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Three vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [Changsha]: Sixian jiangshe ????, 1891. Critical edition by Guo Qingfan ??? (1844-96) of this key lexicographical work from the Han dynasty, published along with two sequels. Yang Xiong s (53 BCE-18 CE) The Imperial Light Carriage Emissary…through the Ages, commonly referred to as Regional Words, or Fangyan ??, is one of the foundational texts of the Chinese lexicographical tradition. The book "collected synonyms taken from different dialects and languages, gathered by court messengers who had been sent to various regions of China" (Bottéro, "Ancient China," 57). In Yang Xiong s time, China was united under the Han dynasty, which ruled a vast territory of great linguistic diversity. Yang documented this diversity. In his own words: Whenever Presenters of Annual Accounts and the "Filial and Incorrupt" from the various parts of the empire as well as the interior commandery military officers convened at the capital, I always took my three-inch soft brush, provided myself with a four-foot piece of oiled white silk in order to ask them about unusual expressions. As soon as I returned home I used lead to make extracts and arrange them on tablets. It has now been twenty-seven years that I have been doing this. (translated in Knechtges, "The Liu Hsin/Yang Hsiung Correspondence," 316-17). The resulting book "is the oldest known Chinese documentation on languages other than Chinese" (Bottéro, 57). Yang Xiong s text is published here along with the commentary of Guo Pu ??, the famous medieval Chinese commentator on lexicographical texts. The editor, Guo Qingfan, explains in his Preface that this critical edition is based on two editions from the heyday of Qing philological scholarship in the 18th century: the edition by the polymath Dai Zhen ?? (1724-77) and that by classical scholar and official Lu Wenchao ??? (1717-96), whose Preface from 1782 is included here. There is also a Preface by Wang Xianqian ??? The notes by Dai and Lu have been included in a subcommentary in this edition. The subcommentary moreover contains original notes added by Guo Qingfan. At the end of Yang Xiong s text, Guo has included an Afterword by Li Mengchuan ??? (1136-1219), and a colophon written for Li s edition by Zhu Zhi ??, both dated 1200. Yang s Fangyan is followed by Hang Shijun s ??? (1696-1773) Sequel and Chen Jisheng s ??? (1739-96) Supplement to Hang s work. Our copy (WorldCat 846443264) was printed by Sixian jiangshe, an academy in Changsha, Hunan, that specialized in classical and historical learning, (Deng, Hunan shuyuan shigao, 433). Fine set. References Bottéro, Françoise. "Ancient China." In The Cambridge World History of Lexicography. Edited by John Considine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Deng Hongbo ??? Hunan shuyuan shigao ?????? Changsha: Hunan jiaoyu chubanshe, 2013. Knechtges, David R. "The Liu Hsin/Yang Hsiung Correspondence on the Fang yen." Monumenta Serica 33 (1977/1978): 309-25.
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