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Yunfu qunyu 韻府群玉

Feb 7, 2011 © Ulrich Theobald

Yunfu qunyu 韻府群玉 "The many jades from the rhymes treasury" is an encyclopedia compiled by the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368) scholar Yin Shifu 陰時夫 (personal name Yin Youyu 陰幼遇, also called Yin Jingxuan 陰勁弦) and commented by his brother Yin Zhongfu 陰中夫 (also called Yin Fuchun 陰復春). The 20 juan "scrolls" long book imitates the structure of Yan Zhenqing's 顏真卿 now lost encyclopedia Yunhai jingyuan 韻海鏡源 from the Tang period 唐 (618-907) which arranged the topics according to phonology (106 rhymes, see pingshui rhymes 平水), and not, as usual, by theme. The themes are, nevertheless, identical to those used in other encyclopedias, from astronomy and geography to human affairs, administration, literature and objects, to animals and plants.
During the late 17th century, the female scholar Xie Ying 謝瑛 revised the surviving editions of the Yunfu qunyu and republished this revised version, known as Cengshan Yunyu dingben 增刪韻玉定本. The book was criticized as a mediocre collection, but it is practically the only surviving book with this kind of phonetical arrangement, and therefore earns attention. It influenced later compilations, like the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) encyclopedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典, or the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) encyclopedia Peiwen yunfu 佩文韻府.
There is a supplement to the Yunfu qunyu written by the Ming period scholar Bao Yu 包瑜, the Yunfu xubian 韻府續編, in 40 (or 38) juan. It is rated as very mediocre, with a bad print.
The is a print by Master Liu 劉氏 from the Jiajing era 嘉靖 (1522-1566), and the print of Xie Ying from the Kangxi reign 康熙 (1662-1722). The is included in the reprint series Siku quanshu 四庫全書. In 1991 the Shanghai guji press published a modern edition 上海古籍出版社.

Sources:
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Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, eds. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 2, 2043.
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