customs and Postal Service, and by Dr. Herbert Giles in his Anglo-Chinese Dictionary. It is also used largely by contributors to the Journals of the Royal Asiatic Society. This has naturally given wide circulation to Wade's system, and is sufficient reason for its adoption in this paper. The changes introduced have been due partly to the author's choice, and partly to sug- gestions made by others. i" See note at Plate XX VIII. " A comparison of the dialectic variations in sounds — especially the old sonnds — will show the inadequacy of Wade's Systera to indicate then). Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate iif • — ■ Seal '^' '."*' Modern § Form, e""°. Form. ^ A. D. Sound. ^ jOO Older Forms. Elephant, Image, hsiang. Tiger, h%. Stag, lu. , Horse, ,- Ox, cow. Kam, 6 sheep, yanij. Dog, cur, kovL. Fish, yd. Toad, jy Tortoise, kuei. Worm, 11 insect, ch'uny. 12 13 Long- tailed bird, niao. Short- tailed bird, chui. -.f Swallow, yen. lib ^ ^ u /•IN W3 ^^ f ii<; ik ^ ;t ii iffi^ A 4 1 4 .*, t 'A ni 4 4^ ¥ (? ? ^i*- i ^^^ tvi n# ^ r^ TrK- ^€ ^ $ ¥ T f^H^^ >3t3 (^» # ^ 11^ I* t? t Pi ?X Ai ft "th rH". ^nix, Jing. ^f. Unicorn, chii. Rhin- 17 oceros, liai. 18 Pig. luan. ®- f 7L Wild 19 beast, shou. 20 Raven, Qj Mouse, shu. Man 22 (generic), Man 23 (male); mm. 24- Woman, Mother, 25 dain, Son, 26 cliild. 27 Son, Unman 28 body, ithi'n. M«U >it A ± ^ ^ ^ # /L 5 A X I A. \I7 ^ ;l if J] * ^ ^ iiv^ ^ ^^ ^ ;% ^ ^ 00 ^^ ^^ s t ^ -sr -C) ^ fc^ % % \t R7\^'^\)C ^^j.^ ®% m ^> ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ?f ^f^^^ H ^ H§i^ Probable Original. ^fTK % "x ^ ^A f[ * \ Remarks. Originally a picture of the phd'ui.x, but now a bird's head ami bird radical. Original is deduced from extant forms. Rude picture of a pig. Sign suggesting a beast, with aninuU radical added later. Derived from No. 12, the raven being perhaps the most common of long-tailed birds. Rude picture of a rodent. ShnoWen: "General name for burrowing vermin." Equivalent to the Latin "Immo." "Weedy- field" ^ and No. 48, "muscle," suggesting man's labor. Human figure with bust prominent. Woman with paps promi- nent. (Used also of animals.) Male infant. ShuoWC-n: "Form of child's head." (Synonym of last. ) Outline of the body with ' man" above it. Chinese Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV, Plate III Meaning nnd Sound. 29 Head, hIiou . _• Seal Modern .S Form, Form. "o A. D. « 100. Older Forms. 30 31 Face, Eye, 32 Ear, 33 34 35 36 37 Nose, pi. Mouth, k'ou. Hai r, Hand, shou. Foot, tnu. „n Whiskers, Waist,* 39 wish, ym. 40 Hair of tlie head, piao. 41 Heart, hsM. Finger 42 nail, kin. a ^ n € ■f ^ V?i7 # .^> T ^3 4 ^7 1 f ^ ^ »^ # •Vi^ \^ m ^ re d ^ £ ^ m % f t 1^^ v i-^;) (e1, fe^ fe © © ^ / / H § ^ % II ft W § ^ tf V V ^ ^X% ^ Sl^IL ^ tt J^ R (^ n A t A w« y ^^i!?^ f ^4>f f Chinese Ideographs. Probal)le Original. / a ^ t (?) ^ 0^ i^f ^ T Remarks. Outline of face with hair above. ' Original is deduced from extant forms. Oblique eye (peculiar to the ijhinese race). Outline of the human ear. Picture of the nose, with plionetic y^ "pi" added later. Shuo W6n : "That with which man eats and speaks. .4 picture." Possibly depicts a hairy tail. Five fingers. Contains No. 110 "stop." Descriptive sign, not pictorial. Shuo Wen : "Cheek-hair." Rude picture of whiskers. Now used only as a disjunctive particle. (See note.) Descriptive symbol com- posed of two signs "long" and ' ' feathers." "Iltart" showing ventricles. Usually used as cycle-sign, being first of the " Ten Stems.' ' *The original here given is an actual form. Figure with arms akimbo, hence " waist." This sign was early adopted for "yao," meaning " wish," and so tlie/ot/t radical was added to strengthen its old meaning " waist," thus f&. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate IV ^^and"^ Modern | pjnn, o 1 Form. "2 A. D. Sound. « jPQ Older Forms. Finger 43 J."""' inch, ts'un. Claw, 44 talons, chao. 45 Wings, yu. * Form, 46 appear- ance, viao. 47 To gape, k 'an. Sinew, 48 strength, li. 4n Eyebrows, Horn, 50 angle, kiie, kiao. Tooth, 51 molar, ya. Front 52 teeth, cA'i. i A ^^ u ^ M i r\ i] ^ ■u Q ffl ^ 63 Backbone, Id. 54 55 Flesh, jou. Blood, ksiie. 5g Tongue, site. ah 111 it? Jfe ^ ll ^ rn Hh ^ ifi ^ ^ ^ ^ u ^ ^J I .it cz xb il ^ ? 1 s ! ?^ t % % ^'i !i^^ '^ '^ fZ' (1^9 ^ * § fi g i ^ Ud, Oil e o ^ u^Q X R ^ M "^ T iS Probable Original. Remarks. -■^ Ss # U ^ '^ Fingers with short stroke suggesting "joint." Shuo Wen : "Nails of fin- ger and toe." Pair of wing.s, or Igng fea- tliere. 9 Open mouth. Cf. No. 34. Overlapping muscles. Eye with eye-brows. Earliest forms are inverted. Probably shows the grinding surface of a molar. Mouth showing teeth. Pho- netic was added later. Vertebrse. Sign suggesting a mass of tlesh. Shuo Wen : "Sacrificial blood in a dish." Tongue protruding. Older forms than these might suggest the original. Chinese Ideographs. •Depicts the human form, especially the face (contracted to the sign for "nose"), which now coincides with ^ "pai" by further con- traction. Its special significance is " individuality," "decorum." Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate V Meaning and Sound. Worm, 57 winding, pa. Right 58 hand, also. yu. Grass- 59 hopper, chuvg. CO ^}^S^' man. gj Corpse, shih. Feathers, 62 stripes, ghan. 63 '^°^y' Jei. King- 64 fiither, ts'ui. Folded 65 hands, ch'a. Eight 66 hand, yu. Left 67 )iand. Friend, yu. Compan- 69 ion, ■i Seal Modern g F„rm, Form. -a a. D. W 100. Older Forms. 70 Crowd, chung. m 9 P ^ ^ P f k ;t k m ^ ? ^ l^}% p '^ ^% f a pL >1 i ^^ ? ^ 4 ^ s ^ i 3^ AW ^^ f$\ 1{ A ^i^^kf- ^ ^ *lt^*#^,^ ^ ^ a: H^l ^^ ti^^ !^/l ^f/^ ^ ^\ ^i ^ -^ ^S« ^1 1 ^ T ?i?ia Probable Original. ^ ^ nnn (•)0 z^ ^ p) ^ ^ Remarks. Closely allied to No. 11. Cy. No. 66. "Multitude" (now con- tracted) and "insects." Shuo wen : "Eggs of all oviparous creatures." Also means "testicles." Sign for man recumbent. ( Now 44lh radical of an in- congruous group. ) Sign suggesting feathers. Used only in combination. Of. No. 40. Bird flying. ^^ Descriptive sign from ^^ "feathers" and "cloak" re- ^^ M ferring to plumage. Hands clasped. Originally game as No. 58, with No. 34 added. Sign for "labor" has been added to this. Hands extended in friendly greeting. Shuo Wen: "Phoenix." Probably a pair of birds, though many consider it one only. " Tliree men," to wliich an obscure sign was added. Chinese Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate VI. ■,, • — Seal Meaning ^^^^ j p^^^^ c^"". Form. "^ A. D. Sound. « j(,0. Older Forms. yj Sun, day, Moon, 72 month, yiie. 73 Stars, hsing. y^ Morning, (an. 76 76 77 80 81 82 83 84 Crystal, eking. Spring, ch 'un. Bright, ming. Heaven, sky, t'ien. ♦Eartli, (as pro- ducer), a. E.irth, soil, ground, t'u. Fire, huo. Metal, kin. Burn, fen. Water, shui. \-3 ^1. a m ^ i4 ± X t ii ^ a >1 a a g :t K t X >k e 8 e 68 t ©f S i^ ± t n ^ 9 0-A< Probable Original. O o o o 00 O i if /\A>. ±. -± ^ Ik f»t XX )>,( iji,^ '.•i. «i ^Je f M ^ J_ ^ il2 ^ Remarlcs. Sun, witli possibly a sun- spot. Coinoides with Egyptian o,o. "Crescent." Qf. No. 131. Three stars, to whicli a phonetic has been added. Sun just above the horizon. Triple sun, as when re- fracted by a prism. Sprouts and buds started by the sun. Moon-lit window (or) sun and moon. Probably of double origin. A sign of obscure meaning, but probably symbolic of deity. "Eartb" i, and "^ sym- bol of "female principle." Mother-earth. Supposed to te a sprout springing out of tlie ground. Rising flames. Crucibles covered, or intense heat covered,' as in smelting. Trees burning. Two last are variants being "fire" with plionetics. Ripples on water. Coin- cides with Egyptian :;xO!!.- Chinese Ideographs. *The three last forms are variants based on "earth," "hill," and "water," of obvious significance. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate VII. Meaning and Sound. 85 86 River, ch'uan. Ice, pivrj. Water 87 spring, ch'uan. Pool, 88 abj'ss, yikm. 89 Rain, yil. 90 Cloud, yiin. q, TIninder, lei, lui. Light- 92 ning.* den 93 Hill, ahan. Natural 94 mound, 95 ClitT, har{. Stone, 96 rock, nil ill. Tree, 97 wood, mu. 98 Or lln. — Seal Modern s Form Form. ■a A. I). M 100. Older Forms. Probable Original. ^ vi7 in 1^ \-n d^ A r ^ ^ 4i ;ii ^li >X >K ^ij iS^ ijfj tU r * i I ^ « I Si IF e« i!J M r /5 S^ I ^K ^1 ^ ft ^ * 1 ^ ft) • ))|(( ® diD # yi\ (i^fi M /^lltlfilt^ ^-^ f A) ® * |i ^ \^ ^ik^ifli IT or -^ >^ /f /v /f ^ t^ ;ii W n^i^-^ ({K ^ o ';i' » » ' • « • ^ ^,^ jAi ^ P^ t tl- Remarks. Rivulet." Stream thirty miles long. <{^ "River." Cracks or wrinkles in ice. Water issuing from a pool or vent. Picture of a pool, to which the nater radical has been added. Rain drops under arch of heaven modified to resemble ^ "sky." Wavy clouds with sign S-. "above," altered to |^ "rain." Symbolic of reverberation of thunder, ijam radical was added later. Thunderbolt, to which ' rain " has been added. Three peaks. Cf. Egyptian ^ (a coincidence). Eminence smaller than 'hill." (Cf. No. 93.) Shuo WCn : " Rock on a hill under which men may dwell." Perhaps r^K;k-8trata,or^fone falling from a cliff. Shuo Wen: "From ^f* plant with roots below. Symbol for all wowlen things." Interlaced branches, sim- plified into "two trees." ClIINKSE TdEOGUAPH.S. * This is also the original of ^^ ahen "deity." After much research I am inclined to consider these as depicting lightning, which became the sign for "deity" from superstitious dread of lightning. Later Iho radicals ^ and lifg were respectively adiled to distinguish the two meanings. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol IV Plate VIII. Meaning Modern and Form. Sound. 99 Flowers, p'i. Outer liu.sk of 100 grass or grain, * Thrifty 101 growth, p'o. ,„t, Diflicult, cimn. 103 ^llf- Grass, 104 leaves, te'ao. 105 Flower, hua. Flower, 106 glory, huu. tTo 107 issue, ch'u. t Source, 108 of^ ihih. To pro- log tllice, to bear, sh&ng. 110 '''^/;;'^°P' Straight, 111 exact, eh&ng. Luxuri- 112 ant, -: Ssiil o Form, ^ A. D. K 100. Older Forms u i \. tk ^ ':H n -f-L 4.t- ^ ^ ± ± IE i i ^ 'h ^ +/- +f +/■ M ill) A % 4 ^ H-ll^ y.**' T 1(6 \l 1 \l CE $ m ^ f ^ ^^ n i $ t # t^ AlA V- /%IA U/IW Al'^ / T ^ T ^"^^ ^ i IXi ^iL ^i ^ 1 ^111^ iH L^ oJ:: J 1 2 Z JiJi ^ Probable Original. Ti )t ■t y H-y f ± :li t ^ ^ ^ Bemarks. SbiioWen: "General terra for Howers." From Vp "grass" and sign for husks peeled off". Obsolete, except in combi- nation. ShuoWen: "Difficult, like a sprout forcing its way through the ground." Used only in combination. ( ieneral sign for plants. Later enlarged to S (^)^ by adding a phonetic. Picture of a flower, con- tracted to ■\)' and phonetic 4-C added. Cf. No. 106. A gorgeous flower. Closely allied to No. 105, but consid- ered a separate primitive by Shuo Wen. A sprout further developed than Nos. 107 and 108, as having reached maturity. Sprout impeded in its growth, hence "stop." An- alogous to Nos. 107 and 108. Perhaps from "sprout" and "upward." Normal growth. See No. 287. A thrifty plant. Related to No. 109. Chinese Ideographs. * Resembles No. 100, but Shuo WOn considers it of separate origin. t These two symbols had a common origin. No. 107 has retained its original sense, viz., " to si)rout," "issue." No. 108 has become a pos- sessive sign like " of," derived from tlie idea " source." Both were originally "a sprout ffpip Ml? ground." Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol, IV. Plate IX ■., . _: Seal Tnd Modern J Form, o' J Form. "2 A. D. Sound. ^ jQ(, Older Forms. 113 Herb.s, hui. Luxnri- 114 ant, yiny. Jungle, 115 rude, mang. lie Leek.s, lib 1 ■ ' kiu. , , .. Bamboo, chu. Growing 118 crops, Ao. Growing rice or liy millet, level, chH. Fruit, 120 result, kao. 121 1-.2 East, luTiy. West, hni. 123 124 Land- mark, indicator, pkio. Shelled rice or millet, mi. 125 Thorn, te't. Buck- thorn, or 126 jujube tree, tsao. ^ ■^ ^ ^ ^ t i i5; 4 * k + -\f -^^ ^ ^;t I. i i vT) *. * * t * :^ I ^ ft t * tTr Ylf v> tt % 1 rhrh 4"1^ >^ 4 5^ 1^ t ^ sfi tt^ t^tttt^^lM?? I S ^^ I I ^ 6 (^ ^ E. ^ ^ isv fv f -H^ i^ •:.•:• /^ ^-* ^ :*: Probable Original. jffy ^A" ^5r 1 ^^ rl ?!? TL • • • * * * Remarks. General term for "herbs." No distinguishing feature. Allied to No. 115, q. v. "Plants" and "large" re- peated, modified to j^ "dog." Picture of growing leeks. Pendent bamboo leaves. One or more stalks of grain, with head and leaves. Kow of grain stalks with ripe heads. " Level," from even height of grain. Shuo Wen: "Depicts fruit on a tree." Sun rising behind a tree. Shuo Wen: "Bird on nest at sunset." Not related to its radical r^. Clump of mulberry or other bushes to mark bounds of a field. Depicts shelled grain. (Not used of growing grain. ) Thorns >— < on a tree. Thorn duplicated. ' Shuo W6n puns on this Chinese Ideograths. "A vegetable of pefennial (kiu) growth, hence called ' kiu.' The forifl of the plant above the ground." Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV, Plate X. Meaning ant) Sonnd. ,„„ Chestnut, '^' It. Mulberry 128 tree, sang. _• Seal Modern .u Form, Form. "p A. D. « 100. Older Forms. 129 130 Year, Season, ki. 131 Evening, A, SI. Sliell, 132 value, pel. * Salt 133 ,u. 134 Silk, mi. Silk 135 thread, si'. iQR Vapor, joiT Steam, k'i. Signal, 138 ticket, p'iao. jggt Mirage, k ao. Light, 140 flame, kuantj. \?7 4 5^ H li n. \1? 7B ■^ 0\ t: ^S^i^?^t mnn ^ ) 5 'i^^u^^ a ^ § n n i ^ '^ 9^^ M r T 1!f f f!^ilft Probable Original. ^ * f i. f ]) i n ~^ ©^ '-^M m ^ T t Remarks. Chestnut burs on a tree. ( Not related to its radical. ) Shuo Wi*n : "The tree whose leaves silkworms eat." Leaves on a tree. These two signs are closely related, but are ob- scure in origin. No. 129 mav be "crops" and "thousand." No. 130 may be "crops" and "son." New moon at evening. Cf. No. 72. Bivalve shell. Shuo Wdn : " Picture of a sea shell. . . . "Ancients ex- changed shells as money." F^arth-basins for evaporat- ing salt. Twist of silk, or possibly the larva of silk cocoon fa- miliar to the ancient Chinese. Derived from No. 134. Sign suggesting rising vapor. Sleam from fire !)^, or mist from sun Q. Smoke above " fire." .'An- cient method of signalling in China. Undulating air. "Man " bearing "torch." (Variants show other roots containing "sun" and "fire." ) Chinese Ideographs. •Chinese obtain salt by evaporation from large, square, shallow pools upon the alkali plains. This sign is either a picture of such pools or basins, or possibly suggests a field with patches of alkali. A more complex symbol is now used instead of this, t Shuo WCn : "Rising air tending to expand, bitt obstructed as it curls upward." Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XI. _J egg] Meaning mi « t;- . " Modern o J'orm, a A Form. ^ A. D. Sound. ^ j(jO. Older Forms. 141 Roof, Enclos- 142 ure, wei. ^ a 143 Shed, yen,. ,.. Palace, 144 , ' kuvg. 145 Window, kiuny. 146 Park, yu. 147 Pf ^'y- nuan. j^g Prison, yil. Map, 149 seal. 150 Treasury, store- house, /t'u. 151 Kitchen, cA It. Well, 152 cistern, ching. Bricls- 153 wall, yiian. 1.54 ^^^' en uang. r a t t -J— m ^ iS3 ^ a □ □ a □ r t ^ n r © * 44 li X n n p^n W D r is^ i^a tl [^ © g © ®r^ 5< 1 Jm ff ^ ^ w ^ i? i^ ±B il a :l :r-i Probable Original. n n r f^ t 1^ ir-^ Remarks. A house. (Used only in combination. ) Now written [^ with pho- netic added. Buihling open on one side. Hall with steps (or) throne. (Not "two mouths" under "roof," as usually defined.) Latticed window of varied design. "Field" full of "trees." Now altered, with ^ yu as phonetic. Shuo W6n : " Picture of a pig in a pen." Shuo Wen: " Pri.son. En- closure for criminals." (Shows cells and corridor.) Sign suggesting a map or diagram. (Embodies No. 338.) "Cart" under a "shed." "Dish" and other objects, with "hand" undera "shed." Well with curb. Layers of brick, with "clay" i. added, to suggest the ma- terial. Shuo Wfn considers this a contraction of }(;};., but it is rather the original form. Chinese Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol, IV. Plate XII. . — ■ Seal Meaning Modern § Form, and Form. ^ A. D. Sound. ^ 100 Older Forms. 155 Dish, Stemmed 156 dish, tou. Sacrificial 157 vessel, H. Wine jar, 158 pottery, fou. Willow 159 basket, 160 Dipper, tou. m. * 161 Spoon, ^ooCover, lid, I'o. 163 'Fork, ya. 164 ^""«' ffto. 165 Ne'' wamj. 166 ^^°?^> 167 tCap, 168 ^>"' tvng. ^ m. o A Ia ^ J 77 R -iX- )=/ J M ^ ;?? Vxx) *. n W 2 ^ O n A * ^ PI 'OA Fl z;^ y> ^ 21^ 1 Hi 1 1 w £t © ® © B^)H\^^ K K /\ r^ Y S ) R /ii © fA\ ^ ^ ^ tt t T =? °° Probable Original. 'T ^ ^(?) rS Y l> ^ fs\ Jo Remarks. A common ancient dish was shaped thus T. Actual form of the vessel as seen in an exhumed specimen. Vessel with viands or flow- ers. Cf. No. 156. Wine jar with sealed lid secured by cords (as now in China). Shuo Wen : "Picture of a willow cooking vessel." (Distinguish from LJ k'an.) Now used to designate " peck measure." Of. No. 188. Orig- inally a dipper. Rude outline of a spoon. Used only in combination. ^ "wood" was added and again discarded. A knife blade. Meshes of a net. Later x!3 was added as phonetic. Suggests a draped garment. Side view, or head, of nail. Chinese Ideographs. *Now used for "slave girl" by a lewd metonomy. fShuo W6n : "Small cap. Headgear of the aborigines. " Now supplanted by ittS "raao," a later mechanical form. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol IV, Plate XIII tjonnfl Form. '■% A. D. Sound. « jQQ_ Older Forms. Door, 169 gate, men. Ship, 170 boat, cliou. ,j^ To cook, ts'uan. jy^ Wine jar, yu. 173 Alcohol, chiu. Broom, 174 sweep, chou. jyc Kerchief, kin. j-o'Curtain, i7~ Market, shih. n 4 ii ^® r 178 Woven stuffs, to difluse, pu. Reed 179 mat, (St. Enibroid- 180 ery, chill. Small 181 table, ki. Recep- 182 tacle, fang. 't^ n 4 :H ?^ i t 'I' r-7 ^ ^ W C t + +*• Ml* a I fl\ n fti 1^ fm n L- c ^i f1 H M N ^ :0S c::i.-^ i (il fil *i i @# ^t @ ? Si i ttllt ^ ^fi ^ )fl i^l f ^ /M ^ ^- f ilv i\ ^^ s W H rR ^ ^7 n &= 3 g Probable Original. ^El ^ e^9 t^ T n ill M i!) ^ 3? TT.n Remarks. Two-leaved door with bolts ind turning posts as now in China. Either a sliip with sail, or deck of boat showing compart- ments. Cooking outfit. A kind of amphora. This is now an horary sign. Jar containing alcohol (clear liquor) signified by r^ ''water." Hand grasping broom. ( Not related to its radical. ) Anciently, a cap or turban ivorn by aged persons. Supposed to be a table cover. 'Jsed only in combination. Perhaps from "curtain" md '"wood"; a booth, as now n Chinese markets. Suggests interlaced threads. Jriginally applied to silk. Suggests plaited work. Now m adverb "how," "now." Embroidered design. Table with straight or curved legs. An obscure form allied to j^ "square" and I^I "coffer." Chinese Ideogkaphs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XIV. Meaning Modern „''"^, Form, bound. o Form, '■% A. D. « 100. Older Forms. Corn- 183 fan, ki. 184 ^i?'*'- 18.5 ™'' rang. Portico, ■ 186 pavilion, t'imfi. 187 Granary, txUiiig. 188 r'int, Corn- 189 fan, pfin. Um- 190 brella, mn. ,ni Window, hu. 192 """''' chue. ,no Mound, foil. 194 Cave, 195 Window, eh'uang. Tile, 196 pottery, m. m t t ^ * ^ J '/^ P 5l /t> VI7 A + + A P •.-^ « '7? 51 /K/K 7\ ffl B ^ ^ /O f; ? f 4 fe* W Y9^ t is) K TT r^ ip^ y-^ © ® S ffl i fi i t # * ^ )i"l 1^$;?; 1 i 15 ^ ^ ^^ ^ ?f F i? / J? I fi n ^9 ik^i n fj^ Q ^(ffl) ^? ^ § H Probable Original. ffl ;% ^ ^ |3 J n w^^/^ Remarks. Winnowing basket held in bands, as to-day in (:hina. Bamboo radical has been added. Land subdivided. ShuoWfin: "Palace." An imposing edifice. Artistic pavilion on pillars, (as now in China). Large round wicker bins under roof, (as now in China). A measure holding 12,000 grains of millet. Of. No. 160. Old exhumed shcng : Q->. Depicts the implement. Closely allied to No. 183. Depicts an umbrella with ribs or decorations. Half of "door." (See No. 1 69 ) . Variants have " wood ' ' added. Form of Chinese fish-hook. Incongruous symbol for piled earth. Depicts mouth of cave. Latticed window. Origin- iiUy same as No. 14.'). Perhaps overlapped tiles. Shuo Won: "(leneral name for kiln-burned ware." Chine.se Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XV. „ . - Seal MeniimK Modern S Form, anil P'orm. ^ A. I). Sound. r^ 100. Older Forms. 197 Tliongs, 198 * Liito, k'iii. jggt Organ, hxuio. Grain- 200 mortar, kiu. 201 Kiln, ku. Writing 202 brush, yu. 203To*rite, cmn. P:iper 204 kite, yiinn. Axe, 20.5 adz, kin Cart, 206 chariot, ch'c. Span of horses, 207 ride, sheiiff, ch'ing. 2Qgt Turban, pien. i Seal, 209 knot, chie. 210 "T" ^'''•'' yin. 3^ 7 ^ <3 i^ t ,hTJ /f ^ P ep t £ >x t3 >='? M ^ e t^ t t i 'f ;ft P t o ®ti^'t?f U o ^/ ©a \g/lH/ t Pc M I It frJ'/J f/frV CD ^ ^ Af ^ I m 1 -I- ® (D ® ^^#tt^ R 1^^ ^^^4 M?^ fTT (f^. ^ ^ % ^^ ^x Probable Original. )sr( ^ r ^T ^(^ ^ <<', 5i\ Remarks. Knotted thongs. ShuoWen: " Leather .straps." Lute with b or 7 strings. Mouth-organ with 16 or 23 pipes. ShuoWSn: " At first a hole in the ground ; later, hollow wood and stone. Form of the vessel with grain inside." Obsolete symbol. Depicts compartmentsof a kiln. (Ex- act origin is disputed.) Chinese pen or brush held in the hand. Cf. No. 174. Pen making marks. De- rived from No. 202. ShuoWcn: "Penmanship." Bird-shaped kite peculiar to China. Shuo Wen: "To chop wood." It may depict chips. Cart with shaft for horses tthreaal, as anciently in China. Derived from 206. Shuo Wf n : " Chou dynasty crown, (Slled piVn." Hand (claw) affixing a seal. Chinese Ideographs. * Form of the lute. Lower part was modified to -^ " metal " as phonetic, which has been contracted to '^ kin. t Originally the form of the instrument, surviving in lower part of the modern symbol. To this "hand" and "bamboo" were added. The variant is xj which has "bamboo " and a phonetic " hsiao." tThe ornaments below the turban .seem to have been altered to f''\ "bands." I P Chie " knot " is closely allied to thi.s. Shuo Wt'n defines it as "Scaling knot," referring to the ancient custom of n.sing clay seals and cords. I suspect this depicts a seal of tliat sort rather tlian a signet of metal. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV, Plate XVI Meaning and Sound. 211 I?ow, kuny. 2J2 Arrow, shih. 2^3 Halberd, kuo. Battle 214 axe, wu, irwu. 2J5T0 guard, SHU. 216 •Shield, kan. tSpear, 217 lance, 21a Helmet, tou. 219 To draw a bow, lead, yin. Three- 220 P''°"g'^'l balberd, niao. 222 Military, 222 Warn, ktai. 223 JArmy, kiun. Soldier, 2r4 weapons, ping. . Seal Modern g Form, Form. -0 A. D. 100. Older Forms. ^ ^ \ A A f \ ? ^ ^ \ \ \ ?! f 'A ik \ )i ? f * rt i- ¥ 1 § u itn ^ il'i til k ?i < /v ^ ^4 4 ^^ >i'iM 1 i ^t f /I .:^ 1i ^ ¥+T?Tf t ^ 6 til « n^ i) $ J «l Tj; a 4 u-^ M ^ ^^ ^(^^t}i;;<^^ -2^ ^ ^ /i^ v^ tT /y« '^ ^Ta IW Probable Original. ^ t t- f ^^ 1^ 1 A «; -$ ^ 11 1^?^ Remarks. Bow, with or without string. Feathered arrow. Ancient broDze-hallierd- heads, exhumed in China, show hole for tassel. This symbol is now used as an horary sign. Soldier (man)witL halberd. (ieneral term for weapoas. "Man" with head in hel- met. Also means "pocket," "keep." Bow and man, or hand and bow. Halberd or lance 15 feet long, used by charioteers. "Halberd" and "stop." Shuo Wen: "To lock hal- berds is wu." Shuo WOn : " Two hands grasping halberd. Warn." Chariot in camp. "Man" with "spear" in "liands," or "hands' gra.sp- ing "axe." Chinese Ideographs. * In some connections this means "spear." The traditional shape of ancient shield is ^ the frame coinciding with -P. I suspect that the symbol also depicts a two-pronged spear. t By analogy with No. 213, this sh ijld depict a laiica without hand guard. It now means "arrow" and "shoot," and appears only in combination. i The six last forms are two variants in groups of three fqrm^ e^ch, The first is " people" in " camp." Thj .second is of obscure origin. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol, iv Plate XVII. ^^"\"^ Moder,. t Fo?m, «""", Form. -a A. D. Sound. ^ jQO_ Older Forms. To slioot 225 arrows, sha. Target, 226 Marquis, ftou. 227 Destroy, fa. 228 Frontier, kmnff. Troops, 229 traveller, iii. Flag, 230 banner, k'i. 23J Camp, ying. % # ^i ra 232 * Shield, tuM, ahun. oQo Emperor, huang. 234 K'"g' waug. Rank, 235 class, pan. t Cora- 236 plete, I'ing. 237 Officer, Sir, scholar, shih. Chief, 238 great, kii. i A A n /^ •x-x •^ i vi7 ± i)£ i ^7 >^ I /If [^ )^^ 'AA i ^ 5 i i VH^4-f ^4^ g H^^flil^iCt ;^ If M 1;^ (]> H M /-I iM t^ t^i? Ivf IhhI t?N TP tF :fei TV 111 l#^ 1^ /si f^i f d /t\ tl 50 « ^1^ ^^ ^ ± 2C o ©■p ^B^^^\i 19, /^ ^ 4 / 1^ f^ |^t4f^?^l^ /^ f5 i^t/^A^^ *,^ f Ai^ t^^^^^t^^ 4tttt tt^ f tttt (?) K f«^ A ik 4tW> -^m t^ ^ )^ O b O V,OiK50 4 ^ ft $4 ^: •^ -^ :^ )H ¥ "s: ■ ■ I ■ I qTiTp I I ^ • I 7"^ a ^4 ^ ^ Remarks. Resembles No. 31 and No. 2.S8. Possibly depicts some insignia of office. Supposed to be a burning lamp, hence "lord" by me- tonomy. Suggests No. 234. "Hand" holding "rod" or "scepter." Master of iaraily or class. Seems to be from "bind' and summon Reverse of No. 242. Per- liaps "summon." "Great" and "man," or "great" doubled, i. e., "very great." " Iland " holding "scep- ter." Like No. 241. " Hand" holding a "sty- lu-i." See Fig. 1. (Ancient stylus had ring at end. ) Bamboo "records" upon a "Uble." "Enclosure" and "seal" suggesting official residence. CJ. No. 142 and No. 209. Composed of Nos. 252, 212, 214. No. 252 has been con- tracted to "earth," i. e., earth-filled wall. City gate with tower (as now in Cliina). Gate-court with towers over gates at either sides. Chinepe iDEOGKArnS. *The Chinese notion that this depicts a corpulent man is unsatisfactory. t Bamboo slips tied with a thong. Shuo Wfn says that the slips were of unequal length. Royal degrees were thus filed. tShuo WC-n : "The records of Wu Ti [The Five Rulers B. C. 2597-22.55] were given an honored place upon a stand. ' § This is now app/ied to a temple over an arch just inside a city gate. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol, IV. Plate XIX. Meaning ,, , and ^',"'^'""" Sound. Form. _! Seal g Form, ^ A. D. M 100. Older Forms. 253 Nation, kuo. ^^ huo. 255Pop"la''e, shu. Political 2.56 district, chou. Audience 257 hall, t 'in'g. «\ 258 Judge of A)ipeal, ts'an. 259 I>ecree, chih. To inform 260 " 1"P^- nor, ch'eng. na-, * Scepter, knei. Just , 262 public, kung. 263 Protect, pao. Tribe, 204 clan, Perpet- 265 ual, fling. t Family, 266 home, kia. i4 >+i ^ 13 EI ^A^ 1*. k ^^ n < /^ Jil I* i \^ 9 u ± yv A ^K i-H fc3 (^ © w 2 ^6^ m (fJ IJl III (P (*) ll 1^ ^ 0^ o) '^ ^ ^ /I /I i ii f • /I \^^ j^H ^\ \\\ u ]^\ \i^^m^\^ o (o\ >±f -^ 11 f ^^ ^i e B f -^o^ %^ JOi ^a^ ^ J^ o /Itr i Til # ^fi ^A f>k f >J^ § tt * f ^ (^^(l\it\fk Probable Original. of 'M W •^ ^5 4^ (^ ;oc (X/ § ^tt^ti^1^(h ^ti^pfti^^ )( X JL JC Probable Original. i ^ ^^ l|^ ±1 /^. J. I t ^ A Kemarks. Light issuing from the eye. (In accord with peculiar no- tion among the Chinese. ) Reversed body, hence to " turn back," obsolete, cf. No. 28. "Nose' (see No. 33). (A Chinaman points to his nose to indicate self ) Hands raised as in terror. ( Used only in combination. ) Shuo Wen: "To revolve." E^robably a whirlpool, hence "to return." A pendant flower, e. g., wis- taria. "Earth," piled up, hence "high." Later, sign for "platform" wasadded. " Two men seated upon tlie ground" — a common posture in China. "shell" (objects of value) under a "roof." (A good ideograph. ) Symbolizes words issuing from the mouth, hence speech. Probably No. 276i "speech" ) with "one" added to denote "single utterance" hence "note." Blended or united lines. Symbolic of union. Of. Nos. 279 and 338. Blended lines as in writing. Probably of same origin as No. 278. Signifies bisection. Coin- cides with sign for "eight," which may have separate root. Chinese Ideographs. * A very interesting pair of symbols. Though the modern forms differ widely, the old forms prove them to be closely related. Shuo AVtm considers No. 277 as derived from No. 276 by adding the sign for "one." This should signify a simple utterance instead of a successwn of st)unds as in speech. Shuo W6n's further exposition of the relation of thought in the heart to utterance is only confusing, for it must be based upon the doubtful assumption that No. 277 once had the sign for " heart" underneath. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XXI. ^ Seal Meaning Modern S Form, and Form. ^ A. D. Sound. p5 JOO. To 281 divide, Jen. Older Forms. Probable Original. Like, 282 equal, pi. Level , 283 even, 4 'tew. Coord i 284 nate, piny. 285 ^,'"''"' hsiao. Large, 286 great, ta. Up, 287 above, shang. Down, 288 below, hsia. 289 ^ Middle, chuny. t Perpen- 290 dicular, kun. One 291 piece, ko Twist, 292 twine, kiu. 293 Form, individu- ality, kiai. 294 Together, kuny. ^i- /^ ^M T i^\ J^i J:t >t fl(\ It li M ?? t^ AA H T TI VJU YY -I r- uu J] f ?i H fT r^ 7A71 ^J^ '1^ )[ '^ n Hc n k M; fr ::i^ ^ ;!: ffn * ;^ 5) ± — i i 1 - ^ . • A — —1— 7 T "F - ^ • • t I 4* [j] t^ ^ Cf* fl' ^ ^ / / 1- ) fl /I) ^ -(^ J-l ) ? s t A )?. )1^ M ft t ^ R 4f /v StK^^^r'^A K Remarks. From "knife" (No. 104) and "cut" (No. 280). Two men of eqmd height. Lines were added to strengthen the idea. Two shields on a level. Cf. No. 284. Two " men " on "level " (No. 283). On even footing. Stick cut (No. 280) in two, hence "short" "small." Probably "man" on "man's" shoulders, or man taller than the average. Object above a line. Object betow a line. Object or point midway be- tween "up" and "down." Shuo W6n : "Up and down equal," as if the halves di- verged from a central point. Possibly "a single bamboo leaf" {cf. No. 117) now ex- panded to ijj and ■/lij with i)honetic. Either "hands" twisting a " rope," or twining vine with "leaves." "Man" and "cut" (No. 280). Suggesting distinctive personality. Four hands united. Chinese Ideographs. *The usual explanation of this symbol is an object cut in the middle. This fails to account for the more complex old forms. The most an- cient coins have these complex forms, which is strange, in view of the habit of contracting symbols on coins, unless the extra strokes were deemed essential to the meaning. Such I believe was the case, and the idea of a point between " up" and " down " will explain all the extant forms_ t Tlie original was likely a solid line representing a staff or other vertical object. Shuo Wfin's definition is inappropriate, but incidentally accords with the basic idea of No. 289, suggested above. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol IV. Plate XXII. « • - Seal ^^"'"S Modern § Form, „»"'' Form. - Sound. A. D. « 100. Older Form. '^^^ Hang. 296 *^""''^' iiang. t Thirty, „Q7 genera- ^^' tion, shih. t Substi- tute, 298 genera- tion, tai. Peace, 299 ngan, 'an. i\ 300 Fear, 301 Purpo.se, determi- nation, chill. Now, 302 this, so, shih. 303 304 305 Noon, Half, pan High, kao Condole oQg witli bereaved, iiao. 307 308 I, me, Bawl, Wit. \^ \^ ^ ^ k ^f ^f a 1-57 ^ M 1 A + A P •f + + o re] ^ a ffl M ttt ^^ (?1 8 t 'i t f^hm cand^Aiiifl Fffl FFl 1^ i^^:^ t^ xt^l HI ii( ri^ '^1^ ^^h ^m ]\^ \i} V ± * i ii. ik £ ^- CE. A trli /t\ /tiHTifi f^ ^vc. )^i f 11/ V f y^ 1 ii ^ fti (?) lol 1. ^i^l' ;^' Bemarks. Two rooms, or two men in a liouse. (obscure origin. ) One linng, i. e., one ounce. Triple sign for ten, i. e., thirty. A generation is thirty years by Chinese reckoning. " Man " and "spear, " re- ferring to change of watgh. (Of. No8. 21.5, 227.) One woman in a house. (An essential condition of peace in Cbina. ) Man standing upon a height (hill), inspires fear. (So Shuo WCn. ) "Issue" (No. 107) and "heart" (No. 41). ShuoW^n: "That which issues from the heart." "Sun" or "day" and "ex- act" (No. Ill), hence "now." (So also Shuo W^n) Probably a vertical line through roof-gable toward zenith, hence "noon." "Cut" (No. 280) and an obscure sign of varied form. Tower over city gate. Al- lied to No. 251, 2.52. "Two men" and "bow." Refers to ancient custom of guarding the dead against wild beasts. "Hand" and "halberd" (No. 213), vaguely suggesting man's egoism. "Large" (No. 2.S6) and " mouth." Mouth wide open as in shouting or bawling. *When the sign "Hang" (No. 295) was adopted for "ounce" (No. 296), from similarity of sound, the numeral "one" was added to avoid confusion with the original sense of "Iiang" (No. 295). Later the new form supplemente.^ 7^ jh ^ rt) ^ 'X Sj s 'ih r^ fi^ t# it^ w^ iif§ (If > V ± ^^AiA i: 5Zx M ^MDMii t-^ yl r fe /i ;^ ''/?. fjii /I Remarks. A bent or knotty piece of vood. "Child" (No. 26) in- verted. Abnormal child, hence " unfilial." Shuo W^n : "Short steps, as man's successive three steps." "Steps" (No. 311) and "stop" (No. 110) suggesting leaps in running. "Man beliind man" and 'running" (No. 312). Man behind man. Variant of No. 313. Outline of man walking. Shuo W6n : "To keep go- ing." "Bend "and "stop"a.s in walking. Descriptive form of the pictorial sign No. 315. Foot-prints or motion of one walking. "Stop" (No. 110) and "foot" (No. 37). The lat- ter has been contracted to an incongruous sign. "Man" "running" (No. 312) with a torch in hand, /. e., torch bearer (as escort- ing a bride). Probably "man" standing on the ground. Two men side by side. "Spring" (No. 87) under a "cliff" (No. 95), hence, ' ' source." Chinese Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XXIV. Meaning ^^^^^^ % ^^^^ and Sound. Plenty, 323 rich, fetifj. * Large, 324 lofty, t'ai. 325 t'ai. Enunci- ate 326 word, sentence, kit. Enclose, 327 wrap, poo. g28 To wrap up, ]X10. 329 Embryo, Tender, 330 young, yao. Very 331 small, fine, yu. Enfold, 332 letter, han. 333 t Dwell, ku. Protect, 334 .''^'^I'.' deposit, ts'un. Sheperd- 335 ess, kiang. tTo 336 '*^'""'S' connect, kuan. Form. •« A. D. M 100. Older Forms. M. ^v ^ '1 n k a ^ # I •a A a 'V 'i k u P ^ ± n. ^ i ? (9 t n ^ /? u ^ ^ -&- 2 1 1. i MMi^ ^ f\ rtil\rlift^l^f^ ±ik 1^ f^^± c v. ^ ^ ^ % ^A ^ CO ^^$ ^ ^ iQ^n'n^^H i ^ 66 ® (S A -; $1iiaS ^f^ jg t^^ nm^ ? 8^ 5<;? ;^ 3^ ^1^ di^ Probable Original. % ± ^ 5, -4j 2 S §S ^ ^ f Remarks. "Dish" (No. 156) full of viandsr '. e., "grain" (No. 124) and "herbs," offered with "hands." (Likecornu- copia). Also f^. "Twist" (No. 292) and " moutli ' ' referring to motion of lips in speaking. Sign suggesting a wrapper. Fcvtus wrapped in the womb, with "child" added as suggestive sign. ( Cf. No. 329.) Depicts half-formed foetus before birth. Originally same as Ci i- Seven months' foetus. De- veloped from No. 329. No. 330 intensified by du- plication. Shuo Wen: "Tongue." Possibly tongue in the mouth. Cf. No. 56. Man standing in a house. Hand over child. Cf. No. 263. Shuo wen: "Anxiety." "Sheep" and "woman.' " Sheep-woman." String of shells. Chinese Ideoguaph,s. * For full explanation see page 14. t The evolution of the modern form may be thus : ($•< ^H t!^ (?) m w :f^ ^ 1^ ¥ Ke marks. Shuo Wen: "Enduring, following." Blended lines. Eelated to Nos. 278, 279, q. v. One or more birds over fire. Also tortoise over fire. Hands opposed, or strug- gling for a staii'or spear. Shuo Wen: "Split wood. From half of tree." Possibly palatable (sweet) food retained in the mouth. Origin obscure. Refers to melancholy of autumn. Significance obscure. Ghost or other strange figure. Allied to No. 354. Hands lifting a weight. Supposed by Chinese to be two men lying back to back (a guess). Depicts beast's claw out- spread. Three birds on a tree. (Now contracted. ) Some prolific creature like the frog or scorpion. (Not related to its radical. ) Chinese Ideographs. * A very complex symbol of many forms. It .seems to be composed of ^ lao "old," :^^k 1> M /t^ «i /// K%%t w jmi li^ Jiifi^i t^iti^A ^l> s$ ttt^t $ tt^ttt ,>\v fii ^p t* ')l'l- h 15 r i h ^ 4^ © i fi ^ (i) i W^ ^ IIWW (0 (?) /!( ^' 1^ A <^ s '1(0 i' [3= Remarks. (See note under No. 92.) Symbols found with or with- out sign for "heavenly influ- j^ence" (No. 353) as radical. Used both a« noun (deity) I and adjective (divine, spirit- J ual). Form of man with sign for "myiitery" affixed. c5. No. 3!5. "E'i;^ - .y^v © 1 >W |S ^^ 5§ as!^ ^^fisaxt^ ®^ ^>^^ # ^;.Ti I^ 1 1| ti ^1 il^ftl^f^l ^i ^t ^t pi t # -Ny^ 1"^^^%^^^ Probable Original. IT '^ fl ,f /K ft V If^ (?) ^ f A Remarks. Shuo Wfin calls this a ves- sel for ancestral worship. Mystic symbol composed of elements pertaining to heaven, sun, air, or fire, and meteoric influence. "Earth" and "God" (No. 351) contracted, i. e., "earth- deity." Opposite of No. 366. "Heavenly influence" (No. 353) over nature (trees and earth ). Shuo Wen : "Earth-lord." Shuo W6n: "Mystic changes in nature as detected by the use of May-weed." Weird sign for a ghost. "Hands" offering "sacri- cial jar" before a "mound" ( grave). ( Last has been dis- carded, and "hands" changed to sign for "inch.") Descriptive and pictorial signs relating to use of the libation cup "chiie." Depicts large tripod with handles, used in temples. The two signs at sides are the handles, altered to "bow" (No. 211). "Hand," "flesh" and "jar" in a " temple." Last is now discarded and "jar" altered. ShuoWCn: "High, light. Superior forces of nature." Precise significance of this and No. 376 is not clear. They refer to geomantic con- dition, hill, sun, cloud, etc. Shuo W6n: "To judge. Title of the universal ruler." ( Used of emperor and deity. ) Chinese Ideographs. *Thig complex and apparently incongruous symbol is one of the most ancient in the language. It is descriptive rather than pictorial, being composed of four elementary signs suggestive of sacrifice, to wit : Suine's heud (No. 18), slielkJ-ffrain (No. 124), silk\jio. 134) and "hands," the last .significant of " offering" and characteristic of many old symbols relating to sacrifice. Some of the forms are in ancient script which obscures the signs depicted. The form of the vessel is ^^ as seen in recovered specimens. fThis complex sign is supposed to suggest the gestures and cries of a witch. May-weed, in bundles of 64 stalks, is still used by Chinese in divination. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV Plate XXVI II ^Zl"^ Modern j FoTm, Sound. 379 Ob- structed growth, *Nnt 380 ' pu. Refuse, 381 not, /on. Have 382 not, mu. ogq t Do not, 384 No, Unyield- 385 ing not. Opposed, 386 not, fei. ggy Not yet, Without 388 do not, , 7no. t None, 389 minus. Form. -^ A. D. pq 100. Older Forms ^ ^^ V3 ^ h * ^^ ^ m ^ a ^ * '7 ? *P i -»!?• X }{^ ^ ^ ))'@ (('5^ t 4) « f s V"V mi^MU M^ I I H § ^ f t ^ V ^ ^ f^ # :5 # # * f ^ii^^^^p^ % t^P^n^t W r^ ^ Ji.j *A=li -RJ^- fi^ ^ Probable Original. X J^ ^ I?) t ^ ^^ * ■vlv Eemarks. Tree with top cut off. Ob- solete form related to No. 380. Derived from No. 379, which suggests negation. No. 380 intensified by add- ing "mouth." W6n-li or literary form of No. 380. "The end" < "none" < "no more" < "have not." Also means "drown." Derived from "woman" (No. 24). Shuo W^n considers this to be an ancient flag with three pennants used for signalling "no." Something tied with cords. Shuo W6n : "Unyielding. From ' thongs ' [No. 197] con- tracted." Things (bows?) back to back, hence "opposed." Shuo W6n: "Tree in full ceaf and branch." Signifi- lance not clear. "Sun" obscured by "leaves" < shady < dark < invisible < without. ShuoWfin: "Lost." Chinese Ideographs. *The Chinese, following Shuo W6n, consider this to be inverted J chth, "at," which they interpret as a bird flying to earth. This is far-fetched, and in fact No. 380 is not the inversion of the character for "at." I prefer to consider it as derived from No. 379, an ancient sign now discarded. t Shuo W6n : "Stop. Figure of woman with line across it as if prohibiting illicit conduct." i A very obscure symbol. Chinese scholars have made many conjectures, but none satisfactory. I venture an additional guess, to wit, that we must look to No. 207 for the key. The upper part of this (No. 389) exactly corresponds to the chariot-shaft and yokes of No. 207. May it not be a span of horses separated from the cart? Hence "lacking" "without." To this the signs "lost" and "trees" have been added. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV Plate XXIX. Meaning and Sound. ^ Seal Modern h Form, Form. T3 A. D. « 100. Older Forms. Probable Original. 390 391 One, Two, 392 Three, 393 394 Four, Five, ♦Six 396 *^,T'' en I. 397 *^'S''^' pa. 398 Nine, kiu. 399 ^^' shih. 400 Twenty, 401 Thirty, shin, so. Hundred, 402 many, pei. Thous- 403 and, ch^ien. — — - / \ \ ^ ^ J=. — - // w 1 ^4 11 ^ — ._ = /// \^ III 1 \B a <^ GD'R^ ^(J t = nil 22 — X S X X X z 1 mil 1 ,2 /v i^ ^/O A ^J.T /fV -t — ^ ^ t ^ >^>t^i -^ /\ /v ?\ )( K X <1 P"? i!!^' =i= p^ iL L 1? \^ A \^^v Bv + + tU If t 1 if + tt ■ft- tf ft ' 1 1 ^ + tft ■t^ m^t^ llf i sb ^ i©"^!^ ® f f ? R-?t^^^1- ^. Remarks. One line, or one weapon. Two lines, or two weapons. Three lines. Four lines, gradually con- nected in cursory style. Five lines, variously indi- cated. Probably six lines united. Probably seven lines united. Eight lines united. Probably nine lines united. Two contracted signs for five united. Two tens. Three tens. Kesenibles signs for "head" and "nose." Sig- nificance disputed. Possibly "hundred-tens" (origin obscure). Chinese Ideogkaphs. *The respective signs X i = belong to a distinct system of numerals still used for commercial purposes, which combines figures above five. The vertical line is a contraction of ^ "five" to which "one," " two" and "three" are added to indicate "six," " seven" and "eight." The regular system combines after "ten." tThis sign is undoubtedly two fives contracted. Originally X or some like form, as in the Roman numeral X which is a duplicated \/. chalfant: early chinese writing 17 Values of Latin Letters in the System of Romanized Chinese Used in This Treatise, Being That Known as Wade's System with Slight Modifications. a, before ng or final, like "a" in "ball." an, as in "pan," the vowel tending toward Italian "a." ai, as long "i" in "like." ao, as "ow" in "cow." e, an obscure sound resembling ii. en, as in "then," tending toward "an." 6, short "e" (not used by Wade), ei, long "a" (a) resolving into e. i, as e when final, or t when followed by "n" or "ng," * ih, as i. i, an obscure vowel like "e" in "able." (Note used by Wade.) ia, as "ya" with broad sound of "a." iao, as "yow." ie, semi-diphthong with the "e" slightly audible like e-e. iu, like "ew" in "few." o, o followed by slight breathing like "o-eh." ou, o resolving into n. 6, like German 6. (Not used by Wade.) u, like "oo" in "fool," or like the word "woo." ii, approximate French sound of "u." un, like " wen." ua, " "wa" in "water." uai, " " wi" in "wise." ui, " the word " we." uo, " "woa" in the exclamation "whoa" (hwoa). uei, " " way." yu, " the word "you." ch, " English "j" or soft "g." ch', " " "ch." hsi, " " hyee" or "see" (two classes of sounds not distinguished by Wade), j, " French "j " with trace of " r." p, nearly like "b." p', hke "p." t, nearly like "d." t', like "t." 18 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM II. NOTES UPON THE "SHUO WEN." As already stated, this great work was published about 120 A. D., and has been repeatedly reedited by later scholars, preserving, however, what purports to be the original text. This dictionary, being etymological in aim, gives the author's opinion as to the' primitive meaning of a word, often with a surmise as to its derivation, and occasionally a suggestion as to pronunciation. In its present form this lexicon defines some ten thousand symbols based upon five hundred and forty ^ "classifiers." By reference to the appended list of these so-called "classifiers," several peculiari- ties will be noticed. In the first place they seem to have been selected upon no logical plan, and are entirely too numerous. This latter fault in the system soon manifested itself, for subsequent lexicographers successively reduced the number until the reign of Kanghsi, when the greatest of all (Jhinese dictionaries appeared under the royal patronage, and classified some 45,000 symliols under 214 determinatives (which are usually called "Radicals"). Of these, 206 were retained out of the original 540, and eight others were added,, viz., 8th (o-), 56th (-^), 69th (/j), 71st m 88th iX), 90th (^), 138th (pO, 186th (^). Secondly they fail to include as classifiers certain ancient symbols as ^, Jj, ^, and ;!(, which found early use in composition. These four have since been recognized as sufficiently important to be used as radicals. The same cannot be claimed for the other five new radicals, for the small groups under each could easily have been distributed among the already recognized classes, e. g., .x, under /^ or i-^n where most of its class naturally belong ; -^ under -^ ; y^ under )\, or )l,. The "Shuo Wen " recognizes six classes or kinds of symbols, defined as follows : 'h M pictographs, as X "tree," Q "sun." 4a $■> indicators, as ^ "earth piled up," " high." a /S-' composites, as |ft "sacrificial vase." ^f 5±' inversions, as ^ and ^, " son " and " unfilial." ^^ 7^, phonetic signs, as ^^ " flower " ('f.^ being merely phonetic). i?ij% substitutes (metaphors), as ^ {^) "fattier" ("hand" holding "rod"). While representative symbols may sometimes apply to more than one class, yet the conception is on the whole quite happy. The definitions and derivations in the Shuo W6n do not always appeal to the student as reasonable, and suggest, what is probably the truth, that many of them are mere guesses on the part of the author. It is possible, however, that the author had access to data and sources of informa- tion now lost, and therefore may be right in some cases where his opinion would "The number of these "pl^s^Kjerg" ranges from 534 to 544, according to the method of computation. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XXX. Shuo W(^n, Modern Classifier. Form. — b ^ y^ T ^ -fc ^ t — 1 1 ^ ^ Js Tn ^ s. ^^ ii s ^ ^ Fl l[ K Meaning and Sound. One, Bemarks. 1st Radical. See No. 390. Shuo W6n, Modern Classifier. Form. Meaning and Sound. Bemarks. Undulating air, ^^ ^^ ^gg Nail, sting? g jj^ igg ^^',^"' See No. 396. Ten-feet, rp^^ ,^^„^j cAanji. Three, gge ^^ 392. saw. '!^i^J„''' See No. 287. Concealed, mien. ^'"' See No. 380. pu. Horary sign, 1-3 A. M., ch'ou. ^^' See No. 94. South the source of fire, ping. Original form"of A sacrifice, No. 356, but tsu, ch'ie. now a conjunc- tion ch'ie. Foundations, ki. J ? 4 ^ ^ ^ fi 1 ^ ¥ 6 \ M ^ fi a f" ; R n ^ X 1 -t f 1 r ,r ^^^^' 2d Radical. T'l'ist. See No. 292. k lu. Jungle, Old synonym of kuii. No. 112. Grasp, ki. Luxuriant, eho. Lamp-flame, „, _ ,. , (]ot, 3d Radical. ehu. Cinnabar, tan. Pellet, pill, wan. Bending to the right, 4th Radical. p'ie. But, rather, nai. Following, enduring, kiu. To issue, of, chih. See No. 108. To heap up, Belated to No. tut. 193. Bowing, Chinese Ideographs. - [Note. —The numbers in this series (PI. XXX— XLIX inc.) refer to the numbers of the ideographs in Plates I-XXIX. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XXXI. Shiio WOn, Classifier. Modern Form. Meaning and Sound. Rema rks. Shuo Wen, Modern Cla&sifier. Form. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. \ V p #, h M ru. L f? h. ^ t U L ■i J ? f -=- T ? ? ^ « if Bending to the left, fu. T r, 1 1 See under 48tli Ijeit hand, d i- i a „ , ' Riiuical. see also No. 67. To turn back, See No. 2G8. Diverging stream, See No. 264. p'ai. Crooked, 5th Radical. i. , ^i"®' See No. 398. km. Bird of unknown sort, ya. Secluded, yin. Hook, 6tli Radical. A: tie. See No. 192. I, me, yii. Two, Er. Stratum of cloud, at, yii. 7tli Radical. See No. 391. Mist, cloud, cy. No. 90. yitn. '^y.*'"' See No. 1. 52. clung. * S ft n. S"; t ^ ^ * \i7 1 ^ A /.v flfl AA iH -TK /Tl i fA Hunch-back, "K'y, H'O. x\(-i-), 8tli Neck, strong. Radical is not laing. a Shuo Wfn clas.sifier. Horary sign, 9-11 A. M., hai. Blend, kiao. Armpits, include, also. See No. 278. Sacrificial jar, g j^ ggg enjoy blessings, ggg h^ng, hsiang. ^"^'kilg^''^' See No. 2.51. Granary, Synonym of No. lin. 187. Man (generic), 9th Radical. jen, yin. See No. 22. To a-ssemble, chi. To follow, ta'ung. See No. 314. ^ l'''"^' See No. 70. cnung. Come, Ud. Dawn, k 77 h ;?7 Vn ^^ * ^ Is, 4 ^ ^ ^^ ® fe c, , , ^, Component part Short feathers, ^f 'J^os. 12 and shu. 20. To gape, k'an. 17th Radical. See No. 47. Willow basket, Unlucky, bad, hxiunff. See No. 159. A sort of utensil, ts'u. To issue, eh'u. Knife, hio. Cutting-edge, jin, yin. To notch a stick, kH. Tendon, strength, li. United strength, concord, hsie. Wrap. pao. To dip with a ladle, cho, ghuo. To enfold, pw. Obsolete, exact form of vessel now unknown. See No. 107. ISth Radical. See No. 164. The small stroke indicates the knife-edge. A "notched stick" and "knife." 19tli Radical: See No. 48. Obsolete. See No. 327. See No. 328. Chinese Ideographs. ^ '^ ^x t n it L c ^ u -4- a ft ftt -ttf ch ^ V- ¥ ? t [- h ^ P ik ')? No, not, ggg ^^ 384_ Wit. Spoon, ladle, 21st Radical. pi. See No. 161. Now used only Back to back, for "north." pei, po. Adopted from coincidence of sound. Receptacle, 22d Radical. fang. See No. 182. Covered recep- 23d Radical. tacle, coffer. Allied to No. hu. 182. Ten, 24tli Radical- shih. See No. 399. Fleeing, hsiian. Thirty, See No. 401. Also old form of No. 297. Noon, ggg No. 303. wu. Half, See No. 304. pan. Winnowing gge No. 189. fan, pan. To divine, 25th Radical pu. See No. 361. Sea], knot, 26th Radical. Me. See No. 209. To rule, k'ing, chi. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XXXIV. Shuo W6n, Modern Classifier. Form. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. Shuo Wfin, Modern Classifier. Form. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. ^^ ^1 ^^ ^r* fl ;t M ? £p s yl r r o A i A ^ i 06 6 i ^ ^ R fy^ Horary sign, 5-7 A. M., ^ggs, ggg No. 60. hum. A round wine-jar, chih. Seal, signet, g^^ -^^ glO. yin. Fear, danger, g^^ j^o. 300. Overhanging jTth RadicaL ^""' See No. 95. nan. Thick, Inversion of No. htm. 359. lllic"' 28th RadicaL UnfilJal, ggg No. 310. tit. Go, depart. High, heap. Stones piled up. lei, Im. Cf. No. 273. Single, only, chuan. Right hand, 29th RadicaL 2/«. See No. 58. Hands clasped „ , ,. , as in greeting, See also o5th kung. Radical. . ¥ ^i ^ A X3l Si t a K v:3 f ^ h1 =1 /^ >g 4 ^ * -^ 1 '^ m op (^ \^ To pull, p'ien. United, jiie. Connected, cho. To descend, • p'iao. Mouth, k'ou. But, only, chih. Sign of permis- sion, may, k'o. Obsolete syno- nym of No. 219. An allied sign of different ori- gin signifies a mythical tree. Obsolete syno- nym of No. 294. 30th RadicaL See No. 34. To control, si'. See No. 242. ^"'^'■' See No. 243. hou. Ancient, ku. Twist, phrase, See No. 326. kii. Scribe, gge No. 246, shih. Cry of terror, Two mouths. Iisuan. Obsolete. Slow of 8i)eech, na. Chinese Ideographs, Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV, Plate XXXV Shuo Wen, Modem Classifier. Form. ?l tid t o e5 S 4: ^:7 *7 V3 1 '^ ■V+ V3 i \27 Q \TE? vi? \i7 Meaning and Sound. Remarks. To gore, publish, kao. From "ox," and a complex sign now contracted. Backbone, lit. See No. 53. Cry of pain, hao. Rank, order. p'tn. To wail, cry, k'u. "Mouth" re- peated, and "dog." Orig- inally "howl." To speak, yUn, yuan. Happy, glad, hd. Shuo WSn, Modern Classifier. Form. -. Obsolete. Also ^^"y-. old variant of chi, ch I. No. 91. _ , 1 , Obsolete. Shuo Beast of burden ;v6n guesses it (sound to be a horse's unknown). Yvfid. Desire, covet, ahei, si. Enclosure, 31st Radical. n-ei. See No. 142. Fo;""- See No. 393. Top of the head (or) fietus in Obsolete, womb, lisin. Furnace-flue, window,* ch'uang, ts'ung. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. © \3J ± ff 4 / /^ A i i I it ~\~ tt T" 4 f # t V3 f 5. ^ X ^ -^ Lattice window, g^^ ^ ^^ kiung. Earth, clay, 32d Radical. I'u. See No. 80. Complete, full, g^^ j^^, 236. t mg. Pendant, g^^ j^^ 272. en ui. Redoubt, yung. See also under 189th Radical. Of. No. 250. From " yellow " , ,, and "earth," Loess earth, referring to kin. g to color of the clay. Piled up, high, Qf jjjj 273. yao. •' Officer, scholar, 33d Radical. ahih. See No. 237. „ , , ,, 9th of the Ten Great^full, gj^^^^ g j^^_ J^- 236. Kettle, Original was a Am. picture of the utensil. Single, one, Evidently de- i. rived from last. Joyous, chii, chu. ^chr' 34th Radical. ,?"^i. 35th Radical. Chinese Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XXXVl. Shiio WOn, Classifier. Modern Form. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. Shno Wfn, Classifier. Modern Form. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. 9 9 ? 9 ii ± t A 1^ k ^ ^ tr $ ^ k f t t * ^ # ^ ■k ^ ^ Evening, 36tli Radical. hsi. See No. 131. , - ' Origin obscure. Large, to. Large, la. Master, 37th BadicaL See No. 286. Alternate form of last. See No. 244. /«. Pleasing, yao. Release, kao, hao. Go and come, t'ao. To kowtow, Man with head "'«• inclined. Bugbear, bandit, nie. Aflluent, Outspread wings, sui, hsin. Woman, agth Radical. nu. See No. 24. Male child, 39th Radical. <»»• See No. 26. ^ * n .-s t ^ t (s\ t t t H^ 'it ^ ^ K 'h m It i ? F h K ^ a Respectful, obsolete. Chan, Chun. Roof, house, 40th Radical. mien. See No. 141. Store-room, chu. Cobra, that, another, t'o. Palace, kung. Knee-pan, horary sign, 3-5 P. M., yin. Dream, mhig. Finger-joint, inch, ts'un. Small, hsiao. Collect, hoard, shii. Originally a cobra with in- flated hood. See No. 144. A contracted form of this is now used. 41st Radical. See No. 43. 42d Radical. See No. 285. Crooked, deformed, 43d Radical. wang. Corpse, 44th Radical. sJiih. See No. 61. Foot-measure, chHh. Tail, end, xmi. Chinese Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XXXVII, Shuo Wen, Modern Meaning - - ' — ana Sound. Classifier. Form. Kemarks. classifier. Modern Form. Meaning and Remarks. Sound. t \^ r W I l\ I ^ XX II M ^ lU r M ;il {{ (« Shuo W^n : oi ^ n ^ "That on which ^'\°^> ^""^ > the foot rests," U. action ^ con- duct. Sprout, 45tii RadicaL ch'ie. See No. 103. Hill, mountain, 46th Radical. shan See No. 93. Mountain peak, Obsolete except V *^ in com b 1 n a- ^ ■ tion. Mountain range, „, , , Mn. Obsolete. High rugged peak, wei. River, ch 'uan. 47th Radical. See No. 85. Brooklet, Obsolete. kiuin. Cf. No. 85. Stream 30 miles lone Obsolete. W' Cf. No. 85. Nest on a tree, Ifepicts birds in ch'ao, tg'ao. a nest over the sign for tree. ± ±: XX IX Labor,^work, ^^^^ ^^^.^^^ I „f, 1 . Cf. 8th classifier Leit-hanu, , .,, ,. , , ' under 4th Rad- ical. Divination, magic, Cf. No. 369. vm. Very skilful, Obsolete. chan. p e. ? e, ^ e ^ t (tl >1^ (^ ^ i 4l y T — 1 ^T" ?f g £ tt ^4> r r m ^ ^f!^' 49tli Radical. Horary sign, 9-11 A. M., See No. 329. Worm, clap hands. See No. 57. pa. Head-kerchief, kin. SOtli Radical See No. 175. Pervade, tsa. Market, shih. See No. 177. White silk, po, pel. Ragged, pi. Obsolete. Shield, weapon, 51st Radical. kan. See No. 216. Uvel, even, g^^ j.„ 283. k ten. Young, tender, 52d RacUcal. "„(,_ See No. 330. Small, fine, See No. 331. yu. Shed, cover, ''t t^^'' yan, yen. Change, age, king. Chinese Ideogkaphs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol, IV. Plate XXXVIIL Shuo Wdn, Modern ^^nj"^ Classifier. Form. q j Remarks. Shuo WCn, Modern Classifier. Form. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. f* « ^ k ?£ ^ f^ n i ? ? 1? ^t ^ ? f? ?? I, 1 IT 3 %) k ^ ^^ tf )^ Unicorn, chai. Allied to No. 3. To move on, 54th Radical. yin. See No. 315. To go steadily, slow, ch'ien, eh'an. kung. Lance, t. Bow (weapon), kung. 55th RadicaL See also under 29th Radical. 56th Radical is not a Shuo \V6n classifier. 57th Radical. See No. 211. Bow-string, lisien. Twang of a bow, han. Strong, k'iang. Younger brother, ti. Swine snout, ki. Carved wood, lu. Stripes, feathers, shan. Writing, sign, toen. From "bow" and "silk" con- tracted. Obsolete. 'Bow" dupli- cated. 58th Radical. Cf. No. 18. Supposed to de- pict carved lines. 59th Radical. Variant of No. 279. u 4 H^ •C' f * i a A rt fi rf A R % p ^ f 4 4 A \ 1 h n 5t ^''wiif ' 60th Radical. ^^,.^' See No. 311. Heart, 61st Radical. Asm. See No. 41. Think, consider, si'. Doubtful, 80, jui. Halberd, 62d Radical. kim. See No. 213. Battle-axe, yo, yUe. 5th of the Ten Battle-axe, Stems. Re- wu, mou. lates to earth. See No. 214. 1 lorary sign. Not same as No. 7-9 p. M., 215. As«. See No. 307. Window, 63d Radical. hu. See No. 191. Hand, shou. Hand, shou. Substance, ts'ai. 64th Radical. See No. 36. Obsolete variant of last. ^'Z''' 65th Radical. chih. Chinese Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XXXIX. Sluio W6n, Modern ^^^nd"^ Classifier. Form. ^^^^^_ Remarks. Sliuo Wen, Modern Classifier. Form. Meaning and Sound. Kemarks. ^ i M *i i{ k t t i^ ^ It ^ t i n £ e g e ^ 4 J: a e a m B^ Tap,ja,,, 66thRadical. Release, fang. Teach, to cause, kiao. Sign, mark, 67th Radical. wcH. See No. 27U. rt- I 68th Radical. Dipper, peck, g^^ j,,„ jg^ '""• Cy. No. 188. ' ■ 69th Radical ,^^> is not a Sliuo *'"• W6n classifier. c 70th Radical. ^l'«'«' Related to No. jang. jgg r., , 71st Radical Vacant, j^ „„j ^ y,,,,^ ""*• W6n classifier. Indigestion, Reverse of 76th ki. Radical, q. v. Sun, day, 72d Radical. ji, i. See No. 71. Sunrise, tan. ' See No. 74. ^p™®' See No. 259. Just now, this, ggg No. 302. Bright, clear, g^g jj^, 77 ^ !& '^ « t=7 8 ee gb7 t^ Q M l^ 9 ^ >1 ^ 4 vl/ rn ;iv s ;fv A CD m C3 ^ CD -7^ To change, easy, Dawn, ch'&n. Quartz crystal. See No. 75. clang. ^^' 73d Radical. ^'°°Yii '^"'' ^'^^ ^°- 309- To congregate, hui. Moon, month, 74thRadical. yue. See No. 72. Have, hold. Hand grasping y«. an object. Tree, wood, mu. 75th Radical. See No. 97. Root, origin, pin.' Not yet, horary sign 1-3 P. M., See No. 387. wa. Bind, tie, shu, su. Thorn, t>'-i. See No. 125. ^""IrnV""'' S?^ No, 121. Chinese Ipsogkaphs, Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV, Plate XL SIiuo W^n, Modem Classifier. Form. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. ^huo Wfn, Modern leaning Classifier. Form. „ j Sound. Remarks. * )T( B M[ ^ a n u ^ ll jk !¥- 41 m^ ^ ^K ri X yX 1^ Grass-husk, Thrifty growth, p'o. Grove, tin. Flowers, p'i. Cruel, kie. Pendant fniit, han. Pursuit, trade, Varnish, ch'L See No. 100. See No. 101. See No. 98. See No. 99. Possibly "men" impaled on branches of a "tree." Depicts fruit on a tree. "Tree" and "water," i. c, " tree-sap." To bind, hun, kuii. Yawn, weary, deficient, k'ien. Spittle, ch'ien, yen. Drink, yin. Stop, ehih. Exact, chini/. Obsolete. 76th Radical. Keversed form of 1st classifier under 71st Radical. Obsolete. See also under 85th Radical. Obsolete. 77th Radical. See No. 110. See No. fll. Chinese Ideographs. J:t fi ^,5 M 5t fi^ ^=t ^ ^ 1^ t f ^^ J:k: s ^ 4 St 4 5 ^ -J// This, here. From "man' ts'i. and "stop." Step, pu. See No. 318. Bad, tai. 78th Radical. Dead, die, si'. From "man" and "bad." To bore a hole, clinn. A long spear, kill, . S. * ^ t if o/ 4 ^ in LU (17 ^ (^ 'f ^1^ "^ 1 M7 P Jade ornament, Occurs only in kite. proper names. Lute, violin, See No. 198. k'in. ^elon, 97tji Radical. Gourd, 'Au. Tile, 98tli Radical. wa. See No. 196. Flexible thongs, obsolete. Isun. Sweet, 99tli Radical. kan. See No. 342. Produce, 100th Radical. sUng. See No. 109. Use, lOlst Radical. yung. See No. 344. Field, 102d Radical. t'ien. See No. 184. Demon's head, ri,i* fe 6t: g S Q s m BA a Si ti i © ^ ^ I e & ts* ^ r. ^^ * 4 Meaning and Sound. Bamboo brush Bemarks. ' Obsolete. Flesh, 130th Radical. jou. See No. 54. Natu.1 abil- OS S5 ity, able, ^^^^ ^-^^ ^^^ "^"i'- bear. Prime Min- ister, ch'Sn. 131st Radical. See No. 239. Chin, i. Kecline, rest, wd, ngo. Moral, worthy, hsien. Nose, self, 132d Radical. tgi. See No. 269. Head, Obsolete form of shou. No. 29. Unto, towards, ,„_, ., ,. , chih. 133d Radical. Mortar, kiu. Kiln, kii. 134th Radical. See No. 200. See No. 201. Offer, lift up, Perhaps related yil- to No. 346. Tongue, 135th Radical. sId. See No. 56. Chinese Ideographs. Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate XLV. Sliuo WCn, Modern Classifier. Form. Meaning and Sound. Remarks. Slum Wen, Modern Classifier. Form. Meaning and Sonnd. Remarks. n n ^ 119 ts ^ f T AA y^^J ^4 til 4 t H Opposeclear>skv"f*^.?t^dical color>blue- ' ('-■■'i '"b' tB a ^ ""^ curious succes- ^.""f.^"' sion of mean- "* '"»• ings). Not right, not, 175th Radical. fei. See No. 380. a i S i Face, Leather, i(?, kei. 176th Radical. See No. 30. 177th Radical. At i$L 1^ t Leather thongs, 178th Radical. wei. See No. 197. Leeks, 179th Radical. kiu. See No. 116. Sound, note, 180th Radical. yin. See No. 277. Head, book-leaf, jg^^^ Radical. Ought, Itsii. Urgent, p'in. ^2JJ,''' 182d Radical. To fly, 183d Radical. fei. See No. 63. Foo 4 /4^ t i^^ Long-tailed igeth Radical. bird (generic). See No. 12. niao. Salt, rude, 197th Radical. lu,_ See No. 133. Salt, Synonym of last. yen. Deer, stag, 198th Radical. ;^_ See No. 3. Fleet, timid, Herd of deer. Is'u. Wheat, i99tii Radical. «iai, met. Hemp, fla.\, 200th Radical. ma. Yellow, 201st Radical. hvMng. Tall millet, growing, shu. 202d Radical. ft^ 203d Radical. To embroider, 204th Radical. cidh. See No. 180. Toad, 205th Radical. min, meng. See No. 9. Small incense joeth Radical. t".!'*^' See No. 304. wnjf. I^^um- 207th Radical. Chinese Ideographs, Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol IV Plate XLIX. Shiio W6n, Modern Classifier. Form. ^ (J ^ ^ 1 ^ ^ w. m Meaning and Sound. Bemarks. Shuo W6n, Modern Classifier. Form. Rat, mouse, 208th. Radical. shu. See No. 21. Nose, 209th Radical. pi. See No. 33. Growing millet, 210th Radical. chH. See No. 119. Front teeth, 211th Radical. ch'ih. See No. 52. II t ?:9 /7 iii Meaning and Sound. Bemarks. Dragon, lung. 212th Radical. Tortoise, 213th Radical. kuet. See No. 10. Fife, organ, yiie. 214th Radical. Chinese Ideographs. CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 19 seem to be groundless. It is unsafe to place absolute confidence in all of the etymologies of the Shuo Wen, but on the other hand, it is a great error to treat it, as has been done by some, as throughout unreliable. Even the compilers of the Kanghsi Dictionary had their doubts about many of the conclusions of the Shuo Wen, as will appear by a perusal of that work. Still upon the whole it seems to have merited the approval of that able corps of scholars. There are in existence more than one version of the Shuo Wen, which show pro- nounced variations in the text. This divergence in readings is probably due to the several versions having been derived from early independent transcriptions of the original manuscript. What is needed is a revision of the text, after careful com- parison of the extant versions, by a corps of Chinese and foreign scholars, along the lines of textual criticism. To cite an example of divergence in readings, the defini- tion of a certain ancient measure is variously given in two versions, the discrepancy being so great iis to leave the reader unable to determine the intended dimensions. Some error in copying is likely the cause of this variation, but just when and where it occurred is the question. There are also instances where the definition is irreconcilable with subsequent meanings of a symbol. This leads the student to suspect that an early copyist has substituted another character for the one intended. This kind of error is easily made in a language in which the addition or omission of a single stroke may ma- terially alter the significance of a symbol. Another source of error may be in the imperfections of the original manuscript, for it is a matter of tradition that the Shuo Wen was published after the death of the author, thus embodying in the text some inadvertent errors which a review by the author might have eliminated. The Chinese commentators of the Shuo Wen have themselves made some in- genious surmises in their efforts to reconcile textual contradictions, and in many instances are free to admit that there must be errors of long standing in the extant versions. Combine the ability of the European textual critic with the accumulated knowledge of the Chinese antiquarian, and some of the knotty questions might find a solution. In Plates XXX. to XLIX., inclusive, I have given a list of the five hundi-ed and forty "classifiers," which in the opinion of the author of the Shuo Wen is the basis of the later written language. To the form given in the Shuo Wen I have appended the equivalent modern form together with the English definition and the pronuncia- tion. These symbols have been arranged so as to fall under the successive radicals as now accepted by modern lexicographers. 20 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM III. THE ROYAL EDICT CONFIRMING THE DOMAIN OF SAN.'^' Upon the following pages is shown a fac-simile of this edict, as given by Juan Yiian in his work on Old Inscriptions, together with a transliteration into the modern char- acter, and an attempt at translation.^ According to Juan Yiian this remarkable text of three hundred and fifty-seven symbols was engraved upon a brass tripod originally in the collection of the Hsii (^^) family of Yang Chow (^|>H) but later (A. D. 1803) in the collection of one Hung (j*^), presumably of the same city. It is accepted as genuine by the scholar Juan Yiian, who seems to have been a discriminating student of old inscriptions. He suggests that the Edict may date back to the reign of Wu Wang ^ i (I^- 0. 1122). The style of this inscription is in semi-cursive character with but few carefully executed symbols. Contractions and variations are numerou.s, as will appear by compai'ing the symbols which occur more than once. Some of the symbols show an arrangement of their component parts (juite dif- ferent from that of their present form, such as ^ for ±nt ; ^ for ^ ; A for ^^. Others are still in the pictographic state, such as: J) (^), "moon" ; ^ (|^), " hoi-se "; ^ (-f ), " son " ; ^ (Q), " eye " ; f (2.), " stemmed dish " (here a man's name); ^ (,^), "ca[)ital city," showing the tower over the city gate; ^ (^), " well," with the mouth still in place ; and a fairly good pair of doors in p^ (p^), " gate." The symbol ^ i "public" occurs thrice in such strange forms (^ ^ ^) that it raises a question as to its derivation from ^ iclj unless^ (old formof ?('o) has become mere scroll-work in the old cursive style. The text may be regarded as rightly belonging to the early date ascribed to it, and I see no reason for suspecting it as a forgery. We know from history that Wu Wang established the Chou Dynasty )|], B. C. 1122; that he set nine ministers over his realm, one of whom was San I-sheng The instrument is executed in the form of an indenture, with description of land and names of adjacent landholders as in modern Chinese deeds. The unusual feature is the oath taken by the king and the go-betweens to secure the rights of the clan or family of San. An incidental proof of antiquity is the form of the date, which sliows the cycle-signs in use for days of the month'^ instead of the later usage '^ For coDvenience this may lie flesi<;iiated " The San Edict." " This is but a tentative translation, for a minute study of local geography ami history is necessary to throw light upon many points otherwise obscure. *8The first year of the 26th cycle coincides with B. C. 1137. This was designated by ^ ^. B. C. 112. was 2 Op- Here we find L, Op, which is the fifty-second year of the cycle and falls outside the reign of Wu Wang (B. C. 1122-1115). Either the assnmed reign is incorrect, or else the date- mark applies to a day and not to a year. CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 21 to designate years. This peculiarity, together with the general style of writing, suggest a period at or near that of the "tortoise-shell" inscriptions referred to here- after. The inscription was presumably on the body of the tripod, and in case it covered the entire surface, the vessel must have been at least three feet in circum- ference. So heavy a bronze object would be hard to destroy, and this may account for its having survived the ravages of time. The habit of inscribing bronze vessels and implements was in vogue among the Chinese at a very early date. Inscriptions upon sacrificial vessels are usually in conventional language, affording no valuable historical data. Halberd-heads often have a single symbol engraved or embossed upon the butt, such as that for halberd, war, army, lightyiing. Others have two or more characters giving names of cities, which may be trade-marks. Numerals and dates frequently occur on swords, hal- berds, and cross-bow triggers, which are supposed to be check-marks made by the inspector of arms. Old bronze hatchets and chisels sometimes have marks cut into the surface, probably for the purpose of identifying ownership. In general, very few Chinese inscriptions of ancient date afford any information of moment. In view of this, the San Edict stands almost alone as an inscription furnishing definite information, unless we except the Standard Weights and Measures of Ch'in Shih Huang-ti (B..C. 240-230), upon which was inscribed the edict for uni- formity with the reign and year. Should it be proved that the date affixed to the San Edict is a cycle year-sign, then it must be later than the reign of Wu Wang, and its purport would be the confirmation of title to a domain presumably acquired at an earlier date. In passing it may be noted that the Chinese cycle consists of a period of sixty years. Each year has a distinguishing title called the "year sign," which is com- posed of two characters selected from the twenty-two signs known as the Ten Stems and Twelve Branches. CJhinese chronology is based upon the succession of the cycles. The first year of the first cycle coincides with the year 2637 B. C, com- puted from known dates in Chinese history. There is, however, some doubt as to the exact period when the cycle-system was adopted for fixing the succession of years, and there is much to warrant the suppo- sition that the cycle-signs were in use for days long , before they became current as year-signs. The late Dr. Edkins was of the opinion that these twenty-two symbols were chronological signs imported from Babylonia at a very early time. Just what his proofs were I am unable to state. 22 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM TRANSLATION. Confirmation of the vast territory ^' San-I,** being tiie domain now enjoyed by the said San. Beginning at the Hsien and T'ao Rivers, thence south to the Ta Kn River, a land-marl; ;^' thence down stream by two land marks to a row of willows ; again down the T'ao and Hsien rivers to Yii Ch'a'^ and (?) Mei ;'^ thence west, bonnded by Po'' Ch'eng (city) to an apple tree ; thence » « a 1. »i A !* if 1 t '•"Wasteland B":^^ to ^ "thistle." Both c ^ t J r r •/J f 4 ^^ *■) it ^r ' r^ }k PI fk ^^ 135 9^ r J 700 t*) ""Wastelands"'^ A^. This is a guess. The expression is obscure. Ji may mean "dry grass " and be allied Both clyiracters have other meanings that are inapplicable here. 'S^ (^) resembles ^ (a.) ai, "artemisia." Full form for ^ 's^- Here contracted. ^' 4^ pR P'^ (So Mei Ling) and gji] ;^^ (Kang So) are probably local names of ridges, 24: MEMOIKS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM hounded by the Ki Lai'^ road ; theuce west to the line o( Hung Mu's land to the Government Land Plot, '' and from a poplar tree on the left of the road up to said Government Plot eastward, along a road as boundary, to a landmark ; turning westward along and down Kang past three landmarks, and thence south to the highway down by Chou'* ^ "~ £ 1^ il m )^ jt ^^ *^ ii \m >^ ^ I 1^ - J*. li J '*-!?? %^ ^^^ \m) is obscure. I take it as a local name. "Government land- plot (^ P, W) refers to the ancient government reservation of 100 Mow (acres) out of every 900. Land was divided into nine plots, thus ^. The reservation was in the center and was described by the sign it, which soon coalesced with the symbol for " well" '*The significance of the terms "Chou" and "Kang" (see next page) is uncertain. The former is usually a "judicial district," hut here it seems to have special meaning, e. g., personal name. CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 25 aad Kang, asoending So (a ridge) aad dowo to a thicket aud two land-marks, across the holdings of the Yu Si'' and honorable elders,*" Fang Wu-fu," Hsi Kung," Hsiang, Ton, across Yii K'ao, Lu Chfing, clan of Shih, the private gate- way (?) of Yu Hsiang, across Ts'i Yuan, across Yii, ^S (unidentified name), Huai, Superintendent of Works Hu Hsiao, (?) Feng Fu, ^ f X. '5 ^s i i ii r^ $ k"" m m ^ ^^ X X i^ X «" "Yn-81 (;^ a]) "•petty officers," "retainers." These officers comprised inspectors and superintendents of many departments under a feudal lord. '"I venture to translate i ^£ (i-tau) as "honorable elders," analogous to -^ j^j^ of like meaning. /fj[ usually means "ancestor." The expression "i-tau" may possibly be a name. *' ^ ^ (wu-fu) is cited by Kanghsi as a recognized title, hnt not deflaed. Itonght to mean "knight " or "man at arms." Here it is likely a title, -^y^ (fivng) means " release," but ought to stand for a man's name. Kanghsi cites no case of such usage, and Juan Yiian substitutes another symbol without textual authority. *^i5 S ''*' ^"■"ff 'S " West Palace " and naually refers to the Harem. Here it may be a personal name, or it may signify that the following-named persons were eunuchs, who as a class have great power at Court. *' Unidentified symbols not found in Kangsi. 26 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM Hung, and also Superintendent of Punishments K'ao Wei, in all fifteen officers. These immediately adjacent to San's domain are : Inspector of Land Pi Chou, Inspector of Cavalry Tan, Chief Herdsman and Superintendent of Works Tun Kiiin, Tsai Te fu, and hordering on the lands of San and the imperial** domain,** Wu Tuan-fu, Kiao (?) *' Fn . . . ** ^ f 111 /> ^ ^' ^ :^ m^ 4^ y^ % HK 1 •5- r, "5 >l (f> ^ J< -^ -f^ <$! !'.'< f = ^ ^i ^ ¥ I *^ 1 i\\ n \ 9 **This and the preceding descriptive term are perplexing. '^ KB (kiug-ti'en) means " to bound land " as else- where in this indenture. The preceding expression, Hdao tsi, is an obsolete term of self-depreciation used by an emperor, literally meaning "little child." *'The symbol !^ is quite distinct, but is not found in Kanghsi. **The unknown sign ^i^ is descriptive like \A on page 28 and may be the same. Both are followed by the i)os sessive j^ and thus modify the following word. CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 27 Officer (?)" Chou-King (| >H y,), Yu Ts'ung (?) *« Wei {'^ O), San's retainers to the number of ten. Now the King, in the Ninth Moon, Ch'en-Kia" I-Mao,™ makes oath before [his] Honorable Elders and Select Bannermen,'' saying, "We confer upon the Clan of San this land-token," securing [the land] to the Clan of San in good faith, else let ns suffer t '3 L"^ =] * m 5P 5) i t. ^ ni k ""i -/'X 'O ^ ^§. j^ ^^ ^ \i7 n A- ;|^ T ^ ^ -?9^ ;ka T Iff + J^ *' fe is obscure, Juan Yiian makes it ^ which seems far-fetched. ♦' A properly formed symbol, but not in Kanghsi. ''This seems to be a reversed horary couplet like several found in the "tortoise-shell " inscriptions (see infra). The sign -f" may be either ^^ kia or j(^ tmi "at." If an horary sign, the two (eh 'en kia) may mean "forenoon." ™ " I-mao " (L ^0 refers to the day of the month, and not to the year as in the cycle system (adopted later). 5' "Select." Kanghsi quotes early use of W )mian as substitute for j^ hgUan "select." ^^ Hi "troops," "bannermen." *^® ^ i takt to be "land-token," referring to ths tripod inscribed with this indenture, and conferred as a " token " of title to the domain. 28 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM a thonsand penalties a thousand fold,"" . . . Honorable Elders and Select Bannermen in turn make oath to (or) by Hsi Kung, Hsiang Wu Fu saying : " We insure to the Clan of San possession of the lands irrigated (?) ^* and walled, else let us suffer a thonsand penalties a thousand [fold]." ^ Hsi Kuug and Hsiang Wu-fn upon thus taking oath affix '' the seal.^ \1 w t ^ A " ivory " > " carve "> "delineate." Here it probably means "affix." °^)§ (t'u) "seal," "diagram." No seal is shown in this copy of the edict. Possibly a "map" of the domain accompanied the edict. CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 29 Tlie Great King, with Ton, ■*' in the New Palace, East Audience Hall. . the Minister of Agriculture between/' on the left ^* the Royal Secretary, with Jh : ^ i"i X |i ' 1 (?) - 57 a t , U ^ : t V7 t IS '' ^ 5 ^ IQ IQ g { * " Probably the go-between, as yet in China in all such transactions. This name appears on page 25 as one of the retainers of San. *' Tradition makes the rifflii hand the ancient seat of honor, hence properly that of the Ki7ig. A trace of this usage is in the Chinese army, where the right-wing (;^ '^) takes the precedence. Modern custom makes the lefl the seat of honor. *'I make the last symbol in the edict as above shown, " Minister of Agriculture." Old form of W should be %[' which closely resembles ^f*. Modern form is ^ (nung) "farmer." Kanglisi says : " Also title of officer over agriculture " ^>?.DJ^"g'^j. Juan Yuan makes it Z|^ without orthographic evidence. In either case the expression is not grammatical. 30 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM IV. ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS UPON BONE AND TORTOISE SHELL. A remarkable find of antiquities occurred in 1899 near Wei Hui Fu (Honan Prov- ince) upon the site of the ancient city Chao Kuo ('h'eng (■^>] ^^tjii,)- There were reported to have been exhumed three thousand fragments. The vendors went first to Peking, but finding that city disturbed by the approaching Boxer Uprising, they brought their curios to the city of Weihsien (Shantung) and left a portion of the find in Fig. 4. FiQ. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. Fig. 9. /ma Y K^ V * Figs. 4-9. Inscribed bone arrow-heads foand near Wei Hui Fu (Honan Province). Figs. 4-6 are in the Museum of the Koyal Asiatic Society at Shanghai, and Figs. 7-9 are in the Bergen collection (Shantung, China). (Slightly re- duced in size.) The style of writing is very archaic, most of the symbols being as yet undeciphered. the hands of a local merchant. This Chinese gentleman, being a friend of the writer, made known the presence of these unique curiosities, and loaned them to him for inspection. The balance of the find had been taken to Shanghai (or elsewhere) and sold to a mandarin (Tao-tai) Liu T'ie-Yiin (j|ij ^^ -g*). This Chinese scholar pub- lished a book in his own language, illustrated with eight hundred phototypes taken CHALFANT: EAKLY CHINESE WRITING from ink-rubbings of the specimens in his possession. Meanwhile some four hun- dred fragments were purchased by the writer for the Museum of the Royal Asiatic Society, Shanghai. A year later (1904-5) the remaining eighteen hundred frag- FlG. 10. Fro. 11. Fig. 10 is a fine specimen of ancient inscribed tortoise-shell, most of the symbols of whicli are intelligible, but the translation difficult owing to the incompleteness of the inscription. (Actual size.) Fig. 11. In.scribed bone fragment. The upper right two lines read : ^£ ]__ ^^T fJi i't\ £, I^. (Technical lan- guage of divination containing date of inquiry.) Originals of Figs. 10-11 in the Conling-Chalfant Colleoticvi, Shantung, China. (Actual size. ) ments were located, and, after some difficulty, were procured and are now preserved as private collections. It is unfortunate that the finders did not undertake to match the fragments before disposing of them, for it is an almost impossible task to do this now, on account of the dispersal of the pieces. While it is a tradition among the C-hinese that tortoises and sacrificial bones were once used in divination, yet, according to Liu T'ie-Yiin, no one prior to himself had published any account of the discovery of such objects. He further records his opinion that the style of writing is old^r than that of any extant inscription. 32 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM It is possible that this archaic style of writing survived among soothsayers long after it ceased to be in current use. Whatever be the date of the inscriptions, tliey Fio. 12. FfG. 13. Fig. 12. Inscribed tortoise-shell (almost complete). The part missing is indicated by dotted lines. This was pieced together from several fragments. The foar sentences are alike in tenor. Upper right reails: i'^ N/Sl> hsin, jc^ nii, 'J shih, ^ ching, have astrologic significance, being names of stars and constellations. Enquiries for divination seem to have been made concerning parents, sons, daughters, animals, crops, and -utensils. One inscription seems to read fjj ± g "Ask selection of Prime Minister." Should this prove correct it suggests consulta- tion of the oracle by royalty. A Chinese scholar mentions a tradition that the Fig. 18. Fig. 19. Fig. 20. ^^i^*"*''^ Figs. 18-20. Fragments with certain striking symbols, e. g., ^ (a curious coincidence in form with our modern dollar-sign). Here it is ^ (fu) " not." Occurs also as $,#,$, (Actual size.) (The original? ot Figs. 15-18 ^re m tUe Conling-Chalfant collection. Figs. 19 and 20 are in the Bergen collection. CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 35 oracle of Wen Wang (circa 1200 B. C.) was at Chao Kuo Ch'eng, where the bones were discovered. There is no adequate proof, however, that these inscriptions belong to so early a date. The cycle-signs (the so-called Ten Stems [f f] and Twelve Branches [f— ^ com- bined in pairs) occur frequently, but as the combinations exceed in number the sixty pairs of signs allotted to the cycle, I infer that they do not conform to the use of these signs as designating years, and are intended to signify the days of the sea- son, or of some period less than a year."^ In several cases these pairs of characters occur in reversed order, as yp ^ (Shen Kuei) for -^ ip, and, more frequently singly, as T, \^, ^, £• . At present but little can be said about this unique group of fragmentary inscrip- tions, the deciphei'ing of which will necessitate a careful study of the traditional methods and vocabulary of astrology and soothsaying as practiced in China. While the Chinese have many works written upon these subjects, still it requires special training in the technical terminology of divination to rightly understand them. " See appended list of these signs ( Plate L. ). ^ Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Vol. IV. Plate L. rt> Regular old forms ore? C ^ ^ f| ^t* /^ & 4n ^ 63 f 1 ^ P5 Tsi Ch'ou Yin Mao Ch'en SI Wu Wei Shen Yu Hsu Hai 3" ^F ^ 2 / > ■ip ^ e. if * P 1^ A CO -}- Kia + + •+ ■t 1 — - L A f^ 8 u ¥ \ ' *S i <, ? ^ ^ >% ;f j5^ ;(c ? J ^ Ping n n 'n n n n T it f^ ^ ^ ^^ i O Ting *a a a O •a p Q o A ^ P ^l' M ^ W ^ ^ nc ^'^- hF >f •1 >f 11 i £. 1^ PI 5 A^ t^.% f E Ki *E 5 2 e E E 5 M ^ 5,;a ^^ r il( f r f^ Keng * #t *^ * * J~ t ^ ^ ^,rt S Hsin T f f f f f f i ^ i& # $ ;k ? ? "i *^*^" I •i I I ^< P( ^^ ^,^ 1^ ?Sc Kug! •^ X X X X ^ ?^ a ^l> ■xc V Comparison of the Date-marks found upon the Tortoise-sliells with tlie Year-signs of the t'ycle. Tlie year-signs are successive comhinations of the ten symhols on the left with the twelve at the top by a method which yields sixty pairs of signs to designate each year of the cycle. * Couplets not belonging to the cycle-series. Alternate fortns are placed side by side. ■■'• -ill -n^ Iff Ti ^^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY tThi^ooki^DUEonthe last date stamped below. iT 21 1947 OCT 21 1947 1 Nov'49 Cr 2iAug3lty mmin [JUN171955.1U HIH181953 tW , ^ REC'D LD recWd -.^h( ,8Jan'52J'< ^%4H'u 28Jan'53S5 ^'55441/ FFR3 11953 LU 3Sep54WM AUG 2 3 1954 LO LD21-100m-12,'46(A2012sl6)4l2cr MAY 7 1959 n:. J^^ ■^ . if' .^'' w •!?»/»' *j"^ s .^^^ I ^'--N^ -^♦i ■■■<.-— *-..^ '-■^ ■,',-itri '?>• Ill- 1/^ • I . -'.■', ,1. 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