《南華真經直音》

The Nanhua Zhenjing Zhiyin (Direct Pronunciation Guide to the True Scripture of Southern Florescence) was compiled and presented to the imperial court by Jia Shanxiang (styled "Master Dewu Zhen") during the Song dynasty. In his preface, he observes a curious phenomenon: scholars of the world begin studying under teachers from childhood to distinguish true learning from false, ultimately achieving fame through the examination system. Yet some read merely for leisure, stumbling when encountering rare characters or unusual pronunciations—consulting dictionaries proves too cumbersome with their complex fanqie (traditional phonetic notation), and flipping through pages exhausts them until they simply set the book aside to sleep. How can one comprehend the content without even recognizing the characters? Without understanding, the text naturally seems dull, let alone sustaining the effort to study.

Jia Shanxiang claims to have witnessed many such cases firsthand. Thus, while practicing tuna (Daoist breath cultivation), he annotated difficult characters in the Laozi and Zhuangzi with simpler equivalents, resorting to intelligible fanqie notation where no direct match existed. He titled this work Zhiyin ("Direct Pronunciation") as an aid to scholars. The preface was written in winter of the Yuanyou Bingyin year (1086) under the pen name "Pengqiuzi" ("Master of Penglai Isle").

The text includes the seven inner chapters and fifteen outer chapters of the Zhuangzi, covering renowned sections like Xiaoyao You ("Free and Easy Wandering"), Qiwu Lun ("Discourse on Evening Things Out"), Yangsheng Zhu ("Essentials for Nurturing Life"), and Renjian Shi ("The Human World"). Each chapter title is numbered for easy reference, such as "Pianmu VIII" ("Webbed Toes") or "Mati IX" ("Horse's Hooves"). This phonetic method, akin to modern pinyin, makes profound Daoist scriptures more accessible to beginners.

This passage presents the chapter index and phonetic annotations from the Nanhua Zhenjing Zhiyin (commonly known as the Zhuangzi). Let me analyze it section by section:

First is the chapter sequence of the Zhuangzi:

Chapter 25 "Zeyang," Chapter 26 "Waiwu," Chapter 27 "Yuyan," Chapter 28 "Rangwang," Chapter 29 "Daozhi," Chapter 30 "Shuojian," Chapter 31 "Yufu," Chapter 32 "Lie Yukou," Chapter 33 "Tianxia." The opening chapter "Xiaoyaoyou" (Free and Easy Wandering) is also included here.

The subsequent lengthy text contains ancient phonetic notation using the fanqie system (an early Chinese spelling method combining the initial consonant of one character with the final of another). For example:

"鵾昆鵬朋摶團而上時掌切邪以遮切" means:

• The character "鵾" is pronounced like "昆" (kun)
• "鵬" like "朋" (peng)
• "摶" like "團" (tuan)
• For the phrase "而上時," the character "上" combines the initial of "掌" (zh) with the final of "邪" (ie) → zhie (modern pronunciation: shàng)
• "邪" combines the initial of "以" (y) with the final of "遮" (e) → ye

Other phonetic examples:

"扶坳於交切" indicates "坳" combines the initial of "於" (w) with the final of "交" (iao) → wiao (modern pronunciation: ào)

"膠教平培裴" marks these characters as pingsheng (level tone, one of the four classical tones)

These notations are now primarily used for studying Old Chinese phonology. General readers need only understand that these represent ancient dictionary-style pronunciation guides. The text also includes special phonetic annotations for Zhuangzi-specific terms, such as:

• "小知智" (the character "知" in "small wisdom" is pronounced "智" [zhì])
• "惡乎烏" (here "惡" is pronounced "乌" [wū])
• "觀貫" ("觀" is pronounced "贯" [guàn])

Finally, the three characters "齊物論" (Qiwulun) introduce the phonetic annotations for the "Discourse on the Equality of Things" chapter, again using the fanqie method for uncommon characters. These specialized phonetic notations have been replaced by standard Mandarin pronunciations today, and modern dictionaries can be consulted for contemporary readings.

This passage from Nanhua Zhenjing Zhiyin (Pronunciation Guide to the Authentic Scripture of Southern Florescence) provides phonetic annotations for difficult characters in the Zhuangzi text. In ancient times before modern pinyin, scholars used the fanqie method (combining the initial consonant of one character with the final of another) to indicate pronunciations. For example:

• "切叫古吊切" means the character "叫" is pronounced by combining the initial of "古" (gǔ) with the final of "吊" (diào)
• "譹毫宎么咬" are all rare characters requiring phonetic notation
• "喁五恭切" indicates "喁" is pronounced by combining "五" (wǔ) and "恭" (gōng)

The annotations also include:

1. Multi-pronunciation markers (e.g. "飄瓢濟去聲" shows "濟" should be read in the falling tone here)

2. Interchangeable character notes (e.g. "邪爺下同" means subsequent "邪" characters share the pronunciation of "爺")

3. Special readings (e.g. "殺色界切" marks an exceptional pronunciation for "殺")

These phonetic guides helped classical readers properly recite the Zhuangzi text, functioning like modern pinyin annotations. Important notes:

• These fanqie pronunciations may differ from contemporary Mandarin
• The title "養生主" refers to the Zhuangzi chapter "Essentials for Nurturing Life"
• The concluding characters "而知智殆" mark the beginning of the main text from this chapter

(A complete vernacular translation would require the specific chapter content - this explanation focuses solely on interpreting the phonetic annotation system.)

This passage primarily contains phonetic annotations and glosses for difficult characters in the "Human World" chapter of the Zhuangzi (also known as the Nanhua Zhenjing). In modern terms:

It records the pronunciation guides for challenging words in the "Human World" chapter, such as:

• "譆" is pronounced like "xi" (same as the modern "嘻")
• "批" is a checked tone character (one of the four tones in ancient Chinese)
• "軋" is read as "yu-ba qie" (using the traditional fanqie phonetic system)
• "知" sometimes carries a falling tone (equivalent to the modern fourth tone)
• "恶" is pronounced either as "wu" or "ge" depending on context

These phonetic notations helped ancient readers correctly recite the classic, similar to modern pinyin annotations. They involve several unique features of ancient Chinese pronunciation rules:

1. Fanqie method: combining the sounds of two characters to produce a third (e.g., "ku-jiang qie" yields the pronunciation of "彊")

2. Four-tone notation: the level, rising, departing, and entering tones

3. Polyphonic character differentiation: the same character pronounced differently in various contexts

Originally serving as pronunciation memos for ancient scholars studying the Zhuangzi, modern readers using vernacular translations generally don't need to master these detailed pronunciations. These phonetic materials are preserved primarily for academic research and classical text preservation purposes.

This passage from Straight Pronunciation Guide to the Southern Florescence Scripture provides phonetic annotations for obscure characters found in chapters like "The Sign of Virtue Complete" (De Chong Fu) and "The Great Ancestral Teacher" (Da Zong Shi) from the Zhuangzi. Here's a modernized presentation:

【Character Pronunciations】

1. 促 (pronounced with a falling tone), 诟姤 (pronounced like "qian sheng" with a falling tone), 将庇 (pronounced like "lai lai"), 咶 (same as "舐" [to lick])

2. 酲 (pronounced "cheng"), 拱 (pronounced "ju yong qie"), 狙 (a type of ape), 杙 (pronounced "yi")

3. 白颡 ("颡" pronounced "xi lang qie"), 豚 (same as "豘"), 亢 (pronounced "kang")

4. 痔 (pronounced "zhi li qie"), 颐 (pronounced "yu zhi qie"), 隐 (pronounced with a falling tone)

【Special Terms】

• The Sign of Virtue Complete (De Chong Fu): A Zhuangzi chapter recounting stories of physically impaired individuals with perfected virtue
• 兀者 (pronounced "wu hu qie"): Refers to people with amputated feet
• The Great Ancestral Teacher (Da Zong Shi): A Zhuangzi chapter exploring the realm of perfected Daoist adepts

【Cultivation Terminology】

• "登假" ("假" pronounced "ge"): Describes the elevated spiritual state of realized practitioners
• "昏无" ("无" pronounced "mo hou qie"): Depicts the undifferentiated chaos of primordial unity

Note: The original text used fanqie (traditional reverse-cut phonetic notation) to indicate pronunciations. Modern pinyin is employed here for clarity. These terms frequently appear in Zhuangzi passages featuring enlightened figures with physical impairments (like Wang Tai and Shushan Wuzhi who had amputated feet) and descriptions of Dao-realized states.

This passage from Nanhua Zhenjing Zhiyin (Phonetic Guide to the Authentic Scripture of Southern Florescence) provides pronunciation guides for obscure characters using homophonic characters. In modern terms:

It uses common characters to indicate the pronunciation of rare ones. For example:

• "避讳" is pronounced like the character "吁" (xū)
• "濡" sounds like "儒" (rú), "沫" like "末" (mò)
• "誉" like "余" (yú), "桀" like "竭" (jié)
• "块" follows the qie (cut-and-spell) method as "苦对切" (combining the initial of "苦" [k-] with the final of "对" [-uì] to form kuì)

The remaining entries follow similar phonetic notation:

• "崑仑" is pronounced as "昆" (kūn) and "论" (lún) respectively
• "颛顼" as "专旭" (zhuān xù)
• "禺" as "愚" (yú)
• "伯" as "霸" (bà)
• "傅" as "付" (fù)
• "说" as "悦" (yuè)

These annotations primarily assisted classical readers in correctly reciting obscure characters from Nanhua Zhenjing (i.e., the Zhuangzi). The qie method represents traditional fanqie phonetic notation, where two characters are combined to indicate pronunciation—for instance, "参" is noted as sounding like "三" (sān), while "尻" follows "苦羔切" (combining the initial of "苦" [k-] with the final of "羔" [-āo] to form kāo).

"移" (yi) is read as "弟" (di), and "颓靡" (tuimi) is read with "靡" as "美" (mei); "出" (chu) takes the departing tone (qusheng). "爨" (cuan) is read by the fanqie spelling "七乱" (qi-luan) and means to light a fire and cook; the "食" in "食祀" is read the same way.

"豕" (shi) is read as "始" (shi), "琢" (zhuo) as "卓" (zhuo), "纷" (fen) as "分" (fen), and "知" (zhi) as "智" (zhi). "眹" (zhen) is read by the fanqie "直忍" (zhi-ren), "儵" (shu) as "叔" (shu), and "浑沌" (hundun) is read as "混" (hun) and "钝" (dun) respectively. "窍" (qiao) is read by the fanqie "苦叫" (ku-jiao).

In "Pian Mu" (骈拇), "骈" (pian) is read by the fanqie "步田" (bu-tian) and "拇" (mu) as "母" (mu). "侈" (chi) is read by "昌是" (chang-shi), "赘" (zhui) by "章税" (zhang-shui), "县" (xian) as "玄" (xuan), and "疣" (you) as "尤" (you). "行" (xing) takes the departing tone. "黼" (fu) is read as "甫" (fu), "黻" (fu) as "弗" (fu), "煌" (huang) as "皇" (huang), "擢" (zhuo) as "浊" (zhuo), "簧" (huang) as "黄" (huang), "累" (lei) as "累" (lei), "窜" (cuan) by "七乱" (qi-luan), and "敝" (bi) as "婢" (bi). "跬" (kui) is read as "奎" (kui) and belongs to the rising tone (shangsheng); it is also given by the fanqie "丘弭" (qiu-mi), the same sound as "企" (qi). "誉" (yu) is read as "余" (yu), "跂" (qi) as "歧" (qi), "凫" (fu) as "符" (fu), and "胫" (jing) by "形定" (xing-ding). "断" (duan) is read as "短" (duan) and may take either the departing or the rising tone. "齕" (he) is read as "紇" (he), "饕" (tao) as "叨" (tao), "嚣" (xiao) by "许桥" (xu-qiao), "呴" (xu) as "吁" (xu), "讳" (hui) as "俞" (yu), "喻" (yu) as "喻" (yu), "纆" (mo) as "墨" (mo), and "挠" (nao) as "绕" (rao). "性" is read as "与" (yu), and "殉" (xun) as "旬" (xun), belonging to the departing tone. "挟" (xie) is read as "协" (xie), "筴" (ce) as "策" (ce), and "跖" (zhi) as "隻" (zhi). "恶" (wu) is read as "乌" (wu), "属" (zhu) as "烛" (zhu), and "臧" (zang) by "作郎" (zuo-lang); the same applies elsewhere in the passage. "操" (cao) is read by "七到" (qi-dao), and the "行" in "之行" is read by "孟" (meng) as a fanqie.

In "Ma Ti" (马蹄), "蹄" (ti) is read as "提" (ti), "践" (jian) as "贱" (jian), "御" (yu) as "语" (yu), "齕" (he) as "紇" (he), and "翘" (qiao) by "祈尧" (qi-yao). "羲" (xi) is read as "希" (xi), "伯乐" (Bo Le) as "伯洛" (Bo Luo), "剔" (ti) by "听历" (ting-li), "雒" (luo) as "洛" (luo), "羁" (ji) as "饥" (ji), "馽" (zhi) by "知邑" (zhi-yi), "皂" (zao) as "造" (zao), "栈" (zhan) by "士限" (shi-xian), "橛" (jue) by "其月" (qi-yue), "饰" (shi) as "式" (shi), "筴" (ce) as "策" (ce), "陶" (tao) as "逃" (tao), and "埴" (zhi) as "植" (zhi). "中" (zhong) is read by "知仲" (zhi-zhong), and likewise below. "填" (tian) is read as "田" (tian), "蹊" (xi) as "子" (zi), "隧" (sui) as "遂" (sui), "属" (zhu) as "烛" (zhu), "长" (zhang) by "知丈" (zhi-zhang), "羁" (ji) as "饥" (ji), "援" (yuan) as "袁" (yuan), "闚" (kui) as "窥" (kui), "恶乎" (wuhu) with "恶" as "乌" (wu), and "朴" (pu) as "朴" (pu). "蹩" (bie) is read as "鳖" (bie), "躠" (xie) as "泄" (xie), "踶" (zhi) as "偵" (zhen), "跂" (qi) as "企" (qi), "澶" (dan) as "但" (dan), and "漫" (man) takes the departing tone. "摘" (zhai) is read by "陟革" (zhi-ge), "犧" (xi) as "希" (xi), and "颈" (jing) takes the rising tone. "踶" is also read as "蹄" (ti), and "知" as "智" (zhi), as below. "扼" (e) is read as "厄" (e), "介" (jie) by "古八" (gu-ba), "倪" (ni) by "五佳" (wu-jia), "阃" (kun) as "困" (kun), "鸷" (zhi) as "致" (zhi), "曼" (man) as "漫" (man), "诡" (gui) as "鬼" (gui), "哺" (bu) as "步" (bu), "县" (xian) as "玄" (xuan), "跂" (qi) as "企" (qi), "踶" (zhi) as "偵" (zhen), "好" (hao) takes the departing tone, and "知" is read as "智" (zhi).

In "Qu Qie" (胠箧), "胠" (qu) is read as "祛" (qu), "箧" (qie) by "苦协" (ku-xie), "探" (tan) as "贪" (tan), "縢" (teng) as "腾" (teng), "扃" (jiong) by "古营" (gu-ying), "鐍" (jue) as "决" (jue), and "知" as "智" (zhi), as below. "囊" (nang) is read by "奴当" (nu-dang), "恐" (kong) takes the departing tone, "望" (wang) is read as "亡" (wang), "罟" (gu) as "古" (gu), "耒" (lei) by "力兊" (li-dui), "耨" (nou) by "乃豆" (nai-dou), "刺" (ci) as "次" (ci), "闔" (he) as "合" (he), "杀" (sha) as "试" (shi), "萇" (chang) as "长" (chang), "肔" (chi) by "恥靡" (chi-mi), and "戮" (lu) as "六" (liu). "跖" (zhi) is read by "之石" (zhi-shi), "藏" (zang) takes the departing tone, "邯鄲" (Handan) is read as "寒丹" (han-dan), "棓" (pou) as "剖" (pou), "舍" (she) as "捨" (she), "斛" (hu) by "胡谷" (hu-gu), "玺" (xi) as "徙" (xi), "矫" (jiao) by "居表" (ju-biao), "揭" (jie) by "居竭" (ju-jie), "冕" (mian) as "免" (mian), "鋮" (yue) as "越" (yue), and "知" as "智" (zhi). "摘" (zhai) is read as "掷" (zhi), "鄙" (bi) as "彼" (bi), "殚" (dan) as "丹" (dan), "擢" (zhuo) as "浊" (zhuo), "鑠" (shuo) by "诗酌" (shi-zhuo), "胶" (jiao) as "交" (jiao), "攦" (li) as "例" (li), "倕" (chui) as "垂" (chui), and "削" (xue) by "思雀" (si-que). The "行" in "之行" takes the departing tone. "钳" (qian) is read by "巨炎" (ju-yan), "攘" (rang) by "如羊" (ru-yang), "爚" (yue) as "药" (yao), "骊" (li) as "离" (li), "戏" (xi) as "希" (xi), "乐" (le) as "洛" (luo), "望" (wang) as "亡" (wang), and "颈" (jing) as "经" (jing).

This passage consists of phonetic glosses and word explanations that the Nanhua zhenjing zhiyin (Direct Pronunciations for the True Scripture of Nanhua) provides for the relevant chapters of the Zhuangzi. The first half marks the pronunciation, reading, and variant readings of characters in sequence. Terms such as "departing tone" (去声) and "rising tone" (上声) indicate tone, while "qie" (切) denotes the fanqie method of spelling a sound with two other characters, as in "解, read as 苦介 qie" and "垢, read as 苦豆 qie." The text also includes loan characters, variant forms, and pronunciations determined by context, such as 趣 read as 趋, 知 read as 智, 舍 read as 捨, and 翦 read as 剪.

"Zaiyou" (在宥, "Letting Be and Tolerating") and "Tiandi" (天地, "Heaven and Earth") are chapter titles. Under "Zaiyou," the glosses and readings include 乐 read as 洛, 喜 read as 邪, 思 read as 四, 相 in the departing tone, and 累 in the departing tone. They also include 见 read as 现, 共 read as 恭, and the 藏 of "youcang" (有藏) in the departing tone. Many other characters, among them 悖, 疵, 臠, 攖, 劌, 僨, 胈, 脛, 讙, 峗, 釿, 椎, 嵁, 桁, 戮, 枳, 㭲, 槢, 枘, 嚆, 蹷, 窈, 緍, 髀, 贄, 鞅, 涬, 溟, 沌, 攬, 僥, and 撓, are likewise annotated one by one with a pronunciation or fanqie spelling, helping readers recite the original text according to the readings of the time.

Under the "Tiandi" chapter, the text goes on to list another group of pronunciations and readings. These include 卒 read as "zun-hu qie" (尊忽切), 分 as "fu-wen qie" (扶问切), 挫 as "zuo-wo qie" (作卧切), 韜 as 叨, 沛 as 贝, 还 as 旋, 索 as "suo-bai qie" (所白切), 齧 as "wu-jie qie" (五结切), and 闔 as 合. The "departing tone" and "rising tone" remain tone markers; "same as below" (同下) means the reading is the same as one annotated earlier, while "no gap" (无间) indicates the reading or usage of the corresponding word. Taken as a whole, these texts are phonetic and semantic glosses intended for reciting and recognizing the characters of the Zhuangzi.

This passage contains phonetic annotations from Nanhua Zhenjing Zhiyin (Direct Pronunciation Guide to the Nanhua True Scripture), which primarily provides pronunciations for difficult characters in the classic text. In modern terms:

This is an ancient pronunciation guide for the Nanhua Zhenjing (also known as the Zhuangzi), using homophonous characters or fanqie (an ancient phonetic notation method where two characters are combined to indicate the pronunciation of a third) to clarify the readings of uncommon characters. For example:

• "聲縣玄㝢宇狸梨狙七余切" means:
• "縣" is pronounced like "玄" (xuan)
• "㝢" is pronounced like "宇" (yu)
• "狸" is pronounced like "梨" (li)
• "狙" is read using fanqie by combining the sounds of "七" (qi) and "余" (yu)

Other entries follow the same pattern, such as:

• "葂" is pronounced like "免" (mian)
• "中" in this context is read as "仲" (zhong, with a departing tone)
• "螳" is pronounced like "堂" (tang)
• "蜋" is pronounced like "郞" (lang)
• "軼" is pronounced like "轍" (zhe)
• "覤" is read using fanqie by combining "許" (xu) and "逆" (ni)

These annotations helped ancient readers correctly recite the classic, functioning much like modern pinyin does today. It's important to note that some of these pronunciations may differ from contemporary Mandarin due to historical sound shifts.

This passage contains phonetic annotations from the Nanhua Zhenjing Zhiyin (Direct Pronunciation Guide to the Authentic Scripture of Southern Florescence), primarily using the fanqie method to indicate pronunciations of uncommon characters. Fanqie was an ancient phonetic notation system where two characters were combined to spell out a target character's pronunciation—the initial consonant taken from the first character and the final vowel plus tone from the second. For example:

"芻初盛成篋古牒切" means:

The character "芻" is pronounced with the initial consonant of "初" (ch) plus the final of "盛" (u), yielding "chū";

The character "篋" takes the initial of "古" (g) plus the final of "牒" (ie), resulting in "gié" (an ancient pronunciation).

Other examples:

"齕紇齧五結切"—"齕" combines the initial of "紇" (h) with the final of "齧" (ie), producing "hié";

"沛貝"—"沛" is pronounced like "貝" (bèi);

"黔紺"—"黔" is read as "紺" (gàn).

These phonetic notations reflect the sound system of the Song-Yuan period (10th–14th centuries), some of which differ from modern Mandarin pronunciations. Such direct phonetic methods were commonly used in ancient times to aid readers in deciphering rare characters in the Zhuangzi (Nanhua Zhenjing), serving as valuable materials for the study of historical Chinese phonology.