《皇極經世》Vol. 20

Huangji Jingshi, juan eight, part two, “Music, Section Six.” Composed by Shao Yaofu (Shao Yong) of Sanchuan.

Clear and Harmonious Pitch: Third Set, Ninth Entry

The following material arranges sounds, tones, and their corresponding character examples. The headings in the original, such as “nine tones,” “one sound,” and “seven sounds,” together with the examples and symbols that follow, form a phonological table rather than continuous prose. The slashes, circles, and repeated “Kan” characters in the surviving text may result from layout or text-conversion errors, so the pronunciation and correspondence of each entry cannot be reliably reconstructed from them.

Rising Tone, Pi Chang, Lü: Third Set, Eighth Entry

This section continues with another group of phonological entries related to “rising tone,” “pi chang,” and “lü.” It likewise consists mainly of categories of sound and tone, with character examples. The phrases “wife and children, four days,” “gu jia, nine gui,” and the characters “shuai,” “shuai,” “gu,” “jin,” and “kui” can be identified in the original, but the specific arrangement is also obscured by textual corruption, so they cannot reliably be interpreted as complete sentences.

These two passages are phonological tables in the Huangji Jingshi, not accounts of cultivation or ritual practice. Accurate interpretation requires checking the original tables against a clear printed edition or a critical edition.

This passage comes from Shao Yong’s Huangji Jingshi, in the “Chart of Sounds in Response and Harmony.” It is a diagram combining phonology with numerical cosmology, not a continuous piece of prose.

Basic structure. Shao Yong divides the sounds of Chinese characters into two systems: “sheng,” classified by rhyme, with categories from the first through the tenth; and “yin,” classified by initial consonant, likewise divided into several grades. The chart arranges “sheng” and “yin” across one another, placing a representative character at each position so that all the sounds in the world can be assigned to a category. It pairs Heaven’s “sun, moon, stars, and constellations” with “sheng,” and Earth’s “water, fire, earth, and stone” with “yin.” This reflects his idea of the numbers governing all things between Heaven and Earth, applied to speech sounds.

Outline by section.

The opening lines (“nine yin,” “three yin,” “seven sheng,” and “eight sheng”) list representative characters for groups of initial consonants. For example, “fu, fa, fei”; “fu, fan, fei”; “wu, wan, wei”; and “wen, wan, wei” correspond to a group of light labial sounds. “Bu, bai, bing, bi”; “bu, bai, bei, bi”; “pu, pu, pin, pi”; and “pang, pai, ping, ping” are arranged in sequence to show different pronunciations among the heavy labials, including voiceless, voiced, and aspirated sounds.

“Dong, dan, di”; “dui, da, di”; “tu, tan, tian”; and “tong, tan, tian” form a group of tongue sounds, likewise arranged by voicing and aspiration.

“Pronunciations: clear and harmonious; the third of the lü and the tenth” is a summary heading. It means that the characters above belong to the third category of “lü” and the eleventh category of “lü,” and that this group of pronunciations falls under the “clear and harmonious” classification.

From “duo, ke, ge, she” and “nai, ni, nü” onward, the chart moves to another set of combinations of initials and rhymes. Lines such as “he, huo, hua, ba”; “kai, zai, ai”; “hui, mei, tui”; “liang, liang, xiang”; “guang, guang, kuang”; “ding, jing, gen”; “xiong, yong, ying”; “qian, dian, dan”; “yuan, quan, ban”; “chen, yin, gen”; and “jun, yun, xun” each group characters from the four tone categories—level, rising, departing, and entering—showing how the same rhyme changes across the four tones.

The “○” symbol marks a position where a sound exists but has no corresponding character; it is an empty slot in the chart.

The latter part—“dao, zao, xiao, yue”; “mao, shi, bao, huo”; “niu, dou, zou, liu”; “qi, zi, si, ri”; “shuai, shuai, gu”; “gui, shui, gui, bei”; “gong, kong, zhong”; and “long, yong, yong”—continues the same arrangement. These groups belong respectively to the third, fourth, and fifth grades of “sheng,” paired with different “yin.”

Main point. Shao Yong uses the pairing of “sheng” and “yin” to arrange the four tones—level, rising, departing, and entering—together with different systems of initials and rhymes in a systematic chart, showing the order and patterns of character sounds. The numbers in the chart, such as “nine yin,” “ten yin,” and “twelve yin,” are classification labels; the characters in parentheses are examples for each category; and “○” marks an unfilled position. This system is an important reference for later research into the pronunciation of Chinese during the Song dynasty.

This passage is not continuous prose but a phonological table from Huangji Jingshi, used to arrange and compare the pronunciations of Chinese characters. The table groups examples by “sheng” and “yin,” listing characters for different categories. Phrases such as “shangsheng” and “fayin qinghe lü” are section headings.

The characters in parentheses, such as “yu, shu, qu,” “che, chou,” “wu, hu, tu,” and “cha, cheng,” are pronunciation examples for each group. Later sections also list “xin, shen, jin,” “gu, jia, jiu, gui,” “nan, kan, qian,” “kun, qiao, qiu, qi,” “qian, qiu,” and “hei, hua, xiang, xue.” Numbers indicate sound categories or their order, as in “six sheng,” “eight sheng,” “ten yin,” and “one yin,” as well as headings such as “shangsheng pi chang lü, third section, ninth item” and “fayin qinghe lü, third section, eleventh item.”

The specific groupings and the correspondence between characters and pronunciations should originally be understood within the phonological system of Huangji Jingshi. However, the surviving text contains many corrupted symbols, including circles and garbled strings, and some character lists may be incomplete. It is therefore possible to tell only that the table lists pronunciations by category; the complete pronunciation rules for each group cannot be reliably reconstructed from this text.

This passage appears to be a table of sound and rhyme categories from the Huangji Jingshi. It lists different classes of “sounds” and “tones,” with several characters as examples. The parenthetical phrase “yiyiyiyi,” along with the circles and gaps, is evidently not part of a complete, readable original text. The missing content therefore cannot be reconstructed from the surviving text alone.

The opening lists “eleven sounds” and “eight sounds,” giving as examples the words Mao, Bao, Bao, Huo, Zi, Zai, and Jiang. It then lists “four tones” and “nine tones,” with Niu, Dou, Zou, Liu, Cao, Cai, and Qi as examples. Further on, the examples include Yu, Cao, Cai, Quan; Qi, Zi, Si, Ri; and Si, San, Xing.

The passage continues by arranging items according to sound and tone categories. It includes “eleven sounds,” “nine sounds,” “five tones,” and “nine tones,” with the examples Shuai, Shuai, Gu; Si, Xiang; and Gui, Shui, Gui, Bei. The subsequent examples are Gong, Kong, Zhong; Shan, Shou; Long, Yong, Yong; Shi, Shi; Yu, Shu, Qu; Er; Wu, Hu, Tu; Er; Xin, Shen, Jin; and Zhuang, Zhen.

Farther on, the passage lists “seven tones” and “nine tones,” giving Nan, Kan, Qian, Qie, Chong, Chen, Zhuo, and Zhong as examples. It then mentions “eleven sounds,” “twelve sounds,” “eight tones,” and “nine tones,” with Zhai, Zhi; Che, Chou; and Cha, Cheng as examples. In the middle appears the note: “The rising tone opens with the Lü of number three, ten.” “Rising tone” is a technical term for a tone category; without more context, the punctuation and meaning of the remaining words cannot be determined.

The final section gives the examples Gu, Jia, Jiu, Gui; Jin, Kui; Kun, Qiao, Qiu, Qi; Qian, Qiu; Hei, Hua, Xiang, Xue; Huang, Hua, Xiong, Xian; Wu, Wa, Yang; and Wu, Ya, Yue, Yao. It ends with: “Pronunciation is clear and harmonious, the Lü of number three, twelve.”

Overall, the passage arranges sound and tone categories alongside representative words, and includes technical terms such as “rising tone” that relate to tones or musical pitch. Because several parts of the original text are damaged or replaced, the complete names of the categories and their relationships cannot be reliably restored.

This passage mainly lists phonological categories: characters are arranged by sound class, pronunciation class, and different combinations of rhyme finals, with groups of characters serving as examples. “Twelve sounds,” “three sounds,” “one tone,” and “ten tones” are category names used in the original. Here, “tone” roughly refers to a tonal category, while “sound” refers to a pronunciation category. The repeated “che che che che” and the groups of characters following the slashes may represent phonological marks or printing symbols in the original book; their readings and precise correspondences cannot be determined from this passage alone.

For example, the passage begins with “an, ya, yi, yi,” followed by characters read as “yao, wang, yin,” and others. It then lists characters under headings such as “first tone,” “second tone,” and “third tone,” including “mu, ma, mei, mi” and “fu, fan, fei.” Later groups follow a similar pattern, with readings such as “guang, guang, kuang,” “ding, jing, geng,” and “yuan, quan, ban.” The categories progress from “four sounds” and “five sounds” up to “eight sounds.”

Overall, this passage is not continuous prose but a table of character examples arranged by phonological category. Because the original contains missing-character symbols, “circle,” and many marks that are difficult to identify from the text alone, the specific classification rules and the pronunciation assigned to each group cannot be reliably reconstructed.

This passage is mainly a table of musical tones and phonetic symbols from the Huangji Jingshi, rather than continuous prose. The original’s “che” and symbols such as circles and slashes seem to function as diagram elements or placeholders. From the text available, it is impossible to confirm their original forms, positions, or readings. The following can therefore interpret only the parts that are recognizable:

The first half lists items in sequence such as “twelve tones,” “nine tones,” “seven sounds,” and “ten sounds,” alongside characters such as “si xiang,” “shan shou,” “shi shi,” “er,” “zhuang zhen,” “chong chen,” and “zhuo zhong.” These appear to be examples used to indicate tone or phonetic categories. It also gives correspondences such as “twelve tones” paired with “ten tones,” “eleven tones,” or “twelve tones,” and “eight sounds” or “nine sounds” paired with “ten sounds.”

The second half describes how certain tone and sound categories are arranged: “four inhalations” above “yue chen sound”; “huo shi tone” produces “four murky tones”; “initial sounds” are assigned to one of the four “murky harmony” modes; and “rising tones” are assigned to one of the four “inhaled chants” in the lü system. Here, “sound,” “tone,” “lü,” and “lü” are terms from ancient theories of musical pitch and phonetic classification, while “murky” and “rising tone” distinguish types of pronunciation.

The text then lists groups of labels such as “one tone,” “one sound,” “two tones,” “two sounds,” and “three tones,” with characters alongside them such as “he, huo, hua, ba”; “kai, zai, ai”; “kun, qiao, qiu, qi”; “qian, qiu”; “guang, guang, kuang”; “huang, hua, xiong, xian”; “ding, jing, gen”; “wu, wa, yang”; “yuan, quan, ban”; and “yao, wang, yin.” These characters are likely examples or markers for the various tone and sound categories.

Because the original symbols and layout have been damaged, the precise correspondences between the characters and phonetic categories cannot be reliably reconstructed. Nor can the exact place of terms such as “yue chen” and “huo shi” in the original diagram be determined.

This passage appears to be a table of Chinese characters arranged by categories labeled “sound” and “tone.” Headings such as “third tone” and “fourth tone” introduce groups of characters, perhaps to indicate their pronunciations or rhyme categories. The slashes, circles, and repeated “mei mei mei mei” in the transcription are also part of the original layout, but this transcription alone does not show what function they serve.

Read in the order of the original, it goes roughly as follows:

Under “third tone” are “chen, yin, gen”; under “first tone” are “mu, ma, mei, mi,” followed by the repeated marking “mei mei mei mei.”

Next come “jun, yun, xun” and “mu, mao, mei, min”; “dao, zao, xiao, yue” and “fu, fa, fei”; under “first sound” are “mao, bao, bao, huo,” and under “fourth sound” are “fu, fan, fei.”

The next groups are “niu, dou, zou, liu” and “wu, wan, wei”; “yu” and “wen, wan, wei”; “qi, zi, si, ri” and “bu, bai, bing, bi”; under “first sound” are “shuai, shuai, gu,” and under “fifth sound” are “bu, bai, bei, bi.”

Further down are “de” and “pu, pu, pin, pi”; “gui, shui, gui, bei” and “pang, pai, ping, ping”; “gong, kong, zhong” and “dong, dan, di”; under “first sound” are “long, yong, yong,” and under “sixth sound” are “dui, da, di.”

The final groups are “yu, shu, qu” and “shi, tan, tian”; “wu, hu, tu” and “tong, tan, tian”; “xin, shen, jin” and “nai, ni, nü”; under “first sound” is “shi,” and under “seventh sound” are “nei, nan, nian”; “nan, kan, qian” and “lao, leng, lü”; “qie” and “lu, luo, li”; “zou, zai, zu”; after “first sound” and “eighth sound” come “zi, zai, jiang”; after “eighth tone” and “first tone” come “cao, cai, qi,” “cao, cai, quan,” and “si, san, xing”; after “first sound” and “ninth sound” come “si, xiang.” At the end are “ninth tone, first tone,” followed by “shi, shi.”

The original uses circles in several places as substitutes for missing characters and includes some forms that are difficult to identify. The arrangement can therefore be described only as it survives in the text; the precise correspondences among the pronunciations of each group cannot be determined reliably.

This passage from the Huangji jingshi is mainly chart material about phonology and tones, rather than continuous prose. The parenthetical content in the text appears to have been converted from charts, character forms, or special symbols. Many places show repeated sequences such as “yaya yaya” and “meimei meimei,” so the original cannot be reliably reconstructed from them. It is therefore not possible to translate them accurately into plain language.

The parts that can be recognized seem to list different sounds and tones, with categories and ordering labels:

• “Pronunciation: voiced and harmonious; pitch standard, fourth, second”: This mentions voiced and harmonious pronunciation and labels it “pitch standard, fourth, second.” Here, “pitch standard” is a term for classifying musical pitches; its precise meaning needs to be checked against the original chart.
• “Rising tone, xi chang; Lü, fourth, second”: This mentions the “rising tone” and “xi chang,” and labels them “Lü, fourth, second.” “Lü” may refer to a Lü pitch category among the twelve pitch standards; the precise correspondence here also needs to be checked against the original.

Other visible labels, such as “second sound,” “eleventh sound,” “first tone,” “second tone,” “twelfth sound,” “third tone,” and “fourth tone,” appear to indicate ordinal positions for sounds and tones. The characters listed after them may be examples illustrating pronunciation or correspondences.

Because the chart has been severely corrupted, the precise relationships among these ordinal labels, examples, and pitch terminology cannot be determined. The passage can be analyzed item by item if a facsimile of the original page or a clearer transcription is provided.

This passage from Huangji Jingshi is not a sequence of connected sentences, but a phonological table arranged by “sounds” and “tones.” The repeated strings “ya ya ya ya” and “yong yong yong yong” may be markers or placeholders in the original table; this text alone does not make it possible to determine what each one represents.

In the text as it stands, the table lists categories such as “two sounds” and “three sounds,” and “five tones” and “two tones,” followed by examples including “shuai, shuai, gu, yao, wang, yin, yong,” as well as “mu, ma, mei, mi” and “wu, wan, wei.” Later entries also include the characters for “dragon,” “yong,” and “use”; “fish,” “rat,” and “go”; “heart,” “examine,” and “prohibit”; “man,” “pit,” and “shortage”; “east,” “cinnabar,” and “emperor”; and “within,” “south,” and “year.”

These categories and examples show how different sound classes are arranged. They are phonological material, not an account of cultivation methods or rituals. Because the original table’s structure and some of its symbols have become garbled, its category names cannot be reliably reconstructed from this text, and it would be unwise to expand them into a complete set of pronunciation rules.

This passage is not continuous Classical Chinese prose. It is a record of sounds and rhymes in the Huangji Jingshi, used mainly to mark sound categories and pronunciations. The words in parentheses are examples of characters or phonetic symbols used to represent sounds, so they should not be translated word by word as ordinary sentences.

The first part lists different categories of “sounds” and “tones,” with the characters in parentheses serving as phonetic examples. The notation “pronunciation: turbid harmony, third of the fourth rhythm” means that the pronunciation belongs to the “turbid harmony” category and occupies the third position in the fourth rhythm.

The second part contains “rising tone, he-chanted, third of the fourth Lü.” “Rising tone” refers to the rising-tone category; “he-chanted” is a related singing or pronunciation marker. The whole phrase identifies the third position in the fourth rhythm of the Lü system. It then continues listing sound and rhyme categories with corresponding example characters used to indicate pronunciation.

Because this passage relies on a specific ancient system of phonetic notation, and some symbols and character forms may have been altered in transcription, the precise pronunciation of each example cannot be determined from the available text alone. It should therefore be understood as a sound-and-rhyme chart; the contents in parentheses cannot be translated as modern sentences.

This passage is not continuous prose; it resembles a phonological classification table from Huangji Jingshi. It arranges character examples under headings such as “five tones,” “three tones,” “three sounds,” and “two sounds,” showing different categories of tones or sounds.

The symbols “maomao-maomao” and “○” appear to be markers in the original table, while “Kun Qiao Qiu Qi,” “Gui Shui Gui Bei,” and “Gong Kong Zhong ○” are examples. The repeated “Yun Yun Yun Yun” after each group also seems to function as a table symbol or repetition marker. Since the original provides no table layout, explanation of the symbols, or pronunciation annotations, the specific tone or rhyme rule represented by each item cannot be reliably reconstructed from this passage alone. It should therefore not be interpreted as a complete textual statement.

This passage mainly lists categories of sounds alongside example characters, like a table comparing phonological features. The title “Fayin zhuo he lü si zhi si” (“Pronunciation, Voiced Sounds, and Tones, Part Four”) seems to indicate that this is the fourth section on pronunciation, voiced sounds, and tones.

The table repeatedly uses headings such as “si yin,” “qi yin,” “yi sheng,” and “san sheng,” followed by examples such as “kai, zai, ai,” “lao, leng, lü,” and “ding, jing, gen,” illustrating different sound categories. Here, “sheng” and “yin” appear to be phonological classification terms used in the original work; they do not necessarily correspond to modern Chinese tone or pinyin categories.

However, the text contains many repeated characters, such as “wan wan wan wan” and “yun yun yun yun,” while some examples are missing or garbled. It is therefore impossible to reliably determine the table’s complete structure or the relationships between its columns. For now, we can only tell that it arranges phonological examples by category; the specific meaning of each entry cannot be accurately reconstructed.

This passage mainly arranges Chinese characters by their tones and rhymes. It serves as a classification of sounds and a guide to pronunciation, rather than presenting a connected argument. The original lists combinations of several character sounds using traditional sound categories such as gong, shang, zhi, and yu, along with classification labels such as “sound” and “voice.”

“Shangsheng xichang lü si zhi si” means that the shangsheng category is assigned to the fourth lü category according to the xichang method. “Fayin zhuohe lü si zhi wu” means that the pronunciation belongs to the zhuohe category and is assigned to the fifth item in the fourth lü category.

The remaining content is arranged as groups of symbols, sound-category names, and example characters. Because the original contains many placeholders such as “wan” and circles, some character groups and their corresponding labels cannot be read, so the specific pronunciation or classification of each group cannot be reliably reconstructed.

This passage appears to be a phonological classification table from Huangji Jingshi. It groups items by “five sounds,” “several tones,” and “several rhymes,” and lists corresponding examples, possibly to illustrate how the sounds and rhymes are arranged or related.

The repeated syllable “pai,” the circles, and the gaps in the existing text clearly represent content that cannot be identified or was not transcribed. Translating each fragment as it stands would not reliably recover the original meaning. Most of the legible parts appear to be examples—such as “he, huo, hua, ba,” “kai, zai, ai,” and “dong, dan, di”—rather than statements describing specific content. For now, it can only be identified as a phonological table; it cannot be faithfully rewritten as continuous, accessible prose.

This passage discusses the classification of sounds and methods of pronunciation. “Five sounds,” “ten sounds,” “eleven sounds,” “twelve sounds,” and the progression from “six tones” to “ten tones” are all terms in phonological classification. “Rising tone” and “voiced and harmonious pitch,” among others, also relate to tones and categories of pronunciation.

The characters and symbols in parentheses appear to come from a chart marking sound classes or places of articulation. Repeated strings such as “row row row row” and “water water water water” may be placeholders inserted when a diagram in the original was transcribed, so their specific meaning cannot be recovered from them. The passage therefore gives only a rough sense of a point-by-point listing and comparison of different sound and tone classes.

“Rising tone, joined singing, Lü four of five” mentions the “rising tone” and uses “joined singing” to describe a way of vocalizing or singing in unison. The phrase “Lü four of five” that follows seems to mark the corresponding position in the pitch system. “Pronunciation: voiced and harmonious pitch, four of six” then turns to the classification of voiced sounds and pitch. Strings such as “Tan tan tan tan,” along with the characters that follow, also look like chart markers; their precise readings and correspondences cannot be determined from this transcription alone.

The first tone corresponds to the “Tan” sound category, with examples including “kai,” “zai,” and “ai.” Examples of the fifth tone include “mu,” “ma,” “mei,” and “mi.” All these characters belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “hui,” “mei,” and “tui.” The corresponding characters are “mu,” “mao,” “mei,” and “min”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “liang,” “liang,” and “xiang.” The corresponding characters are “fu,” “fa,” and “fei”; all belong to the “Water” category.

Examples of the sixth tone include “guang,” “guang,” and “kuang.” Examples of the fourth tone include “fu,” “fan,” and “fei”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The second tone corresponds to the “Tan” sound category, with examples including “ding,” “jing,” and “gen.” Examples of the fifth tone include “wu,” “wan,” and “wei”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “xiong,” “yong,” and “ying.” The corresponding characters are “wen,” “wan,” and “wei”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “qian,” “dian,” and “dan.” The corresponding characters are “bu,” “bai,” “bing,” and “bi”; all belong to the “Water” category.

Examples of the sixth tone include “yuan,” “quan,” and “ban.” Examples of the fifth tone include “bu,” “bai,” “bei,” and “bi”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The third tone corresponds to the “Tan” sound category, with examples including “chen,” “yin,” and “gen.” Examples of the fifth tone include “pu,” “pu,” “pin,” and “pi”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “jun,” “yun,” and “xun.” The corresponding characters are “pang,” “pai,” “ping,” and “ping”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “dao,” “zao,” “xiao,” and “yue.” The corresponding characters are “dong,” “dan,” and “di”; all belong to the “Water” category.

Examples of the sixth tone include “mao,” “bao,” “bao,” and “huo.” Examples of the sixth tone include “dui,” “da,” and “di”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The fourth tone corresponds to the “Tan” sound category, with examples including “niu,” “dou,” “zou,” and “liu.” Examples of the fifth tone include “tu,” “tan,” and “tian”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “yu.” The corresponding characters are “tong,” “tan,” and “tian”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “qi,” “zi,” “si,” and “ri.” The corresponding characters are “nai,” “ni,” and “nü”; all belong to the “Water” category.

Examples of the sixth tone include “shuai,” “shuai,” and “gu.” Examples of the seventh tone include “nei,” “nan,” and “nian”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The fifth tone corresponds to the “Tan” sound category, with “de” as an example. Examples of the fifth tone include “lao,” “leng,” and “lü”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “gui,” “shui,” “gui,” and “bei.” The corresponding characters are “lu,” “luo,” and “li”; all belong to the “Water” category.

The “Tan” sound category includes “gong,” “kong,” and “zhong.” The corresponding characters are “zou,” “zai,” and “zu”; all belong to the “Water” category.”

This passage mainly lists sound correspondences from the Huangji Jingshi (a work Shao Yong used to analyze changes in Heaven and Earth); it is not continuous prose. The table repeatedly uses categories such as “six sounds,” “seven tones,” and “five tones,” and uses characters such as “tan, long, yong, yong” and “fish, rat, qu” to mark different pronunciations or sound classes. The characters after the slashes, as well as strings such as “water water water water” and “tiger tiger tiger tiger,” are also symbols or classification marks in the table. Since the original retains many chart notations, their specific meanings cannot be reliably reconstructed from this passage alone.

The final phrase, “pronunciation: voiced and unvoiced, harmonized with the pitch system; fourth and seventh of the twelve pitch standards; rising tone, xi, chant; fourth and sixth of the twelve pitch standards,” broadly means that pronunciation is divided into voiced and unvoiced sounds and matched with musical pitch. It refers to the pitch standards (lü-lü) used in antiquity to define pitches, including the fourth and seventh positions, as well as sound or pronunciation categories such as “rising tone,” “xi,” and “chant.” The text then continues listing items such as “seven sounds,” “one sound,” “one tone,” and “six tones,” along with their corresponding symbols.

The repeated “tan tan tan tan,” the strings of characters in parentheses, and the repeated symbols in the original should be treated as notations in a sound table, rather than translated directly as sentences.

This passage mainly lists sound-rhyme categories alongside example characters. It resembles a chart for distinguishing phonological features rather than continuous narrative prose.

Under “seven sounds,” it successively marks categories such as “first sound,” “second sound,” and “third sound.” “Second tone,” “third tone,” through “fifth tone” then list further sound categories. The characters following each item—such as “qian, qiu,” “liang, liang, xiang,” and “hei, hua, xiang, xue”—serve as examples for illustrating or distinguishing pronunciations. The “○” in the scripture marks a blank or an entry with no character listed; the repeated “luo luo luo luo” and “hu hu hu hu” are also formatting marks from the original.

The divisions into “sounds” and “tones” are traditional phonological classification terms used in this passage. Their precise correspondences need to be determined by consulting related chapters of the Huangji Jingshi and its transmitted editions. This passage alone does not allow them to be equated directly with modern Chinese initials, finals, or tones.

This is not continuous prose but a set of phonological tables recording sound categories and pronunciations. Terms such as “six tones,” “seven sounds,” and “eight tones” are category headings. The forms before and after slashes, circles, and repetitions such as “hu hu hu hu” are phonetic notations or markers in the table; they should not be translated word by word as ordinary sentences.

In the order of the original, the first half lists the categories “six tones,” “seven sounds,” “seven tones,” “eight tones,” “nine tones,” and “ten tones,” with corresponding forms and markers after each item. The phrase “fayin zhuo he lü si zhi ba” in the middle can be understood as an entry marker concerning pronunciation, voiced sounds, and musical pitch. The latter half continues listing several sound categories and their corresponding forms.

Because the available text lacks the table layout and an explanation of its symbols, items such as “luo luo luo luo,” “yu shu qu,” “shi tan tian,” and “hu hu hu hu” cannot be reliably reconstructed as specific pronunciations or meanings. Translating them directly as sentences could easily misrepresent the original.

This passage mainly arranges sound categories alongside corresponding phonetic markers; it is not continuous prose.

It states that the “eight sounds” are divided into twelve tones, and the “two tones” into six tones. It then lists phonetic entries such as “the rising tone, hechang, the fourth and seventh of the Lü tones.” “Hechang” is a term for indicating relationships among sounds, while “rising tone” is the name of a traditional tone category. The passage later lists the “third tone,” “fourth tone,” “fifth tone,” and “sixth tone,” with their corresponding markers, under the first, second, third, and fourth sounds of the eight sounds.

The strings of characters and symbols in parentheses appear to be phonetic or organizational markers in this system of sound classification. Because some symbols and character forms in the original are damaged, they cannot be reliably explained one by one.

This passage is not continuous prose but a table recording the sounds of characters. It repeatedly lists sound categories such as “eight sounds,” “seven tones,” “nine sounds,” and “ten tones,” followed by example characters. The symbol “○” indicates a blank or an unmarked position.

The first half lists several sound categories in sequence, with examples. After “eight sounds” come “bu, bai, bei, bi”; after “seven tones,” “pu, pu, pin, pi.” It also includes examples such as “dong, dan, di”; “tong, tan, tian”; “nai, ni, nü”; and “lao, leng, lü.” Later it lists other categories, including “eight sounds,” “six sounds,” “eight tones,” “seven sounds,” “nine tones,” and “ten tones,” again using characters to represent sounds.

The phrase “fa yin zhuo he lü si zhi jiu” roughly means that pronunciation involves categories of clear and voiced sounds, harmony, and musical tones, listed from the fourth through the ninth categories. The examples that follow—“si, san, xing”; “si, xiang”; “kai, zai, ai”; “hui, mei, tui”; “liang, liang, xiang”; “shan, shou”; “guang, guang, kuang”; and “shi, shi”—are likewise arranged by sound category.

Because the passage preserves many tabular symbols and apparent textual errors, the precise category names and the phonological relationships among the characters cannot be fully determined from the text available.

This passage is not continuous prose but a set of phonetic entries arranged under the categories “sheng” and “yin.” Labels such as “two sheng” and “three sheng” mark categories; “nine yin” and “eleven yin” likewise indicate categories or counts. “Using the shangsheng manner of chanted vocalization, it belongs to the category Lüsi zhi ba” is the general meaning of “shangsheng xichang Lüsi zhi ba.” Here, “Lüsi zhi ba” is a category name in the source; the passage alone does not make its precise meaning clear.

The characters given in parentheses, such as “ding, jing, gen” and “er,” are examples listed under each entry. The slashes, circles, and blank spaces reproduce the source’s layout notation. This material mainly records pronunciations and their classifications, and does not provide enough information to turn each item into a continuous passage in plain language.

Nine sounds, six sounds; Dui, one of the Eight Trigrams, is the eldest younger brother.

Ten tones, eight tones: earth, greed, heaven.

(Tong, Tan, Tian.)

The pronunciation is voiced and harmonious; the pitch is four over ten.

(Duo, Ke, Ge, She.) (Nai, Ni, Nü.)

Ten sounds: grain, fire, transform, eight. Seven sounds: within, south, year.

One tone: open, govern, love, ○. Eight tones: old, cold, Lü.

(Hui, Mei, withdraw, ○.) (Deer, luo, depart.)

(Good, two, face, ○.) (Walk, zai, foot.)

Ten sounds: light, broad, condition, ○. Eight sounds: self, at, craftsman.

Two tones: Ding, well, Heng, ○. Eight tones: grass, gather, seven.

(Elder brother, everlasting, shining, ○.) (Cao, talent, whole.)

(Thousand, classic, dawn, ○.) (Thought, three, star.)

Ten sounds: origin, dog, half, ○. Nine sounds: temple, image.

Three tones: minister, lead, Gen, ○. Eight tones.

(Ruler, trust, Xun, ○.)

(Knife, early, filial, Yue.) (Mountain, hand.)

Ten sounds: hair, treasure, report, Huo. Ten sounds: scholar, stone.

Four tones: ox, bucket, perform, six. Eight tones: ear.

(○, ○, ○, jade.) (Two.)

(Wife, son, four, sun.) (Zhuang, Zhen.)

Ten sounds: decline, ○, commander, bone. Eleven sounds: suddenly.

Five tones: ○, ○, ○, De. Eight tones: righteousness, red.

(Turtle, water, precious, north.) (Chong, Chen.)

(Palace, hole, multitude, ○.) (Zhuo, center.)

Ten sounds: dragon, Yong, use, ○. Twelve sounds: residence, straight.

Six tones: fish, rat, go, ○. Eight tones: split, ugly.

(Crow, tiger, rabbit, ○.) (Tea, present.)

The upper tones are gathered and chanted; the pitch is four over nine.

(Heart, examine, forbid, ○.) (Ancient, armor, nine, Gui.)

Ten sounds: ○, ○, ○, ten. One sound: near, Kui.

Seven tones: man, Kan, lack, ○. Nine tones: Kun, skillful, hill, abandon.

(○, ○, ○, concubine.) (Qian, Qiu.)

(Black, flower, fragrance, blood.)

Ten sounds, two sounds: yellow, flower, hero, worthy.

Eight tones, nine tones: five, tile, look up.

This passage appears to be a rhyme or sound-class table in the Huangji Jingshi, classifying sounds and tones alongside example characters. Terms such as “nine sounds,” “ten tones,” and “one tone” serve as category headings, while “○” marks a blank or missing character in the source. The characters in parentheses are examples for the corresponding categories. Because the text depends on a specific historical sound system and table layout, the exact relationships among its columns cannot be determined from the text as given.

This passage is not continuous prose but a pronunciation chart arranged by “sounds” and “tones,” listing syllables from different groups. It appears to illustrate how pronunciations are classified and combined. “Lü” may refer to musical pitch patterns or rules of pronunciation; its precise meaning depends on the layout of the original book.

The chart first lists “ten sounds, three sounds,” followed by separate entries for “nine tones, nine tones,” “ten sounds, four sounds,” and “ten tones, nine tones.” The next heading reads “voiced pronunciation and lü, four of eleven.” Below it, examples are listed in sequence under the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth tones, matched with their respective sound groups. Examples include “yao, wang, yin”; “mu, ma, mei, mi”; and “mu, mao, mei, min.”

The repeated “chong chong chong chong” in the original, along with the strings of characters after the slashes, may be symbols or classification markers in the chart. Their specific function cannot be reliably determined from this passage alone. The safest interpretation is that this is material arranging sound classes and tones, with the characters in parentheses serving mainly as pronunciation examples rather than forming continuous sentences.

This passage is not continuous prose; it looks more like a table recording sound classifications in Huangji Jingshi. The source uses many repeated characters, such as “chong” and “cha,” along with circles and column dividers. From this text alone, it is impossible to determine what these marks did in the original layout or to reliably reconstruct how the columns corresponded to one another.

The parts that can be identified classify items by “yin” (sound) and “sheng” (tone), and list some characters as examples. For instance, “eleven yin,” “six sheng,” “seven sheng,” “twelve yin,” and “one sheng” are category labels; “gong, kong, zhong,” “yu, shu, qu,” and “nan, kan, qian” are characters listed in the corresponding columns. Here, “yin” and “sheng” are terms in traditional sound classification and should not be understood directly as the initials, finals, or tones of modern Mandarin.

“Shangsheng xichang lü si zhi shi” roughly means that the shangsheng category, one of the traditional tone classes, belongs to the “xichang” category and is listed in tenth place under “lü si.” “Fayin zhuohe lü si zhi shi’er” roughly means that the pronunciation belongs to the “zhuohe” category and is listed in twelfth place under “lü si.” “Xichang,” “zhuohe,” “lü si,” and “lü si” are all terms in this system of sound classification. Because the table is incomplete, it is not possible to explain further which specific sounds each term corresponds to.

This passage mainly arranges sound categories alongside example characters. Terms such as “twelve sounds,” “five sounds,” and “three tones” are names for sound classifications; the characters in parentheses serve as examples. Since many parts of the original have become “chachachacha” or are missing, the full pronunciations and meanings of the classifications cannot be reconstructed from the text.

The parts that can be identified are roughly as follows:

• The first group lists “wen,” “wan,” and “wei,” followed by “bu,” “bai,” “bing,” and “bi.” It then mentions “twelve sounds,” giving “yuan,” “quan,” and “ban” as examples, and lists “five sounds.” Next it gives “three tones,” with “chen,” “yin,” and “gen” as examples, and lists “ten tones.”
• The second group lists “jun,” “yun,” and “xun”; “pang,” “pai,” “ping,” and “ping”; “dao,” “zao,” “xiao,” and “yue”; and “dong,” “dan,” and “di.” It then lists “twelve sounds,” “six sounds,” “four tones,” and “ten tones,” with the examples “mao,” “bao,” “bao,” and “huo”; “dui,” “da,” and “di”; “niu,” “dou,” “zou,” and “liu”; and “tu,” “tan,” and “tian.”
• The later groups likewise give character examples in sequence and label them with categories such as “twelve sounds,” “seven sounds,” “eight sounds,” “nine sounds,” “ten sounds,” and “eleven sounds,” interspersed with terms such as “five tones,” “six tones,” “seven tones,” “eight tones,” and “ten tones.” The examples that can be identified include “tong,” “tan,” and “tian”; “qi,” “zi,” “si,” and “ri”; “nai,” “ni,” and “nu”; “shuai,” “shuai,” and “gu”; “nei,” “nan,” and “nian”; “lao,” “leng,” and “lü”; “gui,” “shui,” “gui,” and “bei”; “lu,” “luo,” and “li”; “gong,” “kong,” and “zhong”; “zou,” “zai,” and “zu”; “long,” “yong,” and “yong”; “yu,” “shu,” and “qu”; “cao,” “cai,” and “qi”; “wu,” “hu,” and “tu”; “cao,” “cai,” and “quan”; “xin,” “shen,” and “jin”; “si,” “san,” and “xing”; “si” and “xiang”; “nan,” “kan,” and “qian”; “shan” and “shou”; “shi” and “shi”; “er”; “er”; “zhuang” and “zhen”; and “zha.”

Thus, the surviving text of this scripture shows only that character examples are being used to organize sound categories. Because key syllables and some entries are corrupted, the precise relationships among the sound categories cannot be translated reliably.

Treat the tones of stars and the sun as opening outward; treat the sounds of earth and water as gathering inward and clear.

Ge, xiang, dan, xiao, si, jiu, xiang, yi, bing, di.

Zhong, jin, nü, zu, xing, shou, zhen, zhong.

(The tones of stars and the sun belong to “seven below” and are the sounds used to sing to Earth, totaling 152. The sounds of earth and water belong to “twelve above” and are the tones used to harmonize with Heaven, totaling 112.)

(This is called “departing tones, opening sounds”: departing tones open outward, totaling 1,064. This is called “gathering sounds, clear tones”: gathering sounds become clear, totaling 1,344.)

Treat the tones of stars and the moon as opening outward and drawing together; treat the sounds of earth and fire as gathering inward and becoming full.

Hua, kuang, ban, bao, shuai, jin, xiong, wang, bei, di.

Yong, ○, nian, jiang, xiang, shi, zhi.

(The tones of stars and the moon belong to “seven below” and are the sounds used to sing to Earth, totaling 152. The sounds of earth and fire belong to “twelve above” and are the tones used to harmonize with Heaven, totaling 112.)

(This is called “departing tones, gathering sounds”: departing tones draw together inward, totaling 1,064. This is called “gathering sounds, full tones”: gathering sounds become full, totaling 1,344.)

Treat the tones of stars and stars as opening outward; treat the sounds of earth and earth as gathering inward and clear.

Ai, gen, gen, zou, ○, qiu, yang, mei, pin, tian.

Qu, qian, lü, qi, er, chi, chou.

(The tones of stars and stars belong to “seven below” and are the sounds used to sing to Earth, totaling 152. The sounds of earth and earth belong to “twelve above” and are the tones used to harmonize with Heaven, totaling 112.)

Note: The original includes symbols such as “(/chacha cha cha)” and “○,” as well as several words that may be damaged remnants of a diagram or transcription. They are retained here as they appear, since their meaning cannot be determined.

Observations on Things, Section Forty-Six

This passage uses categories of sound to correspond with categories of the myriad things between Heaven and Earth. “Sounds of the stars,” “tones of earth and stone,” “sounds of the stars and sun,” and “tones of earth and water” are names the text gives to different sound categories. Terms such as “departing,” “entering,” “clear,” and “turbid” mark tones or qualities of sound. The passage also matches these sounds with “the function of Earth” and “the function of Heaven,” with Yin-Yang and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and with the pitch standards and tone categories known as lü and lü.

“Pi” and “xi” respectively mean opening and closing; “clear” and “turbid” describe sounds that are bright and deep. “Lü” and “lü” are names for categories in ancient musical theory. The numbers listed in the passage, along with expressions such as “one tone,” “two tones,” and “one sound,” indicate the quantities of the different sound categories or the correspondences among them.

The following material uses figures such as “nine times nine” as a framework, listing sound-characters such as “duo,” “ke,” “ge,” and “she,” “he,” “huo,” “hua,” and “ba,” and “kai,” “zai,” and “ai.” It matches them with the names of the Eight Trigrams (Bagua), such as Qian, Kun, and Xun, and with characters such as “yellow,” “flower,” “heroic,” and “worthy.” These characters do not form a continuous passage; they serve to display the classification and correspondence of sounds.

Many characters, symbols, and sequences in the surviving text are difficult to decipher, so the correspondences among the sound categories cannot be reliably reconstructed item by item. Overall, this passage sets out a system that aligns speech sounds, tones, musical pitches, and the myriad things between Heaven and Earth.

This passage is not continuous prose but appears to be a phonological table arranged by “yin” and “sheng,” using different Chinese characters to illustrate pronunciation categories. The repeated “jiu jiu jiu jiu,” slashes, circles, and “ge ge ge ge” in the source seem to be artifacts of the layout or text recognition; they do not reveal the table’s full structure.

Several groupings can be made out: “one yin, four yin” and “four tones, one tone,” followed by the characters yu, wan, wei; zi, si, ri. Later come “one yin, five yin” and “five tones, one tone,” alongside de, pu, pin, pi; gui, shui, gui, bei. The passage then marks groups for six yin, seven yin, and eight yin in succession, listing long, yong, yong; yu, shu, qu; nan, nian; cao, cai, qi.

These characters are likely examples meant to illustrate the pronunciations or sound classes in each group. Since the source’s symbols and layout are incomplete, it is not possible to reliably determine which category each character belongs to, and it would be inappropriate to reconstruct the passage as a complete account of phonology.

This passage from the Jing of the Supreme Ultimate (Huangji Jingshi) is mainly a chart of phonological categories, not continuous prose. The repeated strings in parentheses, such as “nine nine nine nine,” “individual individual individual individual,” and “fragrant fragrant fragrant fragrant,” along with the strings after the slashes, look like chart symbols or layout elements that became garbled during transcription. From this text alone, it is not possible to determine reliably what each one represents.

The parts that can be identified list phonological categories and their corresponding symbols: “one sound,” “nine sounds,” “nine tones,” “one tone,” “ten sounds,” and “ten tones.” The phrase “The first of the second section on final sounds, clear sounds, and harmonious pitch” then appears. Further down, the categories “two sounds,” “eleven sounds,” “one tone,” “two tones,” and “twelve sounds” are listed. The later heading, “The first of the second section on departing tone and pi chang lü,” concerns the “departing tone” and the phonological classification called “pi chang lü.” Below it, the categories “two sounds,” “one sound,” and “three tones” continue, each with corresponding symbols.

“Sound,” “tone,” “pitch,” and “departing tone” are phonological terms. Since the chart symbols are no longer legible, however, this passage cannot provide a more precise account of how the different sounds and tones were pronounced or how they relate to one another.

The passage does not read as continuous classical prose. It looks like a table of character sounds, arranged in groups labeled by category: sì shēng, èr yīn, wǔ shēng, and so on. The graph xiāng appears four times in a row, and so does xiàng, with circles and missing characters in between. The text alone does not show what these marks originally stood for, so they cannot be translated as words with a definite meaning.

The legible parts are roughly as follows. The sì shēng group lists niú, dòu, zòu, and liù; wǔ, wǎ, and yǎng; and yù, wú, yá, yuè, and yáo. The first èr yīn group lists shuāi, shuài, and gǔ; yáo, wáng, and yín; qī, zǐ, sì, and rì; and ān, yà, yǐ, and yī. The wǔ shēng group begins with dé, then mǔ, mǎ, měi, and mǐ; guī, shuǐ, guì, and běi; and mù, mào, méi, and mín. A second èr yīn group lists gōng, kǒng, and zhòng, with fū, fǎ, and fēi, and then lóng, yǒng, and yòng, with fù, fán, and fèi.

The liù shēng group lists yú, shǔ, and qù; wǔ, wǎn, and wěi; and wū, hǔ, and tù; wén, wàn, and wèi. A third èr yīn group lists xīn, shěn, and jìn; bǔ, bǎi, bǐng, and bì; and shí, followed by bù, bái, bèi, and bí. The qī shēng group lists nán, kǎn, and qiàn; pǔ, pǔ, pǐn, and pǐ; and qiè; páng, pái, píng, and píng. A fourth èr yīn group lists dōng, dān, and dì, and then duì, dà, and dì. The bā shēng group lists tǔ, tān, and tiān; tóng, qín, and tián; and nǎi, nǎi, and nǚ. A fifth èr yīn group lists nèi, nán, and nián. The last group, jiǔ shēng, lists lǎo, lěng, and lǚ.

The category labels and the arrangement suggest the passage was used to classify or compare sounds. Because the markup and parts of the content are damaged, the classification rule cannot be reconstructed with confidence, and the relationships between the groups cannot be explained from the text alone.

The Huangji Jingshi passage appears to be a fragment of a rhyme table. It contains many repeated "xiang xiang xiang xiang" syllables, strings of characters after slashes, and circle symbols. These may be glyph forms, phonetic notations, or layout marks from the original table, but this text alone does not allow a reliable determination of what each item represents.

The legible parts are headings that sort entries under "yin" and "sheng" and mark "shouyin qinghe lü yi zhi san" and "qusheng pichang lü yi zhi san." Here "yin" and "sheng" are terms of phonological classification. "Qusheng" refers to the departing tone, one of the traditional four tones. "Lü" is an ancient term for musical pitch standards, used here in two different forms. Taken as a whole, this seems to be tabular material arranged by a particular phonological or tonal system, not continuous prose.

Because key syllables are damaged or unreadable, the meaning of individual lines cannot be transcribed accurately, and it would be unwise to supply specific readings or explanations from this fragment alone.

This passage does not read like a continuous scripture. It looks more like a comparison chart that groups characters by sound (yīn) and tone (shēng). The chart repeatedly marks headings such as "three sounds" (sān yīn), "five tones" (wǔ shēng), "six tones" (liù shēng), and "nine tones" (jiǔ shēng), each followed by a list of characters. Examples include "qī zǐ sì rì," "gǔ jiǎ jiǔ guǐ," "shuāi, shuài, gǔ," "kūn, qiǎo, qiū, qì," and "guī, shuǐ, guì, běi."

Much of the text also shows strings such as "yǐ yǐ yǐ yǐ" and "dàn dàn dàn dàn," or appears as circles. Some words may be transcription or recognition errors. For this reason, the specific relationships among the entries cannot be reliably determined, and the passage cannot be reconstructed as a complete text with a coherent meaning. As far as the legible content goes, it mainly lists categories of sounds and tones with example characters. It is not a narrative passage that can be rendered as continuous prose.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi appears to be phonological material, a set of annotations for sounds, tones, or rhyme categories, rather than continuous narrative prose. Terms such as sān yīn ("three sounds"), liù yīn ("six sounds"), and shí shēng ("ten tones") read like classifications of pronunciation. The heading shōu yīn qīng hé lǜ yī zhī sì ("receiving-sound, clear-harmonious pitch patterns, one through four") seems to state an order of final sounds, voiced or unvoiced qualities, or tonal sequence.

The bracketed items, including duì dà dì, tǔ tān tiān, and nǎi nǐ nǚ, probably serve as sample words that indicate pronunciation. The slashes, circles, and the repeated dàn dàn dàn dàn may also be the source's phonetic notation or layout marks. However, the symbols and glyphs in this text are damaged and disordered, so it is not possible to reliably determine what each mark represents or to reconstruct the exact readings. For that reason, this material can only be read as a phonological classification or pronunciation table, and it cannot be rendered sentence by sentence as fluent vernacular prose.

This passage mainly lists phonological categories and sample characters, using terms such as yin (sound), sheng (tone), qusheng (departing tone), and shouyin (ending sound) to mark the different classes. The headings bi chang, lü yi zhi si and shouyin qinghe, lü yi zhi wu appear to be section titles or rhythmic classifications. Because the original contains many circled numerals, repeated characters, and possible transcription errors, the following describes only what can be identified.

It opens by listing categories such as "four sounds" and "six tones," illustrated with the sample words zhai, zhi, dan and yu, shu, qu. It then gives the heading qusheng bi chang, lü yi zhi si, followed by further sound classes and examples: xin, shen, jin; gu, jia, jiu, gui; jin, kui; kun, qiao, qiu, qi; and qian, qiu.

Later come the classes labeled "four sounds two sounds," "eight tones four tones," "four sounds three sounds," "nine tones four tones," "four sounds four sounds," and "ten tones four tones," with examples huang, hua, xiong, xian; wu, wa, yang; wu, ya, yue, yao; mu, ma, mei, mi; mu, mao, mei, min; fu, fa, fei; fu, fan, fei; wu, wan, wei; and wen, wan, wei.

Under the heading shouyin qinghe, lü yi zhi wu, the list continues with more sound classes and examples: duo, ke, ge, she; he, huo, hua, ba; bu, bai, bei, bi; kai, zai, ai; pu, pu, pin, pi; hui, mei, tui; pang, pai, ping, ping; liang, liang, xiang; dong, dan, di; guang, guang, kuang; and dui, da, di.

The terms yin and sheng are phonological classification terms, and the examples show how pronunciations differ across classes. Qusheng is one of the traditional four tones, and shouyin refers to how a syllable ends. Because the characters and symbols in this passage are damaged, the rules behind each classification cannot be reliably reconstructed from this passage alone.

This passage is not connected classical prose. It is a set of phonetic tables arranged by tone categories (shēng) and sound classes (yīn). The recurring labels "second tone (èr shēng)," "third tone (sān shēng)," "fourth tone (sì shēng)," "fifth tone (wǔ shēng)," and "sixth tone (liù shēng)," along with "seven sounds (qī yīn)," "eight sounds (bā yīn)," "nine sounds (jiǔ yīn)," "ten sounds (shí yīn)," and "eleven sounds (shíyī yīn)," appear to mark different tonal or phonetic classes. The items in brackets list the examples and symbols belonging to each class.

For instance, the opening lists a group under the "second tone," followed by a "fourth tone" group whose entries include Ding, Jing, Gen, Tu, Tan, and Tian. The "five sounds" and "seven sounds" come after that, and the material continues in the same format with entries such as Chen, Yin, and Gen; Lao, Leng, and Lü; Jun, Yun, and Xun; and Lu, Luo, and Li, ending with the "eleven sounds" section. Because the text has many gaps, symbols, and probable errors, its readings, its arrangement rules, and its full meaning cannot be reliably recovered. It can only be described as a list of sound classes and their example characters, and it cannot be reliably rendered as a continuous modern prose passage.

The passage contains tonal and musical classifications such as "seven tones" (qī shēng), "four tones" (sì shēng), "five notes" (wǔ yīn), "twelve pitches" (shí'èr yīn), and "eight tones" (bā shēng). It also lists several character-sounds or symbols, including "nán kǎn jiǔ," "zhái zhí," "kūn qiǎo qiū qì," and "wú yá yuè yáo." On the basis of the available text, the correspondence between these categories and the listed sounds cannot be determined. The repeated "bǐng bǐng bǐng bǐng," "dì dì dì dì," and "sì sì sì sì," as well as the circles, may also be part of a chart, a pitch table, or typesetting information.

"Qù shēng bì chàng lǚ yī zhī wǔ" and "shōu yīn qīng hé lǜ yī zhī liù" look like entry headings and relate to tone, singing method, or musical pitch. This passage alone, however, does not reliably establish their specific meaning, so it should not be rendered as a continuous passage of cultivation or doctrinal text. An accurate translation would require the edition or source of this scripture, or a facsimile that preserves the original layout and diagrams.

This passage does not read as a continuous scripture. It looks more like a phonetic table arranged line by line, in which each line gives a category of yin (sound) or sheng (tone), followed by several characters and numerical markers. The repeated strings, such as "di di di di" and "si si si si," may be table symbols or characters that formed during copying or digital recognition. Based on the text alone, their specific meaning cannot be determined.

For example, after "six yin" come "yuan, quan, ban," and after "three sheng" come "chen, yin, gen." The other lines follow a similar arrangement. The circles, slashes, and numbers in the text also appear to be original column divisions or markers. Without a clear layout or accompanying commentary, these characters cannot be reliably joined into sentences, and no specific doctrine can be confidently drawn from them.

This passage appears to be a phonological table from the Huangji Jingshi (Huangji jingshi, the Supreme Ultimate Canon of World Governance). However, the existing text has misread the table's symbols and some of its glyphs as runs of repeated characters, such as "di di di di," "si si si si," and "nü nü nü nü." Because of this, the passage cannot be fully reconstructed from the text as it stands.

The recognizable parts concern different categories of yin (sound) and sheng (initial or tone), labeled with terms such as shouyin (closing sound), qinghe (clear and harmonious), lü (pitch), qusheng (departing tone), and bichang (opening vocalization). The latter part lists the characters qian and kun and then kai, zai, ai, hui, mei, and tui as exemplary characters for the corresponding categories. Here yin and sheng are technical terms of phonological classification. The passage mainly sets out the arrangement of these categories and how they correspond to one another, rather than presenting a continuous prose argument.

Because the key glyphs in the table are damaged, the meaning of each row and the correspondences among the characters cannot be determined reliably. An accurate reading would require a clear image of the original edition or a collated text.

This passage is not a continuous narrative but a list of character sounds grouped under the headings yin (sound) and sheng (voice or tone). The characters in parentheses serve as examples of the various pronunciations, and the repeated zhòng zhòng zhòng zhòng may be a transmission variant or a typesetting mark. The original does not explain the rules behind classifications such as qī yīn (seven sounds), sān yīn (three sounds), or sān shēng (three tones), and in some places circles stand in for missing characters. The meaning of these sound categories therefore cannot be reliably reconstructed from this passage alone.

In the order of the original, the example characters are: yuán, quǎn, bàn; yáo, wáng, yín; chén, yǐn, gèn; mǔ, mǎ, měi, mǐ; jūn, yǔn, xùn; mù, mào, méi, mín; dāo, zǎo, xiào, yuè; fū, fǎ, fēi; máo, bǎo, bào, huò; fù, fán, fèi; niú, dòu, zòu, liù; wǔ, wǎn, wěi; yù; wén, wàn, wèi; qī, zǐ, sì, rì; bǔ, bǎi, bǐng, bì; shuāi, shuài, gǔ; bù, bái, bèi, bí; dé; pǔ, pǔ, pǐn, pǐ; guī, shuǐ, guì, běi; páng, pái, píng, píng; gōng, kǒng, zhòng; dōng, dān, dì; lóng, yǒng, yòng; duì, dà, dì; yú, shǔ, qù; tǔ, tān, tiān; wū, hǔ, tù; tóng, tán, tián; xīn, shěn, jìn; nǎi, nǎi, nǚ; shí; nèi, nán, nián; nán, kǎn, qiàn; lǎo, lěng, lǚ; qiè; lù, luò, lí; zǒu, zāi, zú.

Seven yin, eight yin; eight sheng, six sheng; and there are corresponding pairings of yin and sheng. Seven yin, nine yin; nine sheng, six sheng; and there are corresponding pairings of yin and sheng. Seven yin, ten yin; ten sheng, six sheng; and there are corresponding pairings of yin and sheng.

"Shouyin qinghe, lü yi zhi ba": the closing sound is clear and even, belonging to the eighth category of the first lü class (lü yi).

Eight yin, ten-one yin; one sheng, six sheng; and there are corresponding pairings of yin and sheng. Eight yin, twelve yin; two sheng, six sheng; and there are corresponding pairings of yin and sheng.

"Qusheng pichang, lü yi zhi qi": the departing tone opens out and is sung, belonging to the seventh category of the first lü class (lü yi). (The original uses the same romanization, lü, for two different graphs, so the two occurrences cannot be distinguished in pinyin alone.)

This passage appears to be a table or rhyme register of musical pitch and tonal classification from Shao Yong's Huangji jingshi (Supreme Ultimate Principles for Governing the Age). The parenthetical material in the original includes many apparent glyph marks, category labels, or typesetting notes, such as four repeated glyphs pinyin nü and four repeated glyphs pinyin zhong, along with circle marks. Their function cannot be reliably determined from the surviving text, so this translation renders only the legible phrases literally. Lü is a traditional term for pitch categories.

This passage does not read like classical text that can be translated directly. It seems more like a fragmentary table of character sounds or a rhyme-dictionary source. The repeated "zu zu zu zu" and "jin jin jin jin," along with the many places where a circle symbol stands in for a character, may be the result of typesetting or text-recognition errors. From the text alone, it cannot be determined what these originally were.

The legible parts list the categories "ba yin" (eight sounds), "er yin" (two sounds), "si sheng" (four tones), and "qi sheng" (seven tones), with several single characters beside them, including qian, qiu, dao, zao, xiao, and yue. These may be used to annotate syllable sounds or initial classes. Because the table's structure and the meanings of its terms are incomplete, they cannot be reliably restored into modern vernacular prose.

The recognition result for this text contains many missing and garbled characters, such as the repeated syllables zú zú zú zú and jìn jìn jìn jìn. The alternative candidate characters given in parentheses also look like different OCR readings. The original cannot be reconstructed from this, so the passage cannot be reliably translated as a whole.

The parts that can still be made out mainly concern classifications of sound and tone: bā yīn (eight sounds), jiǔ shēng (nine tones), shí shēng (ten tones), and shíyī yīn (eleven sounds). There is also the phrase shōu yīn qīng hé, lǜ yī zhī jiǔ, which seems to mean gathering the sounds so that they become clear and harmonious, with the lǜ (pitch standards) arranged from one through nine. The following items, yī shēng (first tone), èr shēng (second tone), and sān shēng (third tone), with their corresponding numbers of sounds, may list the correspondences between tones and sounds one by one. However, the key sentences are damaged, so their specific meaning cannot be determined.

The repeated glyphs xing xing xing xing and jin jin jin jin appear to be symbols or typesetting placeholders in the source, and their meaning cannot be determined from this passage alone. The legible phrases are rendered literally below, and the difficult parts are left unresolved. The nine sounds (nine categories of sound) correspond to mao, bao, bao, and huo, and the twelve sounds correspond to zhai and zhi. The meaning of the jin jin jin jin that follows is unclear.

The four tones correspond to niu, dou, zou, and liu, and the seven tones correspond to chi and chou. The meaning of the jin jin jin jin that follows is again unclear.

The next group corresponds to yu. The group after it corresponds to tu and cheng, and the symbols that follow still cannot be identified.

The departing tone (qusheng, one of the four tones of Chinese, short and falling) is associated with bichang and lü yi zhi ba, but the original does not make the relation clear.

The next group corresponds to qi, zi, si, and ri, and lists gu, jia, jiu, and gui.

The nine sounds correspond to shuai, shuai, and gu, and one sound corresponds to jin and kui.

The five tones correspond to de, and the eight tones correspond to kun, qiao, qiu, and qi.

The next group corresponds to gui, shui, gui, and bei, and lists qian and qiu.

The next group corresponds to gong, kong, and zhong, and another group corresponds to hei, hua, xiang, and xue.

The nine sounds correspond to long, yong, and yong, and the two sounds correspond to huang, hua, xiong, and xian.

The six tones correspond to yu, shu, and qu, and the eight tones correspond to wu, wa, and yang.

The next group is wu, hu, and tu, with wu, ya, yue, and yao listed alongside it.

The next group is xin and shen. Another group is an, ya, yi, and yi.

The nine sounds correspond to shi, and the three sounds correspond to yao, wang, and yin.

The seven tones correspond to nan, kan, and qian, and the eight tones correspond to mu, ma, mei, and mi.

The next group is qie. After it comes mu, mao, mei, and min.

The list reads fu, fa, and fei. The nine sounds correspond to fu, fan, and fei.

The eight tones correspond to wu, wan, and wei. The next group is wen, wan, and wei.

The list reads bu, bai, bing, and bi, and the nine sounds correspond to bu, bai, bei, and bi.

The nine tones correspond to pu, pu, pin, and pi. The next group is pang, pai, ping, and ping.

The list reads dong, dan, and di, and the nine sounds correspond to dui, da, and di.

The ten tones correspond to shi, tan, and tian, and the final character for the eight tones is jin.

This passage appears to list correspondences among sounds, tones, and characters. However, the many symbols, gaps, and suspected miscopied characters mean the overall relations cannot be reliably reconstructed.

This passage appears to be from a sound-and-rhyme table in the Huangji Jingshi (Supreme Ultimate Canon of World Ordering). It lists categories such as shouyin (collected sounds), shiyin (ten sounds), qiyin (seven sounds), yisheng (first tone), and basheng (eight tones), with character examples under each heading. Here sheng and yin are technical terms in phonological classification and should not be read as ordinary "sound" or "music."

The current transcription is unreliable. Many glyphs have been garbled into repeated shou characters, and there are circles and blank spaces where the original table must have had symbols or text. The category names, their arrangement, and their meanings therefore cannot be reconstructed with confidence. The legible portions list shouyin qing he lü yi zhi shi in order, followed by entries for the first through sixth tones, with example sets kai, zai, ai; lao, leng, lü; and lu, luo, li. The passage ends with qusheng bi chang lü yi zhi jiu.

Reading this table properly would require a clear image of the original book or a reliable critical edition. The existing transcription is not enough for further translation, and filling in the missing parts would alter the source text.

This passage lists several categories of sounds (yin) and initials (sheng) with example characters, explaining how they fit into the phonological system. In the text, yin and sheng are technical terms of phonological classification, and the characters listed afterward serve as examples for each category. "Shouyin qinghe lü zhi shiyi" (the Eleventh of the Rule of Gathering Sound, Clear and Harmonious) appears to be the chapter title or subheading for this section.

The first half lists, in turn, several groups matching the "ten sounds" (shi yin) with the "seven tones" (qi sheng), "nine tones" (jiu sheng), and "ten tones" (shi sheng). It uses the characters gu, jia, jiu, and gui; jin and kui; qian and qiu; and hei, hua, xiang, and xue as examples. It then lists, for the second, third, and fourth sounds, the corresponding initials and example characters, such as huang, hua, xiong, and xian; mu, ma, mei, and mi; fu, fan, and fei; and wu, wan, and wei.

After "Shouyin qinghe lü zhi shiyi," the text moves to the sound entries of the zhen category. It lists the fifth, sixth, and seventh sounds of the eleventh sound group, as well as the first and second tones and other classifications. The examples given are bu, bai, bei, and bi; pang, pai, and ping (twice, with different meanings); dong, dan, and di; and tong, qin, and tian.

The marks in parentheses, "shou shou shou shou" and "zhen zhen zhen zhen," along with the circles, seem to be diagrams or notations from the original. This passage alone does not show what they mean.

This passage appears to record correspondences between tones and phonetic categories. The characters in parentheses are example characters that show pronunciation or classification. They are not running text that forms sentences. The sequence zhèn zhèn zhèn zhèn, together with the circle symbols around it, is kept as it appears in the original, but its precise reading and meaning cannot be determined from this passage alone.

It opens with the "three tones" (sān shēng), followed by example characters chén, yǐn, and gèn. It then lists the "nine tones" (jiǔ shēng), with examples lǎo, lěng, and lǚ. Several groups of character examples follow, each marked with zhèn zhèn zhèn zhèn, such as jūn, yǔn, and xùn; lù, luò, and lí; and dāo, zǎo, xiào, and yuè. These are labeled "eight sounds" (bā yīn), "eleven sounds" (shíyī yīn), and other categories.

The passage then arranges categories and examples under the "four tones" through the "nine tones." Examples include niú, dòu, zòu, and liù; guī, shuǐ, guì, and běi; and yú, shǔ, and qù. The labels "nine tones," "ten sounds," "eleven sounds," and "twelve sounds" recur between groups, which suggests that the passage is arranging sound categories in sequence. It ends with the "departing tone" (qù shēng) and a label read as pì chàng, followed by example lists: gǔ, jiǎ, jiǔ, and guǐ; kūn, qiǎo, qiū, and qì; qián and qiú; and hēi, huā, xiāng, and xuè.

Because the passage contains circles, missing characters, and special category markers, the phonetic values or exact classifications of the individual examples cannot be fixed from this passage alone. What can be confirmed is that it records a tonal or phonological classification and its ordering. It should not be translated word for word as connected prose.

This passage is not continuous narrative. It is a phonological table, arranged in groups under the headings yin (sounds) and sheng (tones), and the characters in parentheses mainly illustrate pronunciation or initial classes. It opens by listing the "eleven sounds" (shiyi yin) and the "second sound" (er yin), then the "ten sheng" (shi sheng), with example groups such as zhen zhen zhen zhen, huang hua xiong xian, and wu wa yang. It then marks shou yin qing he, lü yi zhi shi er, which seems to state the position of the closing sound, the clear-harmonic category, and the arrangement of the pitch pipes.

The text continues through the twelve sounds, three sounds, four sounds, five sounds, six sounds, and seven sounds, each paired with categories such as the first sheng, second sheng, third sheng, fourth sheng, fifth sheng, and ten sheng. Under each category appear further example groups, including mu ma mei mi, mu mao mei min, fu fa fei, fu fan fei, wu wan wei, wen wan wei, bu bai bei bi, pu pu pin pi, dong dan di, tu tan tian, nai ni nü, and lao leng lü. Lines marked with four repeated zhong (middle) and the circle symbol appear where the original keeps its written forms and blank spaces.

These character groups present the correspondences among the sound categories. The context provided is not sufficient to determine the specific rules that link each number and group to a category of pitch.

The passage appears to be a phonological chart from the Huangji Jingshi (Supreme Polarity Canon for Ordering the World) by Shao Yong, not a continuous sentence. "Twelve sounds" (shi'er yin) and "six tones" (liu sheng) indicate the number of sound categories or initial classes, while the characters and symbols in parentheses list and label the corresponding sounds. The circle symbol (○) and the repeated sequences "zhong zhong zhong zhong" and "hua hua hua hua" also appear to be chart markers or placeholder material, and the text alone does not reveal how they were meant to be pronounced.

The first half lists several sound classes, initial classes, and their labels in turn. After "twelve sounds," for example, come long (lóng), yong (yǒng), and yong (yòng), and after "six tones" come yu (yú), shu (shǔ), and qu (qù). Further entries include cao (cǎo), cai (cǎi), and qi (qī); wu (wū), hu (hǔ), and tu (tù); and xin (xīn), shen (shěn), and jin (jìn). The remaining entries follow a similar pattern, moving from "twelve sounds" to "eleven sounds" and other groupings, with labels such as nan (nán), kan (kǎn), and qian (qiàn); shi (shì) and shi (shí); er (ěr); zhuang (zhuāng) and zhen (zhèn); and zhai (zhái) and zhi (zhí).

The second half turns to how the phonetic categories relate to one another. The sound labeled "xing" (star) and "yue" (moon) is divided into two classes, and the sound labeled "huo" (fire) and "tu" (earth) is likewise divided into two. The passage also addresses whether each category belongs to the turbid (zhuó) tones, to the musical pitch standards (lǜ), or to the departing tone (qùshēng), a tonal category. It then lists further sound classes under headings such as "one sound," "one tone," and "two sounds," each with annotations including duo (duō), ke (kě), ge (gè), and she (shé); gu (gǔ), jia (jiǎ), jiu (jiǔ), and gui (guǐ); kai (kāi), zai (zǎi), and ai (ài); and kun (kūn), qiao (qiǎo), qiu (qiū), and qi (qì).

Because the chart's formatting and symbols are incomplete in this text, the specific sound values or classifications that each marker represents cannot be reliably reconstructed from the passage as it stands.

This passage is not ordinary narrative prose but a rhyme-table style chart that compares tones, sound categories, and character readings. The characters in parentheses are grouped for classification or phonetic marking. The labels yī shēng (first tone), èr shēng (second tone), and so on mark tones, while yī yīn (first sound category), sān yīn (third sound category), and similar labels mark sound categories or sequences. The repeated huà huà huà huà may be a placeholder or special marker in the original, and this passage alone does not determine its meaning.

Following the original order, the content runs roughly as follows. Under the second tone, the characters dīng, jǐng, gèn are listed, followed by the groups xiōng, yǒng, yíng; wú, yá, yuè, yáo; and qiān, diǎn, dàn. Under the first sound category, yuán, quǎn, bàn are listed, and under the third sound category, yáo, wáng, yín. Under the third tone, chén, yǐn, gèn are listed, and under the first tone, mǔ, mǎ, měi, mǐ, followed by the groups jūn, yǔn, xùn; mù, mào, méi, mín; and dāo, zǎo, xiào, yuè. Under the first sound category again, máo, bǎo, bào, huò are listed, and under the fourth sound category, fù, fán, fèi.

Under the fourth tone, niú, dòu, zòu, liù are listed. Under the first tone, wǔ, wǎn, wěi are listed, followed by yù and the groups wén, wàn, wèi and qī, zǐ, sì, rì. Under the first sound category, shuāi, shuài, gǔ are listed, and under the fifth sound category, bù, bái, bèi, bí. Under the fifth tone, dé is listed. Under the first tone, pǔ, pǔ, pǐn, pǐ are listed, followed by the groups guī, shuǐ, guì, běi; páng, pái, píng, píng; and gōng, kǒng, zhòng. Under the first sound category, lóng, yǒng, yòng are listed, and under the sixth sound category, duì, dà, dì. Under the sixth tone, yú, shǔ, qù are listed. Under the first tone, tǔ, tān, tiān are listed, followed by the groups wū, hǔ, tù; tóng, tán, tián; xīn, shěn, jìn; and nǎi, nǐ, nǚ.

A circle symbol appears in some of the groups, where it seems to mark a missing character or an empty slot. Because the original uses special phonetic notation and classification, and because the text lacks a general explanation of its conventions, the correspondences between the groups cannot be reconstructed accurately from this passage alone.

This passage is not a continuous narrative. It marks the sound categories and pronunciations of syllables with fanqie (reverse-spelling) notation and tonal symbols. The parenthesized characters and marks such as "○" serve a phonetic function, and "yin" (sound) and "sheng" (tone) indicate classes or levels of notation. Read in the original order, it runs as follows.

First yin, marked "jin jin jin jin / ○○○ shi," and seventh yin, marked "nei nan nian / hua hua hua hua." Seventh sheng, marked "jin jin jin jin / nan kan qian ○," and first sheng, marked "lao leng lü / hua hua hua hua."

Next is "jin jin jin jin / ○○○ qie," corresponding to "lu luo li / hua hua hua hua," followed by "jin jin jin jin," corresponding to "zou zai zu / hua hua hua hua."

First yin, marked "jin jin jin jin," and eighth yin, marked "zi zai jiang / hua hua hua hua." Eighth sheng, marked "jin jin jin jin," and first sheng, marked "cao cai qi / hua hua hua hua." Then come two further notations, "cao cai quan / hua hua hua hua" and "si san xing / hua hua hua hua."

First yin, marked "jin jin jin jin," and ninth yin, marked "si xiang / hua hua hua hua." Ninth sheng, marked "jin jin jin jin," and first sheng, marked "/ hua hua hua hua." Then come two more notations, "/ hua hua hua hua" and "shan shou / hua hua hua hua."

First yin, marked "jin jin jin jin," and tenth yin, marked "shi shi / hua hua hua hua." Tenth sheng, marked "jin jin jin jin," and first sheng, marked "er / hua hua hua hua." Then comes "er / hua hua hua hua."

This completes the notation above. The text then turns to the second item of the second part, on shouyin (receiving sounds), zhuo (turbid sounds), and lü (pitch-pattern categories).

Next appears a sound category marked "xiong xiong xiong xiong," with the entry "duo ke ge she," corresponding to "Zhuang Zhen / hua hua hua hua."

Second yin, marked "xiong xiong xiong xiong / he huo hua ba," and eleventh yin, marked "zha / hua hua hua hua." First sheng, marked "xiong xiong xiong xiong / kai zai ai ○," and first sheng, marked "yi chi / hua hua hua hua."

Next is "xiong xiong xiong xiong / hui mei tui ○," corresponding to "chong chen / hua hua hua hua," and also "xiong xiong xiong xiong / liang liang xiang ○," corresponding to "zhuo zhong / hua hua hua hua."

Second yin, marked "xiong xiong xiong xiong / guang guang kuang ○," and twelfth yin, marked "zhai zhi / hua hua hua hua." Second sheng, marked "xiong xiong xiong xiong / ding jing geng ○," and first sheng, marked "chen chou / hua hua hua hua."

The content here is mainly phonological classification and notation. Because the text contains many repeated characters, circles, and the character "hua," these may be how the original book's special symbols appear after transcription. From this text alone, the specific pronunciation behind each notation cannot be reliably reconstructed.

This passage is not a continuous article but a chart for annotating character sounds. The opening heading, "qusheng xichanglü er zhi er," appears to be a table title or category label. It indicates that this column concerns the departing tone (qusheng) and a phonological class called xichanglü.

The chart repeatedly shows labels such as "er yin" (second sound), "san sheng" (third tone), "si sheng" (fourth tone), "wu sheng" (fifth tone), and "liu sheng" (sixth tone). Below these are sample characters, such as "qian, dian, dan," "jun, yun, xun," "niu, dou, zou, liu," and "gui, shui, gui, bei." These appear to be examples arranged by sound class or tone. The repeated forms "xiong xiong xiong xiong" and "kuang kuang kuang kuang," along with several blank symbols, may be special marks in the original table or artifacts of text recognition. I cannot reliably reconstruct their specific meaning from this text.

For this reason, the passage mainly lists sound classifications and sample readings, so it cannot be translated the way a connected classical text would be. To explain the phonological relationship within each column, one would need to consult the original page of the Huangji Jingshi (Supreme Ultimate Canon for Governing the World) or a reliable critical edition of the table.

This passage is not a narrative scripture but a set of phonological material arranged by sound category and syllable count. The characters in parentheses mostly indicate pronunciation categories or serve as examples, and the slashes on either side seem to distinguish different phonetic information. Repeated occurrences of the graph pinyin "kuang," written four times in a row, may result from transmission, typesetting, or character-recognition errors, so the existing text does not reliably allow us to recover its meaning.

Roughly, it can be read as follows: "Seventh tone and second tone: the group headed by the graph pinyin 'xiong' repeated four times, with example characters including pinyin 'nan,' 'kan,' and 'qian.' Another group lists pinyin 'pu,' 'pu,' 'pin,' and 'pi.' Next come pinyin 'pang,' 'pai,' 'ping,' and 'ping,' followed by pinyin 'dong,' 'dan,' 'di,' 'dui,' 'da,' and 'di,' and the list continues arranging characters by sound category and syllable count. Later passages list pinyin 'tu,' 'tan,' 'tian,' 'tong,' 'tan,' 'tian,' 'nai,' 'ni,' 'nü,' 'nei,' 'nan,' 'nian,' 'lao,' 'leng,' 'lü,' 'lu,' 'luo,' 'li,' 'zou,' 'zai,' 'zu,' 'cao,' 'cai,' 'qi,' 'cao,' 'cai,' and 'quan.'"

The heading "Final Sounds, Voiced Sounds, Harmonic Sounds, and Tonal Sounds, Second Section, Third Part," with the terms shouyin, zhuoyin, heyin, and lüsheng, signals that the following material turns to another set of classifications concerning final sounds, voicing, or tonal rhythm. It is then followed by a list of pinyin "wang," "si," "san," "xing," "he," "huo," "hua," "ba," "si," "xiang," "kai," "zai," "ai," "hui," "mei," "tui," "liang," "liang," "xiang," "shan," "shou," "guang," "guang," "kuang," "shi," "shi," "ding," "jing," "gen," "er," "xiong," "yong," and "ying," with corresponding sound categories or syllable counts noted.

Because many symbols and arrangements cannot be determined from this transcription alone, the above should be understood only as a general account of a table organizing character sounds by category. Each symbol cannot be reliably rendered as a precise modern pronunciation or technical term.

This passage does not appear to be a continuous scripture. It looks more like a table or register of rhyme categories, sorted by yin (sound) and sheng (tone). The terms yin and sheng recur throughout, along with labels such as "three yin," "four sheng," and "two sheng," and what seems to follow are sample character entries for each category.

However, much of the text consists of repeated or damaged characters, such as wang wang wang wang, kuang kuang kuang kuang, and rows of circles. These likely result from transcription or character-recognition errors. Because of this corruption, the original content of each column cannot be reliably reconstructed. The most that can be said is that the material lists categories of sound, and it cannot be used to recover the meaning of any specific scripture. The phrase qusheng xichang lü er zhi san may also be a category label or annotation within the table, but the surviving text is not enough to establish its exact sense.

This passage appears to be a table from the Huangji Jingshi (Supreme Polarity Canon for Governing the World, Huangji Jingshi) that records phonetic categories and sound classes. Labels such as "one sound, four sounds" and "eight tones, three tones" mark the categories, and example syllables follow each one. The heading "shou yin zhuo he lü er zhi si" (receiving sound, turbid and harmonious, pitch two, item four) seems to be the title or classification note for this section.

The text as it stands, however, is clearly corrupted in its characters and arrangement. The glyphs "wang wang wang wang" and "ban ban ban ban" repeat, and several strings of characters cannot be read coherently. We can therefore see that it lists sound categories and sample syllables, but we cannot reliably reconstruct the meaning of each entry from it.

This passage is not a continuous narrative. It is a set of phonological materials arranged under the categories sheng and yin. The source uses these as its own classificatory terms, and their precise meaning can be settled only by consulting the relevant chapters of the Huangji Jingshi (Supreme Polarity Canon of Worldly Governance) and the editorial notes to its editions. The characters and symbols given in parentheses should be read as the contents of each group.

The opening groups run as follows. Three sheng are listed: chen, yin, and gen, followed by four repetitions of ban. Next come three further sheng, jun, yun, and xun, again followed by four ban. A third group lists dao, zao, xiao, and yue, with shan and shou given separately, and then four ban. The fourth group gives four yin, mao, bao, bao, and huo, and ten yin, shi and shi, followed by four ban. The fifth lists four sheng, niu, dou, zou, and liu, and three sheng, er, then four ban. The sixth group is yu, and er, followed by four ban. The seventh gives qi, zi, si, and ri, together with zhuang and zhen, then four ban. The eighth lists four yin, shuai, shuai, and gu, and eleven yin, zha, then four ban. The ninth gives five sheng, de, and three sheng, yi and chi, then four ban. The tenth lists gui, shui, gui, and bei, with chong and chen, then four ban. The eleventh gives gong, kong, and zhong, with zhuo and zhong, then four ban. The twelfth lists four yin, long, yong, and yong, and twelve yin, zhai and zhi, then four ban. The thirteenth gives six sheng, yu, shu, and qu, and three sheng, che and chou, then four ban. The last opening group lists wu, hu, and tu, with cha and cheng, then four ban.

The text then marks the phrase qu sheng xi chang, lü er zhi si, "departing tone, harmonized chanting, lü two, the fourth." Qu sheng is the traditional name for the departing tone. The exact use of xi chang and of lü er zhi si cannot be determined from this passage alone.

The remaining groups each close with four repetitions of bao. They begin with xin, shen, and jin, with gu, jia, jiu, and gui. Next come four yin and shi as well as one yin, jin and kui. A further group lists seven sheng, nan, kan, and qian, and four sheng, kun, qiao, qiu, and qi. Then come qie, followed by qian and qiu. Next are hei, hua, xiang, and xue. The following group lists four yin and two yin, huang, hua, xiong, and xian, and then eight sheng and four sheng, wu, wa, and yang. After these come wu, ya, yue, and yao. Then an, ya, yi, and yi. Next are four yin and three yin, yao, wang, and yin. The penultimate group lists nine sheng and four sheng, mu, ma, mei, and mi. The following group gives mu, mao, mei, and min. The last group is fu, fa, and fei.

The circle and slash symbols in the source, as well as the repeated ban and bao sequences, are not explained in this passage, so they are preserved here as they appear. The "ten" and "eleven" yin labels are likewise recorded as written.

This passage is not a continuous narrative but a table classifying sounds, titled "Shouyin, Zhuohe, Lü Er zhi Wu" (roughly, "Gathering Sounds, Turbid Harmony, Pitch, Part Two, Fifth"). Labels such as "four sounds" (sì yīn), "five sounds" (wǔ yīn), and "one sound" (yī shēng) mark the categories, and the characters in parentheses give example characters or pronunciation clues for each class.

The original repeats the term "bào" several times, and some entries may be missing or garbled, so the exact pronunciation and correspondence of each item cannot be reliably reconstructed from the current text. The table appears to be grouped by initial sound, with example entries including bèi, fù, fán, and fèi; wǔ, wǎn, and wěi; hé, huǒ, huà, and bā; and kāi, zǎi, and ài. Later groups follow: dīng, jǐng, and gèn; yuán, quǎn, and bàn; and niú, dòu, zòu, and liù. In the original, "○" marks a position where no character is listed or the notation is missing.

This passage does not read like a continuous scripture. It looks more like an itemized record concerning phonology or tones. The terms "bei," "bao," and "shuai" recur repeatedly and may be marks used for labeling, and "○" indicates a blank or an unmarked place. Because the original lacks any explanation, the specific meaning of these symbols cannot be determined.

Read literally, the first half lists categories in sequence: "wu yin" (five tones), "wu sheng" (five sounds), "liu sheng" (six sounds), "qi sheng" (seven sounds), and "ba sheng" (eight sounds). These are followed by "jiu yin" (nine tones), "shi yin" (ten tones), "shi yi yin" (eleven tones), and "shi er yin" (twelve tones), along with the words "si xiang," "gui shui gui bei," "gong kong zhong," and "long yong yong." The second half contains "qu sheng xi chang lü er zhi wu" and lists "gu jia jiu gui," "jin kui," "kun qiao qiu qi," "qian qiu," "hei hua xiang xue," "huang hua xiong xian," and "wu wa yang." Here "qu sheng" is a traditional name for a tone category. "Lü" may refer to the lü pitch standards of ancient music theory, but the passage alone does not establish what is meant.

The surviving text contains many repeated symbols, gaps, and character groups that are hard to make out. One can therefore see only that it arranges tones, sounds, and related words by category. It cannot be reliably reconstructed into a fuller meaning.

This passage lists categories such as shōuyīn (receiving tone), liùyīn (six tones), shēng (tone), and yīn (sound), and uses groups of characters to mark representative readings for each category. For example, the entry for yī shēng (first tone) lists kāi (open), zǎi (to slaughter or govern), and ài (love). The entry for wǔ shēng (fifth tone) lists mǔ (mother), mǎ (horse), měi (beautiful), and mǐ (rice). The parenthetical material is mostly sequences of example characters or category labels arranged by type, not connected sentences.

Because the original contains many repeated characters, symbols, and apparent errors, the text does not allow us to determine the exact relationships among the groups of examples. It also cannot reliably establish the specific meaning here of terms such as shōuyīn zhuóhé lǜ èr zhī liù ("receiving tone," "turbid harmony," "pitch standard," "two," "of six"). It can therefore be read only as a classification table of sound categories and their representative readings. A fuller, definite plain-language interpretation cannot be given from this text alone.

This text cannot currently be reliably translated as it stands. It contains a large number of repeated "dìdì dìdì dìdì dìdì" and "shuài shuài shuài shuài," along with symbols such as circles and slashes. These may be the result of the original's character forms, phonetic marks, or typesetting information being replaced or corrupted during transcription. The meaning of each group cannot be determined from these alone, and it would be inappropriate to force an explanation.

The recognizable portions appear to be grouped under the names "wǔ shēng" (five tones), "liù yīn" (six sounds), "qī shēng" (seven tones), "bā shēng" (eight tones), "jiǔ shēng" (nine tones), and "shí shēng" (ten tones). What these terms specifically refer to here still requires judgment based on a reliable version of the original text or its context. The phrase "Huángjí Jīngshì juǎn dì jiǔ zhī shàng" is the volume title, meaning the first part of volume nine of the Huangji Jingshi (Supreme Principles Governing the World).

This passage opens the ninth scroll, middle section, division two, of the Huángjí Jīngshì (Supreme Principles Governing the World), attributed to Shao Yong (Shào Yáofū, 1011–1077) of Sanchuan (Sānchuān).

The text is a phonological classification table. It lists categories such as shōuyīn (collected sounds), zhuóhé lǜ (turbid harmonic pitch), qùshēng (departing tone), xīchàng (contracted vocalization), and lǚ (pitch-pipe). The categories are arranged by the seven tones (qīyīn), by one to four tones (yīyīn to sìyīn), and by one to four tonal registers (yīshēng to sìshēng).

The table gives sample syllables for each category, including duō, kě, gè, and shé; gǔ, jiǎ, jiǔ, and guǐ; kūn, qiǎo, qiū, and qì; huáng, huá, xióng, and xián; chén, yǐn, and gèn; and mǔ, mǎ, měi, and mǐ. These show how each sound class corresponds to concrete syllables. They are not continuous prose.

The repeated tokens "nián nián nián nián" and "yòng yòng yòng yòng," along with the circle symbols, are probably artifacts of table formatting or transcription. The passage alone does not show what each of them represents.

This passage appears to be a damaged or corrupted phonological classification table. The surviving text consists mainly of the category names qiyin (seven sounds), wuyin (five sounds), wusheng (five tones), and liusheng (six tones), along with characters grouped by category. The terms yin (sound) and sheng (tone) are used here as phonological classification terms. Repeated strings such as "nian nian nian nian" and "yong yong yong yong," together with several gaps, circles, and slashes, may be placeholders in the original table or errors from copying and typesetting. Their meaning cannot be determined from the text.

As the text stands, the characters listed under each category can be read as follows: shuai, shuai, gu; bu, bai, bei, bi; gui, shui, gui, bei; pang, pai, ping, ping; gong, kong, zhong; dong, dan, di; long, yong, yong; dui, da, di; yu, shu, qu; tu, tan, tian; wu, hu, tu; tong, tan, tian; xin, shen, jin; nai, ni, nü; shi, nei, nan, nian; nan, kan, qian; lao, leng, lü; qie, lu, luo, li; zou, zai, zu; zi, zai, jiang; cao, cai, qi; cao, cai, quan; si, san, xing; si, xiang; shan, shou; tu, shi; and er. Because the table structure and several entries are incomplete, I cannot reliably reconstruct the basis for each grouping or the full content of the original.

This passage arranges syllables by category of sound and rhyme, using terms such as shouyin (sound-ending), zhuohe lü (turbid-harmony pitch standard), qusheng (departing tone), and xichang lü (blended-chant pitch standard). From this passage alone, it cannot be determined whether lü refers to the ancient lü pitch-pipe system of music theory.

At the start, the heading "shouyin zhuohe lü, second group, item eight" can be understood as the eighth item of the second group within the category of shouyin and zhuohe lü. Below it, the text lists classifications and counts such as the "eight sounds" (bayin), the "eleven sounds" (shiyi yin), "one tone" (yi sheng), and "six tones" (liu sheng).

In the latter half, "qusheng xichang lü, second group, item seven" can be understood as the seventh item of the second group within the category of qusheng and xichang lü. The text then lists the first, second, and third sounds under the "eight sounds," together with their corresponding sound classes.

The text also contains the character jiang repeated several times, placeholder sequences of the character yong repeated four times, circle placeholders, and strings that cannot be recognized. These suggest that the text is damaged or was miscopied. Although it appears to be a rhythm table organized by sound and tone, I cannot reliably explain the individual syllables or their correspondences item by item.

This passage is not a coherent sentence but a table that records sounds, sound classes, and example characters. Category names in the table, such as "five sounds" (wǔ shēng), "seven sounds" (qī shēng), and "eight tones" (bā yīn), label the classes. The characters in parentheses are listed in their original order, and the circles below mark gaps or unlisted characters. The repeated sequence "jiàng jiàng jiàng jiàng" is kept as it appears in the original, but this passage alone cannot establish what it represents in the table.

In the original order, the listed example characters are: mǔ, mǎ, měi, mǐ; guī, shuǐ, guì, běi; mù, mào, méi, mín; gōng, kǒng, zhòng; fū, fǎ, fēi; lóng, yǒng, yòng; fù, fán, fèi; yú, shǔ, qù; wǔ, wǎn, wěi; wū, hǔ, tù; wén, wàn, wèi; xīn, shěn, jìn; bǔ, bǎi, bǐng, bì; bù, bái, bèi, bí; nán, kǎn, qiàn; pǔ, pǔ, pǐn, pǐ; qiè; páng, pái, píng, píng; dōng, dān, dì; duì, dà, dì; shì, tān, tiān; tóng, tán, tián; nǎi, nǐ, nǚ; nèi, nán, nián; lǎo, lěng, lǚ; lù, luò, lí; zǒu, zāi, zú; zì, zài; cǎo, cǎi, qī; cáo, cái, quán.

Because the original has missing characters, spacing gaps, and repeated marks, the table can only be read as a list of sound classes with their example characters. The text does not allow a reliable reconstruction of how the columns correspond to one another.

This passage comes from the Huangji Jingshi (Supreme Ultimate Principles for Governing the World), where it discusses rhythm and tone. Section 2.9, "Shouyin zhuohe lü" (the Receiving-Sound Turbid-Harmony Pitch Standard), lists sound categories in order: nine sounds, ten sounds, eleven sounds, and twelve sounds. It labels them with the tone names first tone, second tone, third tone, fourth tone, and seventh tone. It then gives example syllables such as duo, ke, ge, and she; he, huo, hua, and ba; and kai, zai, and ai. These show how each sound category corresponds to a tone.

Section 2.8, "Qusheng xichang lü" (the Departing-Tone Gathering-and-Responding Pitch Standard), turns to combinations of departing tones. Xichang describes sound that closes inward and answers in chant, and lü refers to the pitch standards within the tonal system. The text moves through the categories nine sounds, one sound, five tones, and eight tones, and gives example syllables such as qi, zi, si, and ri; gu, jia, jiu, and gui; and gui, shui, gui, and bei.

Taken together, these two sections use sound categories, tones, and example syllables to organize a sound system, in the diagrammatic style the Huangji Jingshi uses for discussing tonal rhythm. The original also uses the character xiang and circle symbols to mark diagrams or phonetic positions. The surviving text gives no reading for these symbols, and some character positions cannot be made out from the text provided. For that reason, the actual phonetic values and the exact assignment of each example syllable to a category cannot be determined from this passage alone.

The nine initials (jiuyin) are divided into two sounds, exemplified by long, yong, yong, and the six tones are divided into eight, exemplified by wu, wa, yang. The following groups of example characters are, in order: wu, hu, tu; wu, ya, yue, yao; xin, shen, jin; and an, ya, yi, yi.

The nine initials are divided into three sounds, exemplified by yao, wang, yin, and the seven tones are divided into eight, exemplified by nan, kan, qian; mu, ma, mei, mi; mu, mao, mei, min; and fu, fa, fei.

The nine initials are divided into four sounds, exemplified by fu, fan, fei, and the eight tones are divided into eight, exemplified by wu, wan, wei; wen, wan, wei; and bu, bai, bing, bi.

The nine initials are divided into five sounds, exemplified by bu, bai, bei, bi, and the nine tones are divided into eight, exemplified by pu, pu, pin, pi; pang, pai, ping, ping; and dong, dan, di.

The nine initials are divided into six sounds, exemplified by dui, da, di, and the ten tones are divided into eight, exemplified by tu, tan, tian; and tong, tan, tian.

The above concerns the closing sounds, turbid sounds, and harmonic rules, and belongs to Chapter 2, Section 10.

The example characters listed next are: duo, ke, ge, she; and nai, ni, nü.

The ten initials are divided into ten sounds, exemplified by nei, nan, nian, and the seven tones are divided into eight, exemplified by he, huo, hua, ba.

The first tone is divided into eight, exemplified by lao, leng, lü; lu, luo, li; hui, mei, tui; liang, liang, xiang; and zou, zai, zu.

The ten initials are divided into eight sounds, exemplified by zizai, jiang; and guang, guang, kuang.

The second tone is divided into eight, exemplified by cao, cai, qi.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi (Canon of Supreme Polarity) appears to arrange yin (sounds) and sheng (tones) together with the characters assigned to them, resembling a table of phonological or tonal patterns. The text repeatedly uses headings such as shiyin ("ten sounds"), jiuyin ("nine sounds"), sansheng ("three tones"), and basheng ("eight tones"). Beneath these headings appear the word groups "Cao Caiquan," "Si Sanxing," "Sixiang," and "Junyunxun," and there is also the phrase qusheng xichang lü er zhi jiu ("departing tone, xichang lü, second, of the ninth").

However, much of the original shows repeated instances of the character shi, a series of slash-marked symbols, and blank character positions, clearly indicating textual damage or misrecognition. Because these portions cannot be reliably identified, the available text is insufficient to reconstruct the relationships among the columns, and the specific meaning of qusheng xichang lü er zhi jiu cannot be accurately explained. The plain-language description above can only account for the visible surface structure and should not be taken to establish the passage's complete meaning.

This passage arranges phonological categories, recording different yin (sound classes) and sheng (tone or initial classes) together with their example characters, in a table similar to a pronunciation classification chart. The terms yin and sheng are technical phonological labels here and should not be read directly as the initials, finals, or tones of modern Mandarin.

The table contains several places where the text shows repeated unreadable glyphs, along with slashes and circles, and these cannot be identified from the present text. The legible entries are as follows. Under the third shi yin (ten sounds), the examples are yao, wang, and yin. Under the ninth sheng, the examples are mu, ma, mei, and mi, followed by mu, mao, mei, and min, and then fu, fa, and fei. Under the fourth shi yin, the examples are fu, fan, and fei. Under the tenth sheng, the examples are wu, wan, and wei, with further examples wen, wan, and wei.

The heading reads "Collecting the Turbid and Harmonious Sounds, Second Section, Eleventh," and the entries that follow are arranged by sound class and by sheng class. Under the fifth yin of the eleventh group are bu, bai, bei, and bi. Under the first sheng are pu, pu, pin, and pi, with further examples pang, pai, ping, and ping, and dong, dan, and di. Under the sixth yin of the eleventh group are dui, da, and di. Under the second sheng are tu, tan, and tian, with further examples tong, tan, and tian, and nai, ni, and nü.

Under the seventh yin of the eleventh group are nei, nan, and nian. Under the third sheng are lao, leng, and lü, with further examples lu, luo, and li, and zou, zai, and zu. Under the eighth yin of the eleventh group are zizai and jiang. Under the fourth sheng are cao, cai, and qi, with further examples cao, cai, and quan, and si, san, and xing.

The ninth yin of the eleventh group lists si and xiang. The fifth sheng column then adds gui, shui, gui, and bei. The final examples and symbols at the end of the passage are incomplete, so their category cannot be determined.

The passage appears to list a classification table of sounds from the Huangji Jingshi (Huangji Jingshi, Supreme Principles Governing the World). It arranges syllables by "sound" (yin), "initial" (sheng), and categories such as tone and final, to show how they correspond. The text contains many glyphs, symbols, and column markers and resembles fragments of a phonological table. Without the original book's layout and context, its correspondences cannot be reliably reconstructed item by item.

Among these terms, "shiyi yin" (eleven sounds) and "shi'er yin" (twelve sounds) denote different sound classes. "Yi sheng" through "shi sheng" (first through tenth initials) are numbered initial categories. "Qu sheng" (departing tone), "shouyin" (final sound), and "zhuohe lü" (turbid-harmony rule) concern tone, final consonant, and the turbid or clear relationship among sounds. The characters in parentheses, such as "gong, kong, zhong" and "shan, shou," appear to be examples or markers for these sound classes.

Broadly, the passage can be understood as follows: following a set of phonological rules, the author arranges sound classes, initials, and tone categories in successive levels, using a number of characters as exemplars to show how they relate. These numbers and exemplary characters can only be explained accurately in light of the book's page layout, textual variants, and related phonological theory. From the transcribed text alone, it is not advisable to force each group of characters into a specific pronunciation or classification.

This passage is not a coherent sentence but reads like a table that classifies and lists character examples under the headings "shēng" (tone) and "yīn" (sound). The table runs from "three tones" (sān shēng) up to "nine tones" (jiǔ shēng). Each section is also labeled with counts such as "twelve sounds" (shí'èr yīn) and "six sounds" through "eleven sounds" (liù yīn to shíyī yīn). Beside these labels are several sample characters, including chén, gèn, pǔ, pǔ, dōng, dān, and dì. The bracketed "zhí zhí zhí zhí," the slashes, and the circles also appear to be original markings, but from this text alone it is not possible to determine what each of them represents.

Some positions use "○" in place of a character, and some character columns may be missing because of transcription or typesetting. The material therefore broadly appears to display different tone categories, sound categories, and their character examples. The specific classification rules and the meaning of each mark cannot be reliably reconstructed from the existing content alone.

This passage cannot currently be translated coherently into plain language. Much of the text appears as repeated strings such as “zhizhizhizhi” and “qiuqiuqiuqiu,” suggesting that the original transcription or character recognition may have become corrupted. The remaining parts also contain words arranged by sound category, without enough context to determine their meaning.

The portions that can be recognized include “twelve tones,” “ten sounds,” “one tone,” “one sound,” “two tones,” “three sounds,” and “four sounds.” They seem to list or classify sounds, syllables, and the words corresponding to them. “Lü” and “lü” may refer to the pitch standards used in musical tuning. Based on this text alone, however, it is not possible to determine the relationships among the groups of words or reconstruct the passage as a whole.

This passage appears to be a table of phonetic categories or pronunciation notes from Huangji Jingshi, rather than continuous prose. In the surviving text, strings such as “qiu qiu qiu qiu” and “ai ai ai ai” recur, while many characters have been replaced by circles or slashes. These are likely transcription or recognition errors, so the passage cannot be accurately reconstructed from the text available.

The legible entries appear in this order: “one sound,” “five sounds,” “five tones,” “one tone,” followed by “one sound, six sounds, six tones, one tone,” then “one sound, seven sounds, seven tones,” “one sound, eight sounds, eight tones,” and “one sound, nine sounds, nine tones.” These entries likely arrange categories of sounds or tones and list their corresponding pronunciations. Because the specific words are incomplete, however, it is not possible to explain the contents of each category reliably.

This passage appears to be part of a table in Huangji Jingshi concerning the classification of sounds, tones, or musical pitches. However, many characters in the available text are corrupted or replaced with symbols, so the original cannot be reliably reconstructed from it.

Two fragments can currently be identified:

• “shouyin qinghe lü san zhi er” refers to a category of sounds called “shouyin” and marks the second item in the third group of “qinghe lü.” Here, “lü” may refer to a classification of musical pitches; the fragment alone does not establish the precise correspondence.
• “qusheng picha chang lü san zhi er” refers to “qusheng,” an ancient Chinese tone, and marks the second item in the third group of “picha chang lü.” “Picha chang lü” may be a specialized phonological or musical term, but the available text is insufficient to determine its exact meaning.

The remaining material retains references to sounds and tones, along with several strings in parentheses, but the characters are too badly damaged to interpret coherently.

This passage appears to be a table arranging sounds and rhymes from the Huangji Jingshi. It lists different categories of sounds and tones alongside example characters. Labels such as “two sounds,” “five tones,” and “seven tones” indicate groupings of particular sounds or tonal categories.

For example, the table lists the characters “jade,” “tooth, moon, Yao,” “wife, child, four, sun,” and “tortoise, water, noble, north” in sequence, and compares them with groups including “I,” “peace, second, second heavenly stem, one.” Later groups include “dragon, Yong, use,” “father, ordinary, bark,” “fish, mouse, go,” and “martial, late, tail,” as well as combinations such as “east, cinnabar, emperor,” “Dui, great, younger brother,” and “earth, greedy, heaven.”

The bracketed sequences “looking up, looking up, looking up, looking up” and “constant, constant, constant, constant” recur. They may be placeholders or symbols from the original layout or chart; their specific meaning cannot be determined from this text alone. The passage therefore cannot be translated line by line as ordinary classical prose. The most cautious reading is that it uses example characters to classify and compare sound categories.

This passage from Huangji jingshi mainly marks the order of sounds, sound classes, and tones, and belongs to the classification of phonological material. Terms such as “two sounds,” “eight sounds,” “ten tones,” and “two tones” are classification labels; “the third of the three under clear and harmonious regulated closing sounds” is a chapter or prosodic heading. The character combinations in parentheses and forms such as “geng geng geng geng” appear to come from special glyphs or a transcription format. The available text is insufficient to identify them reliably, so they cannot be interpreted item by item.

This passage does not read like continuous scripture. It resembles a set of tables comparing sounds and tones in the Huangji Jingshi. Many characters in the surviving text appear as repeated strings such as “meimeimeimei” and “gengengengeng.” These may be symbols or words that were corrupted during transcription, so their meaning cannot be reliably determined from the text alone.

The title that can currently be made out is “Qusheng Pichang Lü san zhi san,” which roughly means “The third entry in the Lü category on Pichang in the falling tone.” Qusheng refers to one of the tones of classical Chinese. The text that follows repeatedly mentions “three sounds,” “five tones,” “six sounds,” “seven sounds,” and “eight sounds,” apparently arranging or comparing different sound or tonal categories. Because the accompanying text and symbols are garbled, however, it is not possible to identify precisely what each item corresponds to.

This passage from Huangji Jingshi mainly arranges and compares different classes of sounds, listing representative characters for each class to support phonological classification or derivation. Terms such as “nine tones,” “three tones,” “three sounds,” and “six sounds” are names for categories. “Clear and harmonious entering sounds, fourth mode of the fourth series” indicates the phonological category or position in the arrangement to which this section belongs.

The characters in parentheses, such as pang, pai, ping, ping; dong, dan, di; and others, serve as examples for the various sound classes. The slashes, circles, and symbols such as gen are also markers used in the original layout. Since these characters and symbols are detached from the book’s original format and phonological system, it is difficult to determine from this excerpt alone the exact pronunciation or derivation rule represented by each item. The passage is therefore best understood as a phonological classification table rather than as continuous prose.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi is not a continuous text but a phonological table arranged by tone, initial consonant, and final. It marks categories with terms such as “four sounds,” “five tones,” “departing tone,” and “final sound,” then lists corresponding character examples or syllables. Repeated strings such as “gen gen gen gen” and “zou zou zou zou” may be symbols from the original layout or artifacts of text recognition, so they cannot be translated into specific meanings.

The opening section lists characters such as “qi,” “zi,” “si,” and “ri,” marked with categories such as “four sounds,” “five tones,” and “six tones.” It then gives groups such as “gui, shui, gui, bei” and “gong, kong, zhong.” Next it lists “long, yong, yong,” marked as “four sounds” and “twelve sounds”; “yu, shu, qu” are marked as “six tones” and “three tones.”

“Qu sheng pi chang lü san zhi si” is the section heading here. It roughly means: syllables or chanting patterns for the departing tone, listed as the fourth item in the third section of the lü category. “Departing tone” is a traditional name for a tone category. The precise meaning of “pi chang lü” is difficult to determine from this passage alone.

The following table continues listing character examples for syllables, such as “xin, shen, jin”; “nan, kan, qian”; “qian, qiu”; and “hei, hua, xiang, xue,” “huang, hua, xiong, xian,” “mu, ma, mei, mi,” and “mu, mao, mei, min.” These are marked with categories such as “four sounds,” “seven tones,” “eight tones,” “nine tones,” and “ten tones.” The labels classify pronunciations; they do not explain the characters’ meanings in sentences.

“Shou yin qing he lü san zhi wu” is another section heading. It roughly means: the clear sounds, harmonious sounds, or lü category of final sounds, listed as the fifth item in the third section. In phonology, “final sound” usually refers to the ending part of a syllable. “Clear,” “harmonious,” and “lü” are classification names used in this table; their precise meanings depend on the organizational rules of the full work.

The final section lists characters such as “pin” and examples such as “bu, bai, bing, bi.” Because the source contains many unusual symbols, missing characters, and repeated marks, the available text is insufficient to reconstruct the exact pronunciation or complete classification represented by each column.

This passage appears to be a sound-classification table from Huangji Jingshi, arranged under headings such as “Five Tones” and “First Tone” through “Fifth Tone,” with several characters listed as examples for each. The repeated “zou zou zou zou” may be a marker in the table.

The text as preserved contains clear errors or omissions, including repeated “pin pin pin pin,” circle placeholders, and incomplete groups of characters. The table’s rows and columns are also difficult to distinguish. It is therefore possible to tell only that the text groups characters together; the specific meaning of each group cannot be reliably reconstructed, and the characters should not be interpreted as definite cultivation or ritual content.

This passage appears to be a phonological chart from the Huangji Jingshi. Many parts of the chart have been recognized as “pin pin pin pin” or as symbols such as circles, so the original characters cannot be reconstructed from them. The explanation below therefore covers only the legible text.

The chart lists the numbers of the “Five Sounds,” various kinds of “sounds,” and “tones” in sequence, with corresponding characters or symbols shown in parentheses. Some legible sets of figures include:

• The Five Sounds correspond to ten sounds, and the six tones correspond to four tones.
• The Five Sounds correspond to eleven sounds, and the seven tones correspond to four tones.
• The Five Sounds correspond to twelve sounds, and the eight tones correspond to four tones.

“Sounds” and “tones” are the classification terms used in this phonological chart. Without the chart’s original appearance and complete text, their precise meanings are difficult to determine.

“Qu sheng pi chang lü san zhi wu” can be read as: within the qu sheng, or departing tone, category, “pi chang lü” corresponds to the fifth item in the third section. “Qu sheng” is a traditional name for a Chinese tone.

The following chart lists the Five Sounds as corresponding to one sound and two sounds, and the ninth and tenth tones as each corresponding to five tones. The terms “gu jia jiu gui,” “jin kui,” “kun qiao qiu qi,” “qian qiu,” “hei hua xiang xue,” “huang hua xiong xian,” “wu wa yang,” and “wu ya yue yao” can also be made out in parentheses.

The final phrase, “shou yin qing he lü san zhi liu,” means that the sound ending, or the category into which a syllable’s sound resolves, is “clear and harmonious,” corresponding to the sixth item in the third section. “Lü” is a term used here for a phonological classification.

This passage appears to be a table of pronunciations arranged by tone, initial consonant, or final vowel, possibly intended to illustrate correspondences among sounds. The strings in parentheses and the circles seem to preserve information from the original chart or layout. Repeated content such as “tiantian tiantian,” along with several missing character forms, may result from recognition or typesetting errors and cannot be reliably reconstructed from this text alone.

The portions that can be identified roughly list:

• Category names such as “six sounds,” “three sounds,” “first tone,” and “fifth tone”;
• Examples such as “an, ya, yi, yi”; “he, huo, hua, ba”; and “mu, ma, mei, mi”;
• Examples such as “hui, mei, tui”; “mu, mao, mei, min”; “liang, liang, xiang”; and “fu, fa, fei”;
• Later entries including “guang, guang, kuang”; “fu, fan, fei”; “ding, jing, gen”; “wu, wan, wei”; “xiong, yong, ying”; and “wen, wan, wei”;
• The final entries include “qi, zi, si, ri”; “nai, ni, nü”; “shuai, shuai, gu”; and “nei, nan, nian.”

Because the original classification labels, chart layout, and many character forms are incomplete, the precise correspondences among these examples cannot be determined. For now, it can only be understood as a table classifying sounds; it does not support a more detailed interpretation.

This passage appears to be a set of phonological tables from Huangji Jingshi, arranged under categories such as the “Five Tones,” “Six Sounds,” and “Eight Sounds,” with examples of characters listed under each. Much of the surviving text appears as “tiantian tiantian” or circles, indicating that the original information is missing; many of the remaining examples also seem to contain errors, so the table’s meaning cannot be reliably reconstructed from this text alone.

The legible examples include “gui, shui, gui, bei”; “gong, kong, zhong”; “long, yong, yong”; “yu, shu, qu”; “wu, hu, tu”; and “xin, shen, jin,” as well as “lao, leng, lü” and “lu, luo, li.” These examples were likely listed according to some system of phonological classification. “Five Tones” and “Six Sounds” are category names in the table. Because the text is incomplete, the specific relationships among the categories and examples cannot be determined.

This passage is not continuous scripture but a phonological table concerning final sounds, tones, and sound classes. The opening phrase, “clear and harmonious final sounds, third mode, seventh; departing tone, open chant; third Lü, sixth,” serves as a title or classification marker. Here, “departing tone” is the name of a tone category, while “Lü” may refer to Lü tones or a related musical classification. Because the original characters and their arrangement have been transcribed, the other terms are difficult to identify with certainty.

The table lists categories in sequence, such as first, second, third, fourth, and fifth sounds, and marks tone categories from first through fourth tone, as well as sixth tone. The characters following each category, such as “kai, zai, ai,” “ding, jing, gen,” and “chen, yin, gen,” appear to serve as examples or markers for the corresponding sound classes. The repeated “departing, departing, departing, departing” in parentheses indicates departing tone.

Overall, the passage arranges sound classes, tones, and their correspondences using examples and symbols. However, the surviving text lacks the original table layout and includes gaps marked with “○,” so the specific pronunciation rules for each column cannot be reliably reconstructed.

This passage mainly uses example characters to list categories of Chinese consonants and rhymes and their pronunciations.

The “Five Sounds” column lists characters such as de, bei, kong, yong, qu, hu, tu, shen, and jin. The “Six Sounds” column lists characters such as pu, po, pin, and pi, with a note beneath them indicating the qu tone. The text then continues to arrange examples under categories such as “Six Sounds,” “Seven Sounds,” “Eight Sounds,” “Nine Sounds,” “Ten Sounds,” and “Seven Tones,” “Eight Tones,” “Nine Tones,” and “Ten Tones.” The examples include yu, shu, wu, nan, kan, lu, zou, cao, cai, cao, cai, si, xing, si, xiang, shan, shou, shi, shi, and er.

The notes and circles beside these characters appear to indicate differences in tone, sound category, or pronunciation. Since many characters in the source text appear as “lü lü lü lü,” alongside spaces, missing characters, and symbols, the available text does not make it possible to identify precisely which sound categories each column represents or to reliably reconstruct all the pronunciations.

This passage is mainly a phonological table arranged by tone and “lü” (the ancient system of pitch standards). It records the correspondences among different “sounds” and “tones,” along with the characters used to mark pronunciation. Entries such as “eight sounds,” “eleven sounds,” “one tone,” and “six tones” indicate categories and counts; the character forms and pronunciation marks in parentheses are also part of the table.

The upper section is titled “Clear and Harmonious Final Sounds, Lü Three, Item Eight.” It means that the final sounds of syllables are clear and harmonious, and that this entry is the eighth under the third lü. The section then lists entries such as “eight sounds, eleven sounds” and “one tone, six tones,” using the characters duo, ke, ge, she; he, huo, hua, ba to indicate pronunciation.

The lower section is titled “Departing-Tone Chanting, Lü Three, Item Seven.” It means that a type of chant in the departing tone, one of the four ancient tones, is the seventh under the third lü. The section continues listing categories of sounds and tones, using the characters qian, dian, dan; yuan, quan, ban; chen, yin, gen; jun, yun, xun to indicate pronunciation.

Many characters in the surviving text have been replaced by repeated instances of “qi” or “qu,” along with circles, slashes, and other symbols. These substitutions make the table’s correspondences and specific pronunciations impossible to identify with confidence. We can therefore confirm only that it is organized as a phonological table with pronunciation annotations; the readings of all the characters and the relationships among the entries cannot be fully reconstructed from this text.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi mainly lists different sound categories, using groups of characters to indicate their pronunciation or classification. The original text contains circled numerals, placeholders for missing characters, and likely optical character recognition errors, so the full classification cannot be reliably reconstructed. The explanation below covers only what can be identified.

The text repeatedly uses labels such as “eight sounds,” “three sounds,” “four sounds,” “five sounds,” “six sounds,” “seven sounds,” “eight vocal tones,” and “nine vocal tones.” It also gives examples, including yao, wang, yin; mu, ma, mei, mi; gui, shui, gui, bei; gong, kong, zhong; fu, fan, fei; yu, shu, qu; wu, hu, tu; xin, shen, jin; bu, bai, bing, bi; bu, bai, bei, bi; nan, kan, qian; and pang, pai, ping, ping.

The latter part continues with examples such as dong, dan, di; dui, da, di; tu, tan, tian; tong, tan, tian; nai, ni, nü; nei, nan, nian; lao, leng, lü; lu, luo, li; and zou, zai, zu. These examples appear to illustrate relationships among sound categories or phonological correspondences.

Here, “sound” and “vocal tone” are terms from traditional phonological classification. The passage appears to arrange pronunciations according to some set of rules rather than present a continuous narrative. Since symbols in parentheses and some character forms are missing or corrupted, the criteria for assigning each group and the complete set of correspondences cannot be determined from the available text alone.

Many of the original characters and markings preserved in this passage are damaged or missing. It also contains groups of numbers, hints about character components, and symbols for gaps, so it cannot be reliably translated sentence by sentence into coherent prose. The legible parts mainly arrange sounds, tones, and related character examples.

“Clear and harmonious closing sound, lü three of nine” roughly indicates that the closing sound is clear and harmonious, with “lü three of nine” marking its position in the tonal system. “Departing tone, pi chant, lü three of eight” marks a chant sound in the departing-tone category and its position in the tonal system. Both lü and lü relate to classifications in ancient musical theory; the numbers may indicate corresponding pitches or positions in a sequence.

As for the other entries, such as “eight sounds,” “ten tones,” and “nine sounds,” and the characters listed afterward, the relationship between the symbols and the text is unclear. Their specific pronunciations and meanings cannot be determined from this text alone.

This passage is a table of phonological categories from Huangji Jingshi. It lists “sounds” and “tones” in separate columns, with corresponding example characters; it is not continuous prose. The original contains many circles, slashes, and repeated instances of the character “ear,” which seem to mark positions in the table or serve as symbols. Their precise function cannot be determined from this passage alone, so they are retained as they appear.

The preceding section lists, in order:

Nine Sounds, Second Sound: Huang, Hua, Xiong, Xian.

Six Tones, Eighth Tone: Wu, Wa, Yang.

Listed separately: Wu, Ya, Yue, Yao; Xin, Shen, Jin; An, Ya, Yi, Yi.

Nine Sounds, Third Sound: Yao, Wang, Yin.

Seven Tones, Eighth Tone: Mu, Ma, Mei, Mi.

Listed separately: Mu, Mao, Mei, Min; Fu, Fa, Fei.

Nine Sounds, Fourth Sound: Fu, Fan, Fei.

Eight Tones, Eighth Tone: Wu, Wan, Wei; Wen, Wan, Wei; Bu, Bai, Bing, Bi.

Nine Sounds, Fifth Sound: Bu, Bai, Bei, Bi.

Nine Tones, Eighth Tone: Pu, Pu, Pin, Pi; Pang, Pai, Ping, Ping; Dong, Dan, Di.

Nine Sounds, Sixth Sound: Dui, Da, Di.

Ten Tones, Eighth Tone: Tu, Tan, Da; Tong, Tan, Tian.

The following heading notes Huangji Jingshi, juan 9, parts one and two, “Shu Three,” and names “San-chuan Shao Yaofu” as the author. “Receiving Sounds: Clear and Harmonious Tones, Three of Ten” is the title or classification heading for this section.

The table that follows continues listing example characters:

The tenth sound column contains “Duo, Ke, Ge, She,” and the seventh sound column contains “Nei, Nan, Nian.”

The first tone column contains “Kai, Zai, Ai,” and the eighth tone column contains “Lao, Leng, Lü”; next are “Hui, Mei, Tui,” and “Lu, Luo, Li”; then “Liang, Liang, Xiang,” and “Zou, Zai, Zu.”

The tenth sound column contains “Guang, Guang, Kuang,” and the eighth sound column contains “Zi, Zai, Jiang.”

The second tone column contains “Ding, Jing, Gen,” and the eighth tone column contains “Cao, Cai, Qi”; next are “Xiong, Yong, Ying,” and “Cao, Cai, Quan.”

“ Nine Sounds,” “Ten Sounds,” “First Tone,” and “Eighth Tone” are category names used in the original table. This passage itself does not explain the specific pronunciation rules for these categories.

This passage does not read like continuous scripture. It looks more like a table or rhyme chart about “sounds” and “tones,” listing several groups of characters in sequence and labeling them with categories such as “ten sounds,” “nine sounds,” “three tones,” and “eight tones.” The repeated “er” in parentheses and the circles are clearly placeholders introduced during transcription or typesetting. Many of the terms may also have become corrupted, so this text alone cannot reliably establish the contents or meaning of each group.

The parts that can currently be made out include “jun yun xun,” “shan shou,” “niu dou zou liu,” “gui shui gui bei,” “long yong yong,” “yu shu qu,” “nan kan qian,” “qian qiu,” and “huang hua xiong xian,” as well as the phrase “qusheng pi chang lü san zhi jiu.” These appear to relate to phonetic categories, tones, or sung notes, but the original table structure and some key text are missing, so the specific readings and interpretation cannot be determined from this evidence.

This section is a phonological chart from Huangji Jingshi, not continuous prose. Graphic symbols in the chart mark different sound classes; the characters in parentheses give examples of the pronunciation in each class, and circles indicate that the original chart lists no character.

The first part lists sound classes such as the ten sounds and nine tones, with examples including yao, wang, yin; mu, ma, mei, mi; mu, mao, mei, min; and fu, fa, fei. Later it gives examples including fu, fan, fei; wu, wan, wei; and wen, wan, wei.

“Shouyin Qinghe Lü, Third Section, Number Eleven” is the title of this part. The chart then continues by arranging the pronunciation classes for the eleventh sound:

For the fifth sound, examples include bu, bai, bei, and bi. The corresponding tone classes include pu, pu, pin, pi; pang, pai, ping, ping; and dong, dan, di.

For the sixth sound, examples include dui, da, and di. The corresponding tone classes include tu, tan, tian; tong, tan, tian; and nai, nai, nü.

For the seventh sound, examples include nei, nan, and nian. The corresponding tone classes include lao, leng, lü; lu, luo, li; and zou, zai, zu.

For the eighth sound, examples include zizai and jiang. The corresponding tone classes include cao, cai, qi; cao, cai, quan; and si, san, xing.

The chart also gives examples such as duo, ke, ge, she; he, huo, hua, ba; kai, zai, ai; and hui, mei, tui for the various sound classes. Overall, this section groups Chinese characters by sound and tone to show which pronunciation class they belong to. The circles and graphic symbols are original markings in the chart; this text alone does not establish which specific pronunciations they each represent.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi appears to be a table recording sound categories and example characters, rather than a series of connected sentences. “Yin” and “sheng” are category names; “eleven yin,” “five sheng,” and “nine sheng” indicate the numbering or quantity of each category. The characters in parentheses, such as “shuai,” “shuai,” and “gu,” “si” and “xiang,” and “de,” are examples listed under each category. “Chi chi chi chi” and “○” seem to be symbols or placeholders in the table.

One entry is marked “falling tone” and reads “bi chang, Lü three, item ten.” It is followed by categories such as “eleven yin,” “one yin,” “nine sheng,” and “ten sheng,” along with their corresponding examples. The final phrase, “shou yin qing he, Lü three, item twelve,” can be understood as a transition to a section called “shou yin qing he,” marked “Lü three, item twelve,” followed by the examples “duo, ke, ge, she” and “an, ya, yi, yi.”

The table layout and some symbols in the source cannot be discerned from the text available, so the relationships among the groups are unclear. The description above follows only the visible wording and explains the passage’s structure; it cannot determine the precise phonological classification of each example.

This passage from Huangji Jingshi lists examples of characters under “sheng” and “yin,” showing combinations of different sound categories. The “chouchouchouchou” in parentheses, along with the symbols and empty circles on either side of the slash, appear to mark tones or rhyme categories. Since the original does not explain how to read these marks, they are retained as written without imposing an interpretation.

For the first sheng paired with the tenth yin, the examples are “mu, ma, mei, mi”; the list continues with “mu, mao, mei, min,” “fu, fa, fei,” and “fu, fan, fei.”

For the second sheng paired with the tenth yin, the examples are “wu, wan, wei”; the list continues with “wen, wan, wei,” “bu, bai, bing, bi,” and “bu, bai, bei, bi.”

For the third sheng paired with the tenth yin, the examples are “pu, pu, pin, pi”; the list continues with “pang, pai, ping, ping,” “dong, dan, di,” and “dui, da, di.”

For the fourth sheng paired with the tenth yin, the examples are “tu, tan, tian”; the list continues with “tong, tan, tian,” “nai, ni, nü,” and “nei, nan, nian.”

For the fifth sheng paired with the tenth yin, the examples are “lao, leng, lü”; the list continues with “lu, luo, li,” “zou, zai, zu,” and “zizai, jiang.”

For the sixth sheng paired with the tenth yin, the examples are “cao, cai, qi”; the list continues with “cao, cai, quan.”

Here, “sheng” and “yin” are terms from traditional Chinese phonological classification, used mainly to organize character pronunciations and sound categories. The original is arranged like a phonological table, and the surviving text contains many marks and gaps. The specific pronunciations or classifications assigned to each column cannot be determined from this passage alone.

This passage contains severe encoding corruption or recognition errors, and many words and phrases are illegible, so it cannot be explained fully or accurately on this basis. What can be made out appears to concern musical pitch:

Sounds associated with stars and similar things are classified among the “four harmonics” of the falling tone; sounds associated with stone, earth, and similar things are classified among the “four turbid tones” of the closing tone. The turbid tones of the closing tone harmonize with the lü pitches, accounting for one quarter; the harmonic tones of the falling tone respond in song to the lü pitches, also accounting for one quarter. Lü and lü are terms from the ancient system of musical pitch, while “four harmonics” and “four turbid tones” appear to be specialized names for categories of sound used here.

The surrounding text is mostly damaged, so the relationships among the repeatedly mentioned “twelve tones,” “seven sounds,” “eight sounds,” and “nine sounds,” as well as the grouped characters “Qian,” “Kun,” and “Huanghua” that appear later, cannot be determined.

This passage is not continuous prose but a set of sound classification tables from the Huangji Jingshi. It arranges and compares different pronunciations. The characters in parentheses are mainly examples and markers; they are not meant to be strung together as sentences. Labels such as “one sound,” “three sounds,” and “four sounds,” as well as “first voice” and “third voice,” indicate sound categories. Here, “voice” should not be taken to mean the modern Mandarin first or third tone.

Each entry begins with “qian qian qian qian” and ends with “tui tui tui tui,” with a group of characters listed in between. For example, “xiong, yong, ying” appear on one side, opposite “wu, ya, yue, yao”; “yuan, quan, ban” are paired with “yao, wang, yin.” The other groups follow the same pattern, listing sound combinations such as “chen, yin, gen” opposite “mu, ma, mei, mi,” and “dao, zao, xiao, yue” opposite “fu, fa, fei.”

Labels such as “one sound (three sounds)” and “third voice (first voice)” are interspersed among these combinations to indicate categories or correspondences. A circle, “○,” marks an empty space, either because no character is listed in that cell or because the source marks it that way. The passage presents sound categories and their arrangement in a phonological chart. Taken by itself, it does not provide enough information to reconstruct the full definitions of the categories or their pronunciation rules.

This passage is a phonological chart from the Huangji Jingshi. It is primarily used to arrange and compare initials and finals, rather than to present a continuous argument. Symbols such as “Qian” and “Moon” mark different categories, followed by lists of sounds and sample characters. “Retreat, retreat, retreat, retreat” is a notation in the chart. Since the character forms and layout may have been altered in transcription or recognition, some examples are incomplete, so their specific pronunciations cannot be reliably reconstructed from this text.

The first part lists correspondences between the seventh through tenth sounds and their categories. For example, “seventh sound” appears beside “nei, nan, nian,” while “seventh category” appears beside “lao, leng, lü.” It then lists examples such as “zizai jiang,” “cao cai qi,” “si sanxing,” “si xiang,” “shan shou,” “shi shi,” and “er.” The purpose is to show how sound categories correspond to example characters, not to explain the meanings of those characters.

“Closing sounds, voiced harmony, and pitch, section four of two” is the title or classification marker for this part. “Closing sound” refers to the sound at the end of a syllable; “voiced harmony and pitch” are terms used in phonological classification; and “four of two” indicates the chart’s section. The text then turns to a group of sound categories marked by “Moon,” with examples such as “zhuang, zhen,” “zha,” “yi, chi,” “chong, chen,” “zhuo, zhong,” and “zhai, zhi.” It continues by marking the second sound, the eleventh sound, the twelfth sound, and their corresponding categories. Because the chart structure is missing from the source and some character forms are incomplete, the precise sound values and relationships between columns cannot be determined from this text alone.

In the departing-tone section, the group “Xi Chang Lü” is listed as the second item in the fourth category.

Below, the sound classes and their corresponding character examples are listed in the order of the original. Repeated forms such as “Yue Yue Yue Yue” and “Ying Ying Ying Ying,” along with circles and blank symbols, seem to be chart notation or characters garbled during transcription. Their original meaning cannot be determined from this text alone.

• The second tone corresponds to examples such as “Ding,” “Jing,” and “Gen”; the first tone corresponds to “Che” and “Chou.”
• The next group lists “Xiong,” “Yong,” and “Ying”; the corresponding column has “Cha” and “Cheng.”
• The next entry lists “Qian,” “Dian,” and “Dan”; the corresponding examples are “Gu,” “Jia,” “Jiu,” and “Gui.”
• The second sound column lists “Yuan,” “Quan,” and “Ban”; the first tone corresponds to “Jin” and “Kui.”
• The third tone column lists “Ju,” “Yin,” and “Gen”; the second tone corresponds to “Kun,” “Qiao,” “Qiu,” and “Qi.”
• The next group lists “Jun,” “Yun,” and “Xun”; the corresponding examples are “Qian” and “Qiu.”
• The following group lists “Dao,” “Zao,” “Xiao,” and “Yue”; the corresponding examples are “Hei,” “Hua,” “Xiang,” and “Xue.”
• The second sound column lists “Mao,” “Bao,” “Bao,” and “Huo”; the second tone corresponds to “Huang,” “Hua,” “Xiong,” and “Xian.”
• The fourth tone column lists “Niu,” “Dou,” “Zou,” and “Liu”; the second tone corresponds to “Wu,” “Wa,” and “Yang.”
• The next few groups pair “Yu” with “Wu,” “Ya,” “Yue,” and “Yao,” and “Qi,” “Zi,” “Si,” and “Ri” with “An,” “Ya,” “Yi,” and “Yi.”
• The second sound column lists “Shuai,” “Shuai,” and “Gu”; the third tone corresponds to “Yao,” “Wang,” and “Yin.”
• The fifth tone column lists examples such as “De”; the second tone corresponds to “Mu,” “Ma,” “Mei,” and “Mi.”
• The next group lists “Gui,” “Shui,” “Gui,” and “Bei”; the corresponding examples are “Mu,” “Mao,” “Mei,” and “Min.”
• The following group lists “Gong,” “Kong,” and “Zhong”; the corresponding examples are “Fu,” “Fa,” and “Fei.”
• The second sound column lists “Long,” “Yong,” and “Yong”; the fourth tone corresponds to “Fu,” “Fan,” and “Fei.”
• The sixth tone column lists “Yu,” “Shu,” and “Qu”; the second tone corresponds to “Wu,” “Wan,” and “Wei.”
• The final group lists “Wu,” “Hu,” and “Tu”; the corresponding examples are “Wen,” “Wan,” and “Wei.”

Overall, this passage appears to record a table of tones, sound classes, and character examples rather than continuous prose. Since the chart symbols and some character forms have become garbled, only these examples can be read; the complete correspondences between the columns cannot be established reliably.

This passage appears to be a phonological table from the Huangji Jingshi, recording different categories of “sounds” and “tones” alongside example characters. In the available text, many characters in the table have been replaced by repeated forms such as “yuè yuè yuè yuè” and “yíng yíng yíng yíng.” The original cannot be reconstructed from these repetitions, so the entries cannot be reliably interpreted one by one.

The identifiable parts include categories such as “two sounds,” “five sounds,” “seven tones,” and “two tones,” along with example characters such as “bu,” “bai,” “bei,” and “bi”; “dong,” “dan,” and “di”; and “tu,” “tan,” and “tian.” Here, “sound” and “tone” are terms for phonological categories. The example characters illustrate pronunciation categories; they do not form sentences from the classic.

“Shouyin zhuo he lü si zhi san” can be understood as a table heading or classification label, roughly meaning “final sounds, voiced sounds, harmonious tones, and the third of the four divisions of the pitch categories.” Since the table and its characters are damaged, the precise correspondence between this heading and the surrounding columns cannot be confirmed.

This passage is not continuous classical prose. It is a phonological chart from the Huangji Jingshi, used to classify and compare the pronunciations of characters according to “sounds” and “tones.”

The chart repeatedly uses headings such as “three sounds,” “two tones,” and “eleven sounds,” followed by groups of example characters. “Departing tone, convergent singing, Lü fourth, third of three” is a note about tones, antiphonal singing, and the Lü pitch system. The items in parentheses, such as “mei mei mei mei,” “ying ying ying ying,” and “xun xun xun xun,” appear to be symbols or written forms from the original chart; their specific meaning cannot be determined from this text alone. Some of the examples may also contain recognition or transcription errors, so they should not be interpreted as sentences.

In short, the passage arranges examples and symbols to show correspondences among phonology, tones, and the Lü pitch system. It does not narrate an event.

This passage does not read like continuous scripture. It looks more like a phonological table, arranged by sound classes and tones to summarize the pronunciations of Chinese characters. “Three sounds” and “four sounds” may mark sound classes or their order, while “seven tones” and “eight tones” indicate tone categories. “Shouyin zhuo he lü si zhi si” seems to be a heading or classification note for this section.

The groups in parentheses, such as “wu ya yue yao,” “nan kan qian,” “mu ma mei mi,” and “dong dan di,” appear to give examples of characters or indicate pronunciations. The repeated “mei mei mei mei” and “xun xun xun xun,” along with circles, slashes, and other symbols, may be placeholders, column dividers, or proofreading marks from the original table; their meaning cannot be determined from the text alone. This material therefore cannot be reliably translated sentence by sentence into plain language. It can only be identified as a sequential listing of several sound classes, tones, and corresponding character examples.

This passage does not read like continuous prose. It appears instead to be a phonological classification table from the Huangji Jingshi. Terms such as “four sounds,” “eight sounds,” “two tones,” and “three tones” mark sound or tone categories; the characters listed alongside them may be examples for each category or phonological markers.

The slashes, circles, and repeated occurrences of “Xun” in the surviving text cannot be reliably reconstructed from this evidence. Many of the characters may also have become garbled during transcription or recognition of the chart. The passage therefore appears to arrange and compare different sound and tone categories, but it cannot be faithfully rendered item by item as ordinary prose. The final phrase, “departing tone, hechang, Lü four of four,” may be understood as a classification or notation concerning the departing tone and “hechang” and “Lü four.” The precise meanings of “hechang” and “Lü four” would need to be determined from the layout and context of the original book.

This passage mainly arranges sounds, tones, and corresponding example characters. It appears to be a table for looking up pronunciations or working out tonal patterns, rather than continuous prose.

The first half lists several categories of “sounds” and “tones” in sequence, using characters as examples. The column labeled “four sounds, second sound” lists “huang, hua, xiong, xian,” while the column labeled “eight tones, fourth tone” lists “wu, wa, yang.” The text then lists “wu, ya, yue, yao,” followed by “an, ya, yi, yi.” Farther down are “yao, wang, yin”; “mu, ma, mei, mi”; “mu, mao, mei, min”; and “fu, fa, fei.” Next come “fu, fan, fei”; “wu, wan, wei”; and “wen, wan, wei.”

“Final sounds, voiced and unvoiced, tonal patterns four and five” appears to be the heading for a new group of phonological categories, possibly concerning syllable endings, voicing, or tonal patterns. The table continues with categories such as “five sounds,” “six sounds,” and “seven sounds,” using the characters “duo, ke, ge, she”; “bo, bai, bing, bi”; “he, huo, hua, ba”; “bu, bai, bei, suan”; and “pu, pu, pin, pi” as examples. Later groups include “kai, zai, ai”; “pang, pai, ping, ping”; “liang, liang, xiang”; “dong, dan, di”; “guang, guang, kuang”; “dui, da, di”; “ding, jing, gen”; “tu, tan, tian”; “xiong, yong, ying”; “tong, tan, tian”; “qian, dian, dan”; “nai, nai, nü”; “yuan, quan, ban”; “nei, nan, nian”; “chen, yin, gen”; and “lao, leng, lü.”

The original uses many “○○○○” placeholders, and markers such as “ping ping ping ping” recur throughout. This suggests that the surviving text may be a damaged or transcribed form of a phonological table. The specific rules behind its categories cannot be determined from this passage alone, and the character groups should not be interpreted as complete sentences.

This passage is not a sequence of connected sentences, but a phonological chart for arranging and comparing the pronunciations of Chinese characters. Labels such as “ping ping ping ping,” “five sounds,” “four tones,” and “five tones” are column headings or category markers. Examples appear on either side of slashes, while the circles seem to mark blank or unfilled cells. The exact relationship between the examples and the headings cannot be determined from this text layout alone.

The chart lists, in order, “jun,” “yun,” “xun,” “lu,” “luo,” and “li,” followed by “dao,” “zao,” “xiao,” “yue,” “zou,” “zai,” and “zu.” It then gives the heading “five sounds,” followed by “mao,” “bao,” “bao,” and “huo”; next comes “four tones,” followed by “niu,” “dou,” “zou,” and “liu.” Further examples include “yu,” “cao,” “cai,” and “quan”; “qi,” “zi,” “si,” and “ri”; and “si,” “san,” and “xing.”

Farther down, the chart lists categories such as “five sounds,” “nine sounds,” “five tones,” and “four tones,” alongside the examples “shuai,” “shuai,” and “gu”; “gui,” “shui,” “gui,” and “bei”; and “gong,” “kong,” and “zhong.” It then continues with headings such as “ten sounds,” “six tones,” “eleven sounds,” “seven tones,” “twelve sounds,” and “eight tones.” The examples include “long,” “yong,” and “yong”; “yu,” “shu,” and “qu”; “wu,” “hu,” and “tu”; “xin,” “shen,” and “jin”; “nan,” “kan,” and “qian”; “zhai” and “zhi”; and “che” and “chou.”

Terms such as “five sounds” and “four tones” belong to traditional phonological classification and can be understood as labels for grouping sounds by their features. The precise groupings and the category assigned to each character require consulting the layout of the original book.

This passage is a table of sound and rhyme classifications from the Huangji Jingshi. It arranges pronunciations under categories such as “sound,” “initial,” and “pitch,” and gives examples of characters for each.

“Falling tone, inward gathering and calling, pitches four through five” is the heading of this column. It identifies the “inward gathering and calling” category within the falling-tone section and indicates its position. The table lists entries such as “five sounds, first sound,” “nine initials, fifth initial,” “five sounds, second sound,” and “ten initials, fifth initial.” Characters following these entries—such as “ancient,” “first,” “nine,” and “tenth heavenly stem”; “black,” “flower,” “fragrance,” and “blood”; and “yellow,” “flower,” “heroic,” and “worthy”—serve to mark or illustrate the corresponding sound categories.

“Final sounds, voiced harmony, pitches four through six” is the heading of the next column. It identifies the “voiced harmony” category within the section on final sounds and indicates its position. Beneath it, entries such as “six sounds, third sound,” “first initial, fifth initial,” “six sounds, fourth sound,” “second initial, fifth initial,” and “six sounds, fifth sound” are listed alongside examples including “crossing,” “king,” and “Yin”; “mother,” “horse,” “beauty,” and “rice”; “father,” “ordinary,” and “bark”; and “martial,” “late,” and “tail.”

Many items in parentheses in the source appear as symbols or possibly misrecognized character forms, such as “level level level level,” “noble noble noble noble,” and “tea, present / ○○○○.” Their original characters and pronunciations cannot be determined reliably, so this account can only describe the table’s levels of classification and the examples that remain legible.

This passage does not resemble the flowing discussion commonly found in Huangji Jingshi. It looks more like a fragment of a table arranged around prompts based on character shapes and pronunciation. Because the graphic information, missing symbols, and layout relationships are difficult to reconstruct, the text as it stands cannot be reliably translated into continuous prose.

The parts that can be identified are mainly labels such as “three tones,” “five tones,” “six sounds,” “seven sounds,” “eight sounds,” and “nine sounds,” which may classify or enumerate tones and sounds. Most of the rest consists of prompts based on character shapes or characters used to indicate pronunciation, such as “tian tian tian tian,” “chen yin gen,” and “pu pu pin pi.” These cannot be interpreted directly as sentences. The repeated “gui gui gui gui” may also be a fixed marker in the table; its precise meaning cannot be determined from this passage alone.

This passage appears to be a sound and rhyme comparison table from the Huangji Jingshi. The text in parentheses, symbols, and some characters is corrupted and cannot be reliably identified. What can be made out is that it is divided into columns labeled “sound” and “tone,” with numbers and several syllables listed for comparing different tone or sound categories.

The phrase “shouyin zhuo he lü si zhi qi, qusheng xi chang lü si zhi liu” roughly means: “closing sound, voiced sound, harmonious pitch; the seventh item in the fourth category, assigned to the departing tone.” “Xi chang lü si zhi liu” marks another group of sound categories or pitch classifications. Here, “qusheng” is the traditional name for the departing tone, and “lü” refers to the Lü pitch system among the twelve pitch standards.

Because many of the syllables and their corresponding characters in the source are corrupted, the specific meaning of each column cannot be accurately reconstructed.

This passage mainly organizes categories of Chinese-character pronunciations into groups labeled “yin” and “sheng,” and lists examples for each. It reads less like a continuous scripture and more like a table of phonological categories. The items in parentheses, such as “tutututu,” along with “lilili” and the circles, seem to be original markings or placeholders for missing text; their precise function is difficult to determine from this passage alone.

In the order of the original, the examples listed in the table are:

• The “seven yin” column lists characters such as yuan, quan, and ban; the “three yin” column lists yao, wang, and yin.
• The “three sheng” column lists chen, yin, and gen; the “six sheng” column lists mu, ma, mei, and mi.
• Next come jun, yun, and xun alongside mu, mao, mei, and min; then dao, zao, xiao, and yue alongside fu, fa, and fei.
• The “seven yin” column lists mao, bao, bao, and huo; the “four yin” column lists fu, fan, and fei.
• The “four sheng” column lists niu, dou, zou, and liu; the “six sheng” column lists wu, wan, and wei.
• Next come yu alongside wen, wan, and wei; then qi, zi, si, and ri alongside bu, bai, bing, and bi.
• The “seven yin” column lists shuai, shuai, and gu; the “five yin” column lists bu, bai, bei, and bi.
• The “five sheng” column lists de; the “six sheng” column lists pu, pu, pin, and pi.
• Next come gui, shui, gui, and bei alongside pang, pai, ping, and ping; then gong, kong, zhong alongside dong, dan, and di.
• The “seven yin” column lists long, yong, and yong; the “six yin” column lists dui, da, and di.
• One “six sheng” column lists yu, shu, and qu; another “six sheng” column lists tu, tan, and tian.
• Next come wu, hu, and tu alongside tong, tan, and tian; then xin, shen, and jin alongside nai, ni, and nü.
• The “seven yin” column lists shi; another “seven yin” column lists nei, nan, and nian.
• The “seven sheng” column lists nan, kan, and qian; the “six sheng” column lists lao, leng, and lü.

“Seven yin,” “three sheng,” and the other labels are the category names used in the original. This passage alone does not establish how they correspond to modern classifications of Chinese initials, finals, or tones.

This passage presents a phonological classification table from the Huangji Jingshi. Many of the characters and symbols in parentheses are damaged and cannot be read reliably. The legible portions distinguish pronunciations by “yin” and “sheng,” and record example characters or correspondences for each category.

The first group lists, in sequence, categories such as seven yin, eight yin, eight sheng, and six sheng. It then gives seven yin, nine yin, nine sheng, and six sheng, followed by seven yin, ten yin, ten sheng, and six sheng. The parentheses contain strings such as “Lu Luo,” “Zou Zai Zu,” “Zi Zai Jiang,” and “Cao Cai Qi,” but because the table is incomplete, it is impossible to determine which sound categories or examples they represent.

“Shou Yin Zhuo He Lü Si Zhi Ba” appears to be the heading for this section’s classification. Beneath it are categories such as eight yin, eleven yin, one sheng, and six sheng, followed by eight yin, twelve yin, two sheng, and six sheng. Legible strings include “Zhuang Zhen,” “Zha,” “Yi Chi,” “Chong Chen,” “Zhuo Zhong,” “Zhai Zhi,” “Che Chou,” and “Cha Cheng.”

The final phrase, “Qu Sheng Xi Chang Lü Si Zhi Qi,” mentions qusheng, a category of Chinese tone, as well as “Xi Chang” and “Lü Si Zhi Qi.” It appears to be the heading for another phonological classification or table. Since the symbols and characters in the source are severely damaged, the complete correspondences between the columns cannot be established from this passage alone.

This passage is not a series of connected sentences. It resembles a phonological table arranged under headings such as “eight sounds,” “several sounds,” and “several tones.” The repeated “quan quan quan quan” and “○” in the original appear to be missing or unreadable table entries, so their meaning cannot be recovered from the text.

The legible entries in the table appear in this order:

Under “eight sounds,” it lists “one sound,” followed by “jin kui”; under “three tones,” it lists “seven tones,” followed by “kun qiao qiu qi.”

Next come “jun yun xun,” “qian qiu,” “dao zao xiao yue,” and “hei hua xiang xue.”

Under “eight sounds,” it lists “one sound,” followed by “huang hua xiong xian”; under “four tones,” it lists “seven tones,” followed by “wu wa yang.” Next come “wu ya yue yao” and “qi zi si ri.”

Under “eight sounds,” it lists “three sounds,” followed by “yao wang yin”; under “five tones,” it lists “seven tones,” followed by “mu ma mei mi.” Next come “gui shui gui bei,” “mu mao mei min,” “gong kong zhong,” and “fu fa fei.”

Under “eight sounds,” it lists “four sounds,” followed by “fu fan fei”; under “six tones,” it lists “seven tones,” followed by “wu wan wei.” Next come “wu hu tu,” “wen wan wei,” “xin shen jin,” and “bu bai bing bi.”

Finally, under “eight sounds,” it lists “five sounds,” followed by “bu bai bei bi.”

Here, “eight sounds,” “tones,” and “sounds” are terms used in phonological classification. On the basis of this fragment alone, it is impossible to determine the precise classification criteria for each group or to rewrite them as complete sentences in modern language.

This passage is primarily a table of syllables arranged by categories called “sheng” and “yin,” rather than continuous prose. The characters in parentheses, such as quan, pu, piao, pin, and pi, are examples used to indicate or illustrate pronunciations. The symbol “○” marks an empty space or a pronunciation that has not been specified. The slashes, circled symbols, and some character forms in the original may come from a transcription of a chart, so their precise pronunciations cannot be determined from this text alone.

The first half lists, in sequence, categories such as seven sheng, eight yin, eight sheng, nine sheng, and ten sheng. It gives pronunciation examples including nan, kan, qian; pu, piao, pin, pi; dong, dan, di; dui, da, di; tu, tan, tian; tong, tan, tian; nai, ni, nü; nei, nan, nian; lao, leng, lü; lu, luo, li; zou, zai, zu; zi, zai, jiang; cao, cai, qi; and cao, cai, quan.

“Shou jian zhuo he lü si zhi jiu” is a line in this passage that may serve as a caption for a classification of tones or prosody. It is followed by further pronunciation examples: si, san, xing; si, xiang; kai, zai, ai; hui, mei, tui; liang, liang, xiang; shan, shou; guang, guang, kuang; ding, jing, geng; er; xiong, yong, ying; and er. The categories are labeled with terms such as “one sheng,” “two sheng,” “nine yin,” and “ten yin.”

Overall, the passage organizes sheng, yin, and their correspondences through columns and lists of example syllables. Because the chart symbols and some of the text cannot be reliably identified, the specific pronunciation of each category cannot be determined from this passage.

This passage appears to be a table of pronunciations arranged by sound classes and tones in Huangji Jingshi. Labels such as “jiu yin” and “shi yi yin” indicate sound classes or groups, while “san sheng” and “qi sheng” indicate tone classes. Slashes, circles, and blank spaces seem to be marks in the original table or missing entries.

The table lists several groups of characters in sequence, such as “qian, dian, dan” and “zhuang, zhen,” followed by “yuan, quan, ban” and “zha.” It then gives groups such as “chen, yin, gen” and “yi, chi,” separated by labels including “jiu yin” and “si sheng.” In the latter part, it lists “qi, zi, si, ri,” “gu, jia, jiu, gui,” “gui, shui, gui, bei,” and “qian, qiu,” continuing to group them by sound and tone classes.

“Qu sheng xi chang lü si zhi ba” roughly means that words in the departing tone are assigned to the category “lü si zhi ba” according to a certain “xi chang” method. “Xi chang” and “lü si zhi ba” are technical terms in the original work’s musical or phonological system; this fragmentary table alone does not make their precise relationship clear.

Overall, this is not continuous prose but a reference table for phonological classification. Because the source contains many empty circles, slashes, and missing characters, the complete rules connecting the groups cannot be reliably reconstructed.

This passage is not a continuous discussion but a set of sound and rhyme tables from Huangji Jingshi. The characters are arranged by tone, sound class, and rhyme group to show how different pronunciations are classified and related.

The opening, “Ten tones, eight tones (earth, covet, heaven),” is followed by “same as Tan and Tian,” and the phrase “the final sounds are voiced and harmonize with the fourth of the ten rules.” These phrases serve as table headings and classification notes. “Final sounds” refers to the part at the end of a pronunciation, while “rules” refers to musical or phonological conventions. “Fourth of the ten” is likely a numbering marker used in the table.

In the rows that follow, “first tone,” “second tone,” and so on denote different tone categories. Numbers such as “ten sounds,” “seven sounds,” and “eight tones” indicate the number of sounds or a reference number within the corresponding classification. The characters in parentheses in each row, such as “many, may, individual, tongue” and “then, you, woman,” serve as examples or markers of sound classes. A circle, “○,” indicates an empty entry or that no character is listed.

The passage proceeds through examples associated with the first through sixth tones, including “open, rule, love”; “old, cold, Lü”; “Ding, well, Heng”; “grass, collect, seven”; “minister, draw, Gen”; and “lord, allow, Xun.” Markers such as “ten sounds” and “eight tones” indicate their positions in the sound and rhyme table. The final examples, “fish, rat, go” and “split, Chou,” belong to the same classification system.

The passage therefore serves mainly to record and compare categories of pronunciation; it does not describe a method of cultivation or a ritual. Since the original layout and the relationships among its symbols are unclear, this excerpt alone does not make it possible to determine precisely how each group of numbers corresponds to the characters in parentheses.

This passage is not continuous narrative prose. It is phonological classification material from Huangji Jingshi, arranging examples of characters under categories such as “sound,” “tone,” and “pitch” for distinguishing pronunciations and matching them to musical pitches. The numbers and character forms in parentheses are markers in the source; the available text does not allow their specific readings to be reconstructed reliably.

“Qu sheng xi chang, Lü si zhi jiu”: it ends with the departing tone, one of the ancient tone categories, and is grouped under “Lü four, number nine.” The following items, “cha cheng” and “gu jia jiu gui,” are corresponding examples or markers.

The passage then lists examples under categories such as “ten sounds,” “seven tones,” and “nine tones,” including “jin kui,” “kun qiao qiu qi,” and “qian qiu.” “Sound” and “tone” are technical terms in this classification system. The precise correspondences among the groups cannot be determined from this fragmentary layout alone.

“Shou yin zhuo he, Lü si zhi shi yi”: this section shifts to classifications of final sounds, voiced sounds, and tonal pitches, under “Lü four, number eleven.” It then groups examples under labels such as “eleven sounds,” “five sounds,” “one tone,” and “nine tones,” listing items including “bu bai bei bi,” “pu pu pin pi,” and “pang pai ping ping.”

In brief, the passage uses category labels and examples to show a system of correspondences among phonology, tones, and musical pitches. It is not prose that can be translated sentence by sentence into plain language. The numbers in parentheses and some character forms may have undergone special encoding or transcription. Without a reliable edition for comparison, the exact pronunciations and meanings of the groups cannot be established further.

This passage is not a continuous piece of classical prose. It appears to be a rhyme table recording sound categories: each group in parentheses lists several characters, with the number of sounds or tones marked beside it. Because many symbols and characters in the source are missing or illegible, some groups cannot be identified, so the table’s classification rules cannot be reliably reconstructed.

The legible entries, such as “eleven sounds,” “seven sounds,” “three tones,” and “nine tones,” indicate the number of sounds or tone categories in each group. “Xiong, Yong, Ying” and “Tong, Tan, Tian” are examples of characters. Groups such as “Jun, Yun, Xun,” “Gui, Shui, Gui, Bei,” and “Long, Yong, Yong” should also be understood according to the table’s own classification system. The text alone does not show which phonological features determine their grouping, so it would be unwise to expand them into specific pronunciation explanations.

For now, this passage can only be treated as a fragmentary phonological classification table; it cannot be translated accurately as connected prose.

The entries here are sound categories from the phonetic table in the Huangji Jingshi. The table lists, in order, the tone, the number of sound categories, and the characters used to represent each pronunciation group. Characters in parentheses are examples from a sound category or hints about its rhyme, mainly provided for comparing pronunciations; they do not form continuous sentences.

“Qusheng xichang lü, fourth category, tenth item” indicates that the “xichang lü” group in the departing tone section is listed as the fourth category, tenth item. The table then uses labels such as “eleven sounds,” “one sound,” “nine tones,” and “ten tones” to mark sound categories and tone counts, with examples such as “gu, jia, jiu, gui,” “jin, kui,” and “kun, qiao, qiu, qi.”

The next heading, “final sounds, voiced sounds, and he lü, fourth category, twelfth item,” indicates that the group of final sounds, voiced sounds, and “he lü” is listed as the fourth category, twelfth item. The table continues by listing the first through fourth tones, with characters such as “duo, ke, ge, she” and “an, ya, yi, yi” as pronunciation examples. Labels such as “twelve sounds,” “three sounds,” and “ten tones” are classification markers in the table.

This passage concerns phonological classification and pronunciation data; it does not discuss cultivation or ritual. The slashes and circles beside some characters in parentheses may be symbols used in the original table to show variant written forms or mark sound categories. From this passage alone, their specific rules cannot be determined.

This passage appears to be a phonological table from Huangji Jingshi, rather than continuous prose. Much of the original text is missing or displayed as “cheng cheng cheng cheng” or as circles, so it cannot be interpreted accurately.

The parts that can still be identified include category names such as “twelve sounds,” “five tones,” and “six sounds,” along with the characters represented here as “yu,” “tong,” “tian,” “nü,” “nan,” “nian,” “de,” “lao,” “leng,” “lü,” “gui,” “shui,” “gui,” and “bei.” These appear to be phonological material used in the table for labeling or classification. Because the row and column relationships are unclear and many entries are missing, their specific correspondences cannot be reliably reconstructed.

“Huangji Jingshi, juan 9, part 2” refers to the second part of scroll nine, and “Huangji Jingshi, juan 10, part 1” to the first part of scroll ten. The meaning of “shu si” at the end is also uncertain because the surrounding context is missing.

In sections 47 through 50 of the “Treatise on Observing Things,” Shao Yong uses combinations of symbols such as “Chen” and “Shi” to show how sounds are classified according to a set of rules. Here, “sound” (sheng) and “tone” (yin) are classification terms used in the text. Together with attributes such as “open,” “closed,” “unfolding,” “contracting,” “clear,” and “muddied,” as well as the examples and numbers that follow, they organize sounds; they are not ordinary phrases.

Section 47 says that the category “Chen-Ri” is classified as “sound,” belonging to “entering tone, unfolding”; the category “Shi-Shui” is classified as “tone,” belonging to “closed, clear.” A marginal note explains that “Chen-Ri sound” is “the function of the seventh lower, echoing with Earth,” corresponding to the number 152, while “Shi-Shui tone” is “the function of the fifth upper, harmonizing with Heaven,” corresponding to 112. The number paired with “entering tone, unfolding” is 1,064, and the number paired with “closed, clear” is 560.

Section 48 says that “Chen-Yue sound” belongs to “entering tone, contracting,” while “Shi-Huo tone” belongs to “closed, muddied.” The numbers listed in the marginal notes for “the function of the seventh lower, echoing with Earth” and “the function of the fifth upper, harmonizing with Heaven” remain 152 and 112, respectively; “entering tone, contracting” corresponds to 1,064, and “closed, muddied” to 560.

Section 49 says that “Chen-Xing sound” belongs to “entering tone, unfolding,” while “Shi-Tu tone” belongs to “closed, clear.” The numbers and their correspondences in the marginal notes are the same as in the previous two sections.

Section 50 says that “Chen-Chen sound” belongs to “entering tone, contracting,” while “Shi-Shi tone” belongs to “open, muddied.” The surviving marginal notes again state that “Chen-Chen sound” corresponds to “the function of the seventh lower, echoing with Earth,” and “Shi-Shi tone” to “the function of the fifth upper, harmonizing with Heaven”; the explanation that should follow here has not been copied.

These sections use the image-and-number classification method of Shao Yong’s system of the Changes. “Echoing with Earth” and “harmonizing with Heaven” are terms within that system for the operations of Heaven and Earth. “Clear,” “muddied,” “open,” “closed,” “unfolding,” and “contracting” are labels used to distinguish categories of sound. The circles, written examples, and numbers in the original are diagrammatic material, and the layout or transmission may have suffered damage. The surviving fragmentary characters alone therefore do not allow us to determine the specific meaning of each example character.

This passage is mainly a table of sound and rhyme categories from The Book of the Supreme Ultimate World Ordering (Huangji Jingshi). It lists different categories of “tones” and “sounds,” with corresponding Chinese characters as examples. In this book, “tone” and “sound” are technical terms for analyzing speech sounds; they should not be understood directly in their everyday modern senses of “pronunciation” and “sound.”

At the beginning, the text gives the totals for two categories: one called “entering,” with 1,064 items, and one called “closed,” with 560. It then lists names such as “Chen-day sound entering, first opening,” “Stone-Water tone closed, first purity,” “closed-tone pure harmony pitch,” and “entering-sound opening chant pitch.” These names belong to the book’s system for classifying sounds, rhymes, and musical pitches.

The tables that follow are arranged under “one tone, two tones, three tones, four tones” and “one sound, two sounds, three sounds, four sounds.” Each entry is followed by several example characters, such as “open, governor, love”; “Earth, skillful, hill, abandon”; “light, broad, condition”; and “Ding, well, vast.” The parenthetical “tongue, tongue, tongue, tongue” and the repeated “Gui, Gui, Gui, Gui” appear to be markings or layout information in the table. This passage alone does not make their precise function in the original book clear.

Overall, this is not continuous prose but an ancient phonological classification table. It divides sound and rhyme categories using a specialized set of terms and gives Chinese characters as examples of the pronunciations in each category.

This passage appears to be a prosodic table from a scripture that was incorrectly recognized or transcribed. Much of it repeatedly contains strings such as “gui gui gui gui” and “she she she she,” along with broken symbols and sequences of characters that cannot be read continuously. The available text is insufficient to determine the original content reliably, so it cannot be translated faithfully into plain language.

This passage from Huangji Jingshi mainly sets out correspondences among sounds, syllables, and tones. It belongs to the system of numerological sound classification established by Shao Yong. In the original, “sound,” “tone,” “pitch standard,” and “pitch tube” are all technical terms in this system: “sound” refers to a sound class, “tone” to a category of tones, and “pitch standard” and “pitch tube” are names for classifications in ancient musical theory.

“Closed sounds, clear and harmonious, pitch standard one of two” is the heading for this section, followed by several combinations of sound classes and tones. “Entering-tone opening chant, pitch tube one of two” is the heading for the next section. “Entering tone” is a category of tones in ancient Chinese, and “pitch tube” refers to a classification in musical theory.

However, most of the numbers and characters in this text are garbled, including repeated strings of “gui,” “tongue,” and “blood,” as well as groups of characters after slashes, and cannot be reliably identified. The correspondences among the entries in the table are therefore incomplete. The legible portions show that the original lists items in sequence such as “one sound, ten sounds, ten tones, one tone,” followed by combinations such as “two sounds, eleven sounds” and “one tone, two tones.” The current text is not enough to reconstruct accurately which specific syllables and tones these entries correspond to, so their contents should not be supplemented by conjecture.

This passage is not a continuous narrative but a table of pronunciations classified by “yin” and “sheng” (sound and tone). It arranges example characters under different categories, such as “eryin,” “sanyin,” “wusheng,” and “ersheng,” followed by lists including “wu, ya, yue, yao”; “qi, zi, si, ri”; “mu, ma, mei, mi”; and “mu, mao, mei, min,” for comparison of their pronunciations.

Several parts of the original appear as “xue xue xue xue,” “○,” or blanks, and the relationships between rows and columns cannot be fully identified. The surviving text is insufficient to determine the specific pronunciations or classification rules for each category. It shows only that the table arranges pronunciations; the complete table cannot be reconstructed from this text alone.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi is not continuous prose, but a phonological table arranged under the categories “yin” and “sheng.” “Yin” and “sheng” are the table’s category names; “lü” refers to entries concerning musical or tonal systems.

“Biyin Qinghe Lü Yi zhi San” is the heading for this column and may be understood as “the third item in the first category of closed sounds and the Qinghe tonal system.” “Biyin” and “Qinghe Lü” are terms from phonology or musical theory; their precise meanings depend on the original work’s arrangement and the notes on its edition.

The table also contains the category markers “er yin,” “san yin,” “ba yin,” “jiu yin,” “shi yin,” “shiyi yin,” and “shier yin,” as well as “yi sheng,” “er sheng,” and “san sheng.” Interspersed among them are words or characters such as “si sanxing,” “si xiang,” “shan shou,” “er,” “zhuang zhen,” “chong chen,” “zhuo zhong,” “zhai zhi,” and “che chou,” which appear to be examples or markers corresponding to the various sound categories.

Several places in the source appear as “xue xue xue xue,” “yi yi yi yi,” or “○○○○”; some words may also be incomplete because of transcription, typesetting, or optical character recognition errors. It is therefore not possible to reliably reconstruct the specific correspondences among these entries or translate them as a continuous passage.

This passage from Huangji Jingshi is not a continuous discussion but a phonological table arranged by categories called “yin” and “sheng.” In the table, “rusheng” refers to the entering tone, while “lü” may be a term for a classification used in musical tuning. Labels such as “three sounds,” “five tones,” and “six tones” indicate different levels of classification. The words in parentheses, such as “qi zi si ri,” “gu jia jiu gui,” “shuai, shuai, gu,” and “kun, qiao, qiu, qi,” are sound categories or examples listed in the table.

In many places, the original uses symbols such as “yi yi yi yi” and “○○○○” in place of content, and some of the row and column relationships are also damaged. The surviving text shows only that it arranges sound categories and examples; it does not provide a reliable basis for reconstructing the specific pronunciations or full meaning of each category.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi mainly arranges categories of sounds and rhymes alongside representative characters; it is not continuous prose. The characters in parentheses identify the pronunciations in each category. “○○○○” indicates that the original gives no example characters at that point. “Sheng” and “yin” are the original names for the categories.

The opening lists three of the nine sheng categories, using “pu,” “pu,” “pin,” and “pi” as examples. It then lists “pang,” “pai,” “ping,” and “ping,” followed by characters such as “dong,” “dan,” and “di.” Next, it marks three yin categories, using “dui,” “da,” and “di” as examples. It then lists three of the ten sheng categories, with “tu,” “tan,” and “tian,” and “tong,” “tan,” and “tian,” as examples.

“Bi Yin Qing He Lü Yi Zhi Si” is the title of this section.

The following lines continue to list example characters under the sheng and yin categories. Labels in the original such as “fourth yin, seventh yin” and “first sheng, third sheng” indicate the relevant categories and their order; the characters that follow are examples in those categories. For instance:

• Fourth yin, seventh yin: nei, nan, nian.
• First sheng, third sheng: lao, leng, lü.
• Fourth yin, eighth yin: zizai, jiang.
• Second sheng, third sheng: cao, cai, qi.
• Fourth yin, ninth yin: si, xiang.
• Third sheng, third sheng: the original gives no examples.
• Fourth yin, tenth yin: shi, shi.

The other lines likewise list different categories with their corresponding examples, such as “duo, ke, ge, she,” “he, huo, hua, ba,” and “kai, zai, ai.” The original’s “fei fei fei fei” and some of the blank markers are also part of the table. Their specific pronunciation or function cannot be determined from this passage alone, so they are retained as in the original.

This passage is not made up of connected sentences; it appears to be a sound-classification table from the Huangji Jingshi. The numbers following “sound” and “tone” seem to indicate how many items belong to each category. Entries such as “fly, fly, fly, fly,” “mountain, mountain, mountain, mountain,” and the circles may be symbols from the original table or placeholders left in transcription. Their precise meanings cannot be determined from this alone.

The legible parts list categories in sequence: “four tones,” “three tones,” “four sounds,” “eleven sounds,” “five tones,” “twelve sounds,” and “six tones.” They are accompanied by words such as “ox, Dipper, music, six”; “ear”; “two”; “wife and child, four days”; “decline, commander, bone”; “righteousness, red, virtue”; and “turtle, water, noble, north.” Here, “tone” and “sound” are classification terms; their specific meanings would need to be determined from the layout and annotations of the original book.

“Entering tone, pi-chang-lü, one through four” broadly means that the passage lists the entering tone, a category in traditional Chinese phonology, and uses “pi-chang-lü, one through four” to label related material. However, the table’s structure and symbols are incomplete, so its detailed rules cannot be reliably reconstructed.

This passage is not continuous scripture but a phonological table arranged by sound and rhyme categories, pairing different pronunciation classes with representative characters. The characters in parentheses are table entries, and the material on either side of a slash usually corresponds to different columns. Labels such as “nine tones,” “four tones,” and “five sounds” mark categories and should not be translated as sentences.

“Closed Sounds, Qinghe Tones, One through Five” can be understood as the heading or classification note for this section. “Closed sounds” refers to a class of sounds in which airflow is obstructed during pronunciation. “Qinghe tones” is the name of a phonological classification used in the book, and “one through five” indicates the sequence or number of entries within that classification.

The table lists head characters such as “fei” and “bi,” followed by characters including “mu, ma, mei, mi,” “mu, mao, mei, min,” and “fu, fa, fei” as examples of sound classes. The latter part also lists characters such as “duo, ke, ge, she,” “bu, bai, bing, bi,” and “he, huo, hua, ba” for comparison across different tone and sound classes. The repeated “yue yue yue yue” and the circles “○” in the original appear to be table placeholders or copying and typesetting marks. Their specific pronunciations or meanings cannot be determined from this alone, so they should not be interpreted definitively.

This passage cannot currently be translated accurately. It contains many apparent recognition errors or missing characters, such as the repeated strings “bi bi bi bi” and “yue yue yue yue,” as well as characters replaced by circles. The text available is insufficient to determine the original punctuation or specific terms. Attempting to interpret it on this basis could easily misrepresent its meaning.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi lists phonological categories such as “Five Sounds” and “Six Sounds,” along with tones and example characters for each category. The original includes markers such as “bi” and “ri ri ri ri,” and some symbols and character forms are incomplete, so only the discernible content can be interpreted.

It begins with “one sound” among the Five Sounds, accompanied by examples such as “jin” and “kui.” It then gives “five sounds” among the “Nine Tones,” with examples such as “kun,” “qiao,” “qiu,” and “qi.” Next comes “two sounds” among the Five Sounds, with examples such as “huang,” “hua,” “xiong,” and “xian,” followed by “five sounds” among the “Ten Tones,” with examples such as “wu,” “wa,” and “yang.” Other examples listed include “qian” and “qiu,” “hei,” “hua,” “xiang,” and “xue,” as well as “wu,” “ya,” “yue,” and “yao.”

“Bi Yin Qing He Lü Yi Zhi Liu” appears to be a title or classification heading for this passage. It may mean that the sixth item in the first category is arranged under labels such as “closed sounds” and “Qinghe pitch.” The wording alone does not make the precise meaning of these labels clear.

The text goes on to list further sound and tone categories with examples. The third sound among the Six Sounds includes “yao,” “wang,” and “yin.” The fifth sound among the “One Tone” includes “mu,” “ma,” “mei,” and “mi.” Further examples are “mu,” “mao,” “mei,” and “min”; “fu,” “fa,” and “fei”; and “fu,” “fan,” and “fei.” It then gives the fourth sound among the Six Sounds, along with examples from sound categories such as “wu,” “wan,” and “wei”; “wen,” “wan,” and “wei”; and “bu,” “bai,” “bing,” and “bi.”

At the end, the text lists the fifth sound among the Six Sounds, with “bu,” “bai,” “bei,” and “bi”; the fifth sound among the “Three Tones,” with “pu,” “pu,” “pin,” and “pi”; and further examples including “pang,” “pai,” “ping,” and “ping,” “dong,” “dan,” and “di,” and “dui,” “da,” and “di.”

Overall, this passage uses a classification table and example characters to mark levels of phonological organization, for distinguishing sounds, tones, or pronunciation categories. Since the transmitted text contains symbols, missing characters, and apparent errors, it cannot reliably establish the complete names of the categories or how they correspond to one another.

This passage is not a continuous narrative, but resembles a phonological classification table in Huangji Jingshi. The circles, slashes, and repeated “riri riri” appear to be markers or remnants of the original table’s layout; their precise meaning cannot be determined from this passage alone. The table lists different sound groups and phonetic categories, together with example characters:

The fourth-tone group lists “niu, dou, zou, liu”; the fifth-tone group lists characters such as “tu, tan, tian.”

Next come “yu, tong, tan, tian,” followed by “qi, zi, si, ri” and “nai, ni, nü.”

The sixth-sound group lists “shuai, shuai, gu”; the seventh-sound group lists characters such as “nei, nan, nian.”

The fifth-tone group lists “de” and other characters; another set includes “lao, leng, Lü.”

After that come “gui, shui, gui, bei,” followed by characters such as “lu, luo, li”; then “gong, kong, zhong,” and “zou, zai, zu.”

The sixth-sound group lists “long, yong, yong”; the eighth-sound group lists characters such as “zi, zai, jiang.”

The sixth-tone group lists “yu, shu, qu”; the fifth-tone group lists characters such as “cao, cai, qi.”

After that come “wu, hu, tu,” followed by “Cao, cai, quan”; then “xin, shen, jin” and “si, san, xing.”

The sixth-sound group lists “shi” and other characters; the ninth-sound group lists “si, xiang.”

The seventh-tone group lists characters such as “nan, kan, qian”; the examples for the fifth-tone group are missing from the surviving text.

The passage then lists “qie”; “shan, shou”; “shi, shi”; “er”; “er”; “zhuang, zhen”; “zha”; “yi, chi”; “chong, chen”; “zhuo, zhong”; “zhai, zhi”; “che, chou”; and “cha, cheng.”

The final sentence reads: “The closed sound is clear and harmonious; the first of the seven lü. The entering tone is an opening chant; the first of the six lü.” “Closed sound” and “entering tone” are terms for phonological categories. “Clear and harmonious lü” and “chanting lü” may refer to musical modes or names of sound categories, but without further context their precise meaning is difficult to determine.

This passage mainly lists phonological categories. Each group first identifies one of the “Seven Sounds,” then gives the corresponding tone category and examples written with Chinese characters. Because the source contains missing characters, symbols, and apparent errors, some strings cannot be read reliably. The following account therefore describes only the parts whose structure can be recognized:

The first of the Seven Sounds corresponds to the first tone. The examples listed are “jin kui,” “kun qiao qiu qi,” “qian qiu,” and “hei hua xiang xue.”

The second of the Seven Sounds corresponds to the second tone. The examples are “huang hua xiong xian,” “wu wa yang,” “wu ya yue yao,” and “an ya yi yi.”

The third of the Seven Sounds corresponds to the third tone. The examples are “yao wang yin,” “mu ma mei mi,” “mu mao mei min,” and “fu fa fei.”

The fourth of the Seven Sounds corresponds to the fourth tone. The examples are “fu fan fei,” “wu wan wei,” “wen wan wei,” and “bu bai bing bi.”

The fifth of the Seven Sounds corresponds to the fifth tone. The examples are “bu bai bei bi,” “pu pu pin pi,” and “pang pai ping ping.”

In the source, “Seven Sounds,” “first sound,” “second sound,” and similar phrases are terms for phonological classification; the examples that follow illustrate the pronunciations in each category. Here, “tone” also refers to a sound category, not the sound of music or ritual. The final phrases, “gong kong zhong” and “dong dan di,” cannot be assigned a specific category with confidence from the surviving text.

This passage is not a continuous text but a rhyme-study chart in the Huangji Jingshi that classifies and arranges sounds. Labels such as “seven sound categories,” “six sound categories,” “seven tones,” and “six tones” mark the groups; the characters in parentheses are examples or phonetic markers. The slashes and circles appear to indicate positions in the chart. Based on the transcription available, it can be read as follows:

It first lists “seven sound categories” and “six sound categories,” using “long, yong, yong” and “dui, da, di” as markers. Next it lists “six tones,” accompanied by “yu, shu, qu” and “tu, tan, tian”; this is followed by “wu, hu, tu,” “tong, tan, tian,” “xin, shen, jin,” and “nai, ni, nü.”

The sequence continues by arranging items according to sound group. It includes combinations of “seven sound categories” with “seven sound categories,” and “seven tones” with “six tones,” alongside the markers “nei, nan, nian,” “nan, kan, qian,” and “lao, leng, lü.” Farther down are more phonetic markers: “lu, luo, li,” “zou, zai, zu,” “zizai jiang,” “cao, cai, qi,” “cao, cai, quan,” “si, san, xing,” “si, xiang,” “shan, shou,” “shi, shi,” “er,” and “er.”

“Bi yin qing he lü yi zhi ba” is the heading or sequence marker for this section. Below it are “duo, ke, ge, she,” “zhuang, zhen,” “he, huo, hua, ba,” “zha,” “kai, zai, ai,” “yi, chi,” “hui, mei, tui,” “chong, chen,” “liang, liang, xiang,” “zhuo, zhong,” “guang, guang, kuang,” “zhai, zhi,” “ding, jing, gen,” “che, chou,” “xiong, yong, ying,” and “cha, cheng.”

The final phrase, “Ru sheng pi chang lü yi zhi qi,” also serves as a heading or sequence marker.

The passage mainly uses example characters to show how different tone and sound groups are divided and ordered. From this transcription alone, the precise function of the slashes, circles, and markers such as “lü yi zhi ba” in the original chart cannot be determined, nor can the passage be reconstructed as a complete sentence.

This passage is not continuous Classical Chinese; it looks more like a sound classification table from the Huangji Jingshi. It repeatedly lists categories such as “eight sounds,” “three tones,” and “seven tones,” followed by trigram names such as Qian, Kun, Xun, and Dui, as well as characters such as gong and shang that may relate to sound categories. The slashes, circles, and parentheses in the source also appear to be table markers or placeholders for missing characters.

From the text as it stands, we can only tell that sounds and tones are arranged by category and linked with trigram names and other groups of characters. The relationships between the columns can no longer be identified reliably, so it is not possible to translate the whole passage faithfully into fluent prose. A clear image of the passage, or text that preserves the original table’s rows and columns, is needed for further interpretation.

This passage belongs to the sections on musical pitch and phonological categories in The Book of the Supreme Ultimate World-Ordering Principle. It mainly arranges entries using diagrams and names for sound categories, so it cannot be read as continuous prose. Many characters in the original are missing and marked with circles or slashes; the following interprets only what can be identified.

The opening lists combinations such as “eight tones, seven tones,” “nine sounds, seven sounds,” “eight tones, eight tones,” and “ten sounds, seven sounds,” alongside strings of characters such as “nei, nan, nian,” “lao, leng, lü,” “lu, luo, li,” “zou, zai, zu,” “zizai jiang,” “cao cai qi,” and “cao cai quan.” These may be example characters used to indicate sound categories or pronunciations.

Below “Closed sounds, clear and harmonious pitches, one through nine,” the entries are arranged under “first sound,” “second sound,” “third sound,” and “fourth sound,” alongside categories such as “nine sounds,” “ten sounds,” “eleven sounds,” and “twelve sounds.” Characters that can be identified include “si, sanxing”; “si, xiang”; “ding, jing, gen”; “er”; “xiong, yong, ying”; “qian, dian, dan”; “zhuang, zhen”; “yuan, quan, ban”; “chen, yin, gen”; “jun, yun, xun”; “chong, chen”; “dao, zao, xiao, yue”; “zhuo, zhong”; “mao, bao, bao, huo”; “zhai, zhi”; and “niu, dou, zou.” Here, “sound,” “tone,” and “pitch” are terms for phonological classifications. Their precise relationships can only be established by consulting the original diagrams and a complete edition.

The final section, “Entering tones, open singing, lü, one through eight,” turns to entries related to the entering tone, one of the traditional Chinese tones. It then lists “qi, zi, si, ri” and “gu, jia, jiu, gui.” Because markings and text are missing, the specific correspondences in this section cannot be reliably reconstructed.

This passage is not continuous narrative prose, but a phonological chart that groups and arranges example characters by “sound” and “tone.” Headings such as “nine sounds” and “five tones” appear repeatedly, followed by lists of Chinese characters for identifying or comparing pronunciations.

At the beginning, it lists the “first sound” under “nine sounds,” with the examples shuai and gu and the annotations jin and kui. Next comes the “eighth tone” under “five tones,” with examples including kun, qiao, qiu, and qi. It then lists characters pronounced gui, shui, gui, and bei, followed by examples such as qian and qiu, and gong, kong, and zhong.

The later groups continue under “nine sounds,” from the “second sound” through the “sixth sound,” pairing different tone categories with examples such as long, yong, and yong; yu, shu, and qu; wu, hu, and tu; xin, shen, and jin; yao, wang, and yin; nan, kan, and qian; and mu, ma, mei, and mi. Further on are examples such as fu, fa, and fei; fu, fan, and fei; wu, wan, and wei; wen, wan, and wei; bu, bai, bing, and bi; bu, bai, bei, and bi; and pu, pu, pin, and pi.

The phrase “closed sounds, clear and harmonious pitch, groups one through ten” can be understood as a heading or note for this section, indicating “closed sounds,” “clear and harmonious pitch,” and a sequence of groups from one to ten. After that, the text switches to “ten sounds” and gives examples in order, including he, huo, hua, and ba; nei, nan, and nian; kai, zai, and ai; lao, leng, and lü; hui, mei, and tui; lu, luo, and li; liang, liang, and xiang; and zou, zai, and zu. Later groups also include guang, guang, and kuang; zi, zai, and jiang; ding, jing, and geng; cao, cai, and qi; xiong, yong, and ying; cao, cai, and quan; qian, dian, and dan; si, san, and xing; yuan, quan, and ban; and si and xiang.

Because the source contains many symbols, including slashes and circles, and some examples or their arrangement may come from a specialized phonological chart, it is difficult to determine the precise correspondence between each symbol and example from this passage alone. From the surviving text, it appears mainly to arrange Chinese characters by sound and tone categories for phonological classification or pronunciation comparison.

This passage from the Huangji jingshi is a chart of phonological categories, not a series of connected sentences. It is arranged from “three tones” through “eleven tones” and distinguishes categories such as “ten sounds,” entering tone, open singing, closed sounds, clarity, and pitch. The characters in parentheses are examples or markers for each sound category.

The passage begins by listing, in order, three tones, four tones, five tones, six tones, seven tones, eight tones, nine tones, and ten tones, with corresponding examples under each category, such as “chen, yin, gen”; “jun, yun, xun”; “mao, bao, bao, huo”; and “niu, dou, zou, liu.” It then lists “entering tone,” labeled “open singing, pitches one through nine.” Examples beneath it include “xin, shen, jin”; “nan, kan, qian”; and “kun, qiao, qiu, qi.”

Further down, it gives “closed sounds, clarity, and pitches one through eleven,” followed by examples including “duo, ke, ge, she”; “bu, bai, bing, bi”; “he, huo, hua, ba”; and “bu, bai, bei, bi.”

The original layout and symbols are unusual, with slashes, circles, numbers, and vertically arranged characters. These appear to be category markers or blank positions in the chart. From this passage alone, it is not possible to determine the precise correspondences between each character, number, and symbol, so the categories and examples are described as presented without further inference about their phonological rules.

This passage originates from the Huangji Jingshi, a seminal Yijing (Classic of Changes) text composed by Northern Song Dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Shao Yong, which constructs a cosmological model through musical temperament and numerical systems. The original text employs unique symbolic arrangements that demonstrate a correspondence system between musical tones and numbers:

Each line contains "eleven tones" or numerical tones (such as six tones, seven tones, etc.) paired with tonal markers (like second tone, ninth tone, etc.). The characters within parentheses represent specific phonological categories—for instance, "guang guang kuang" belong to the same rhyme group, while "dui da di" form another set of rhyming characters. This arrangement reflects Shao Yong's philosophical conception of categorizing all phenomena in heaven and earth through correspondences between sound and numbers.

Several Daoist cultivation concepts appear within this system:

• Character groups like "gong kong zhong" relate to Daoist musical cultivation practices, as ancient practitioners believed specific pronunciations could harmonize Yin-Yang energies
• Characters such as "north," "De (Virtue)," and "jade" potentially allude to directional practices and ethical cultivation
• The frequent appearance of the number "nine"—representing pure Yang energy in Daoist numerology

It's important to note that these symbolic arrangements require interpretation through the complete musical temperament system of Huangji Jingshi. Viewed in isolation, these fragments primarily demonstrate Shao Yong's distinctive methodology of correlating phonetic classifications with numbers, embodying his "all phenomena are number" cosmology. The grouped characters within parentheses are not randomly arranged but systematically organized according to specific phonological rules.

This passage is not continuous prose but a phonological table arranged by “sheng” and “yin,” listing different sound categories and examples of characters for each. The slashes, circles, and character forms in parentheses appear to be table symbols or special markings in the source. Their specific meanings cannot be determined from this transcription alone.

The table first lists category names such as “closed sound,” “clear,” “harmonious,” and “rhythm.” It then groups entries from “first sheng” through “sixth sheng.” Each group includes “twelve yin” and several examples for “yin.” For example, the first group includes “kai,” “zai,” and “ai,” as well as “mu,” “ma,” “mei,” and “mi.” The second includes “ding,” “jing,” and “gen,” as well as “wu,” “wan,” and “wei.” Later groups also list “chen,” “yin,” and “gen”; “jun,” “yun,” and “xun”; and “niu,” “dou,” “zou,” and “liu.” The final entries include “si” and “xiang.”

The passage therefore appears to serve mainly to classify and illustrate sounds according to a particular phonological system, for purposes of identifying or deriving sounds. The table structure and several symbols are unclear in the transcription, so the correspondence between its columns cannot be accurately reconstructed.

This passage mainly arranges and labels sounds, tones, and their correspondences, much like an ancient table of phonology or tonal patterns. “Seven sounds,” “ten sounds,” and “twelve tones” are entries in the table; the words in parentheses mark pronunciations, sound classes, or correspondences. The original preserves many symbols, spaces, and unexplained marks. Their precise meanings cannot be established from this passage alone, so they should not be forced into complete sentences.

The opening lists several categories of “sounds” and “tones,” marked with characters such as “male, Kan, Qian,” “concubine,” “scholar, stone,” “ear,” and “Zhuang, Zhen.” The passage then says, “The sounds of the Chen month enter the second type of ‘inward absorption’; the tones of stone and fire close with the second type of ‘voiced.’” In other words, the sounds in the Chen-month category belong to the second type, “inward absorption,” among the “entering” sounds; the tones in the stone-and-fire category belong to the second type, “voiced,” among the “closing” tones. “Entering,” “inward absorption,” “closing,” and “voiced” are technical labels in this system of sound classification. Their precise meanings must be understood in light of the classification system used in the complete text.

“The closing tones, voiced, correspond to the second type in ‘harmonizing pitch’; the entering sounds, inwardly absorbed, correspond to the second type in ‘intoned Lü’” continues to describe the correspondences between sound classes and pitch categories. Here, “pitch” and “Lü” are traditional terms for musical tuning.

The later content marks categories with labels such as “first tone,” “first sound,” “second tone,” “second sound,” “third tone,” and “third sound.” Parentheses then list characters such as “many, can, individual, tongue,” “ancient, first, nine, Gui,” and “grain, fire, transform, eight” as examples or markers for the corresponding sound or tone categories. The passage systematically enumerates categories and their associated characters. It is a table of sound classification, not continuous narrative.

This passage is not a continuous scripture text, but a phonological table marking the pronunciations of Chinese characters. It arranges the characters by categories such as initial consonant, rhyme group, and tone, and uses “yin” and “sheng” to mark different groups. The symbol “○” indicates that no character is listed in that position.

Because the table’s format, symbols, and character forms may have become distorted during transcription, the specific correspondences between its columns cannot be reliably reconstructed from this text alone. It should therefore not be interpreted as describing cultivation practices or rituals.

This passage contains many symbols that cannot be read directly and characters that appear corrupted. The available text is not sufficient to reliably reconstruct the original from Huangji Jingshi, so it cannot be translated faithfully into modern prose.

The discernible headings, “Biyin Zhuohe Lü Er zhi Er” and “Rusheng Xichang Lü Er zhi Er,” seem to concern musical modes, tones, or the arrangement of rhyme classes. The remaining content consists largely of repeated strings such as “kuikui kuikui” and “xianxian xianxian,” along with scattered character forms in parentheses. Their relationships and specific meanings cannot be determined. Translating them without a reliable reading would risk misinterpretation.

This passage does not appear to be a continuous scripture. It looks more like a phonological table for marking pronunciations: initials, rhyme classes, or tone categories are listed by row, with labels such as “two sounds,” “four tones,” and “seven tones” marking distinctions. The repeated “xian xian xian xian” and circles may also be placeholders in the table or marks for missing characters.

From the layout alone, it is not possible to determine reliably what role each item plays in the table, nor to translate it into coherent vernacular prose. Accurate interpretation would require checking the edition of Huangji Jingshi, an image of the original page, or the table’s title and notes.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi mainly arranges sounds, tones, and corresponding character examples; it is not continuous prose. The characters in parentheses and labels such as “several tones” and “several sounds” mark phonological categories. Some symbols may be special signs from the original text or may be missing because of copying or typesetting, so their phonological relationships cannot be reliably reconstructed from this passage alone.

“Closed-tone, voiced, and harmonious; rhythm two of three” appears to be a category heading or a tonal marker in this section. The repeated examples “yin yin yin yin,” along with “duo ke ge she,” “he huo hua ba,” and “kai zai ai,” likewise list and classify sounds; they do not form a passage that can be translated as ordinary prose.

The passage is therefore best understood as a phonological classification table, arranging examples by tone, sound, and number to illustrate different pronunciation categories. Because the relationship between the original symbols and the examples is unclear, the specific pronunciations or meanings of the individual entries cannot be explained further from the available text alone.

This passage consists of many syllables, tone names, and example characters, arranged to compare different sound categories. “Entering-tone choral singing in the Lü category, section three” is an explanatory heading: it uses sounds in the “Lü” category as an example to describe how entering tones are sung or coordinated.

Most of the parenthetical material gives pronunciations or example characters, such as “dao, zao, xiao, yue” and “mao, bao, bao, huo,” grouped under labels such as “three sounds,” “four tones,” and “five tones.” The passage also repeatedly includes “yin yin yin yin” and “○○○○,” which appear to be placeholders or layout markers in a phonological chart. Their precise meaning cannot be determined from this excerpt alone.

The passage therefore cannot be translated directly, line by line, as ordinary prose. It appears to be material for classifying sounds or practicing pronunciation, listing several tone and sound categories along with example characters. To explain each group accurately, one would need to consult the original book’s layout, notes, and surrounding text.

This passage is not a continuous discussion, but appears to be a phonological classification table from the Huangji Jingshi. It arranges examples of characters under categories such as “sound” and “initial,” presenting different pronunciation classes and the characters associated with them. The strings “yinyin-yinyin,” “feifei-feifei,” and “○○○○” in the source appear to be missing characters or special symbols; this text alone does not make it possible to determine what they originally represented.

At the beginning, the passage lists categories such as “three sounds,” “five sounds,” “nine initials,” and “three initials,” alongside examples rendered in pinyin as “bu, bai, bing, bi”; “bu, bai, bei, bi”; “pu, pu, pin, pi”; and “pang, pai, ping, ping.” It then gives “three sounds,” “six sounds,” “ten initials,” and “three initials,” with examples rendered as “dui, da, di”; “tu, tan, tian”; and “tong, tan, tian.”

“Closed sound, voiced harmony, tonal pattern two of four” appears to be a heading or classification label for this section. The passage continues with groups marked “four sounds,” “seven sounds,” “one initial,” and “three initials,” followed by examples rendered as “duo, ke, ge, she”; “he, huo, hua, ba”; “nei, nan, nian”; and “kai, zai, ai.” Later groups include “hui, mei, tui”; “guang, guang, kuang”; “ding, jing, gen”; and “qian, dian, dan.” The final characters are rendered in pinyin as “chen, yin, gen”; “jun, yun, xun”; “dao, zao, xiao, yue”; and “shan, shou.”

The passage therefore mainly lists classification labels and representative characters according to a particular phonological system. Because the source contains many damaged or unrecognizable symbols, the complete relationships among the categories and the precise meanings of the labels cannot be reliably reconstructed from the available text.

This passage does not appear to be continuous classical prose. It seems to be a table in the Huangji Jingshi, used to mark rhymes, tones, or sound classes. Column headings such as “four sounds,” “ten sounds,” “four tones,” “three tones,” and “entering tone” recur, followed by lists of characters that may serve as examples or classifications. “Entering tone, converging chant, Lü two, fourth” looks like a heading or note in the table.

However, the text as it stands clearly contains corruptions or recognition errors. For example, “barking, barking, barking, barking” and “Huo, Huo, Huo, Huo” recur, while “○” is scattered throughout. The order of characters in many columns, and the relationships between them, cannot be established. It is therefore not possible to reliably reconstruct the meaning of the sound classes, and they should not be rendered as continuous sentences. Accurate interpretation would require comparison with a page from the original edition of the Huangji Jingshi or a clearer facsimile.

Within the nine-tone category, the sequence “fei fei fei fei” is first used as a marker, followed by examples for the four tones: “mu, ma, mei, mi”; then “mu, mao, mei, min.” Next come “fu, fa, fei,” followed by the four-tone examples “fu, fan, fei”; then the ten-tone examples “wu, wan, wei,” followed by “wen, wan, wei.”

The second section on closed sounds, voiced sounds, and tone patterns:

First, the sequence “bi bi bi bi” is used as a marker, followed by “duo, ke, ge, she,” and “bo, bai, bing, bi.” Next come the five-tone examples “he, huo, hua, ba,” and another group of five: “bu, bai, bei, bi.”

Next are the first-tone examples “kai, zai, ai” (with one blank place in the original), followed by the fourth-tone examples “pu, pu, pin, pi.” Then come “hui, mei, tui” (with another blank place), followed by “pang, pai, ping, ping”; then “liang, liang, xiang” (with another blank place), followed by “dong, dan, di.”

The fifth-tone category lists “guang, guang, kuang” (with another blank place); the sixth-tone category lists “dui, da, di.” The second-tone category lists “ding, jing, gen” (with another blank place), and the fourth-tone category lists “tu, tan, tian.” Then come “xiong, yong, ying” (with another blank place), followed by “tong, tan, tian”; then “qian, dian, dan” (with another blank place), followed by “nai, ni, nü.”

The fifth-tone category lists “yuan, quan, ban” (with another blank place); the seventh-tone category lists “nei, nan, nian.” The third-tone category lists “chen, yin, gen” (with another blank place), and the fourth-tone category lists “lao, leng, lü.” Then come “jun, yun, xun” (with another blank place), followed by “lu, luo, li”; then “dao, zao, xiao, yue,” followed by “zou, zai, zu.”

The fifth-tone category lists “mao, bao, bao, huo”; the eighth-tone category lists “zi, zai, jiang.”

These examples are arranged by tone and sound category. The sequences in parentheses, “fei fei fei fei,” “bi bi bi bi,” and “huo huo huo huo,” along with symbols such as slashes and circles, appear to be marks used in the original to indicate or record sound categories. From this passage alone, their precise pronunciation or function cannot be determined.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi repeatedly arranges syllables and example characters under headings such as “four tones,” “five sounds,” and “nine sounds.” Its main purpose is to describe categories of sound and how they correspond. Forms such as “bi bi bi bi,” “huo huo huo huo,” and “gu gu gu gu” may be marks or onomatopoeic notation left by copying or typesetting. The passage alone does not make clear what each one represents.

The first part lists, in sequence, the names “four tones,” “five sounds,” “six tones,” “seven tones,” and “eight tones,” alongside examples such as “niu, dou, zou, liu” and “cao, cai, qi.” It also includes “gui, shui, gui, bei,” “gong, kong, zhong,” and “long, yong, yong,” as examples for identifying different sound categories or pronunciations. The interweaving of headings such as “four tones,” “five tones,” “five sounds,” “nine sounds,” “ten sounds,” “eleven sounds,” and “twelve sounds” reflects a phonological system that compares sound categories, sound classes, and example characters.

The phrase “entering tone belongs to the xi chang category and is linked to lü two of five” broadly means that the entering tone’s pronunciation belongs to a category called “xi chang” and is associated with “lü two of five.” The entering tone is one of the traditional categories of Chinese tones; “lü” here may refer to a classification in ancient musical theory. The original lacks necessary context, so the precise correspondence cannot be established from this passage alone.

At the end, the passage lists examples such as “gu, jia, jiu, gui,” “jin, kui,” and “kun, qiao, qiu, qi,” grouping them under headings including “one sound,” “five sounds,” and “nine tones.” The passage chiefly lists and labels sound categories rather than presenting a continuous narrative. Since the symbols and line breaks in the surviving text may contain errors, determining which category each character belongs to requires consulting editions of the original book and related commentaries.

This passage mainly consists of a set of phonological tables from The Classic of the Supreme Ultimate’s World Ordering (Huangji Jingshi), recording different categories of “sounds” and “tones,” along with example characters for each. The original contains strings such as “(nose nose nose nose)” and “(bone bone bone bone),” as well as many example characters, that are evidently corrupted or have been transcribed from unusual forms. They cannot be reliably restored, so a line by line translation is not possible.

The portions that can be identified include “closed sound, voiced, harmonious pitch, two, six,” as well as the categories “five sounds,” “two sounds,” “ten tones,” “five tones,” “six sounds,” “three sounds,” and “one tone,” and characters such as “Qian,” “I,” “ruler,” “knife,” “east,” “ox,” “wife and child,” “then,” and “woman.” Here, “sound” and “tone” are terms for phonological categories; the characters that follow appear to be examples of the corresponding categories. “Pitch” is also a term from traditional musical theory.

To interpret these tables accurately, a clear facsimile of the original book, a reliable edited text, or an explanation of the special symbols is needed. The legible portions of the current text are insufficient to determine the specific correspondences between the columns.

The symbols “○” and “/gugugugu,” and similar marks, appear to be notation from a phonological chart in the original book or remnants of text recognition. They cannot be reliably reconstructed from this passage alone. The legible content appears to classify items by sound and list corresponding characters:

Five tones: lao, leng, lü; gui, shui, gui, bei; gong, kong, zhong; lu, luo, li; zou, zai, zu.

Six sounds: long, yong, yong; zizai jiang; yu, shu, qu; cao, cai, qi; wu, hu, tu; cao, cai, quan; xin, shen, jin; si, san, xing; si, xiang.

Seven tones: nan, kan, qian; qie; shan, shou; shi, shi.

Eight tones: er; er; zhuang, zhen; zha.

Nine tones: yi, chi; chong, chen; zhuo, zhong; zhai, zhi.

Ten tones: che, chou; cha, cheng.

The title that follows, Huangji Jingshi, juan ten, part two, gives the volume and section. “Written by Shao Yaofu of Sanchuan” identifies Shao Yaofu of Sanchuan as the author. The legible text at the end refers to phonological categories such as closed sounds, voiced sounds and pitch patterns, entering tones, and “he-chang lü,” and lists several groups of examples. Because chart symbols and some character forms are incomplete, the precise correspondences among the groups cannot be determined.

This passage mainly lists Chinese characters according to their sound and rhyme categories. It covers the “seven sounds,” meaning seven traditional categories of place of articulation, along with syllable types and tones, illustrated with example characters. The circles and slashes appear to be positions or marks in the original text.

It begins with examples such as qian and qiu, followed by liang, liang, and xiang. It then gives examples under the seven sound categories, including huang, hua, xiong, and xian. Next come examples in the second tone, such as ding, jing, and gen, followed by wu, wa, and yang. The sequence continues with xiong, yong, and ying; wu, ya, yue, and yao; and then qian, dian, and dan, followed by an, ya, yi, and yi.

The text goes on to list examples by sound category and tone, including yuan, quan, and ban; yao, wang, and yin; chen, yin, and gen; mu, ma, mei, and mi; and jun, yun, and xun, followed by mu, mao, mei, and min. Later combinations include dao, zao, xiao, and yue; fu, fa, and fei; mao, bao, bao, and huo; fu, fan, and fei; niu, dou, zou, and liu; and wu, wan, and wei.

The final section continues with examples such as wen, wan, and wei; qi, zi, si, and ri; bu, bai, bing, and bi; bu, bai, bei, and bi; pu, pu, pin, and pi; gui, shui, gui, and bei; and pang, pai, ping, and ping. Further examples include gong, kong, and zhong; dong, dan, and di; long, yong, and yong; dui, da, and di; yu, shu, and qu; tu, tan, and tian; wu, hu, and tu; tong, tan, and tian; xin, shen, and jin; nai, ni, and nu; and nei, nan, and nian. The passage organizes character examples by sound category and tone to illustrate the correspondences among different pronunciations.

This passage from The Book of Supreme World Ordering (Huangji Jingshi) uses grouped characters, tones, and rhyme categories to mark positions in a system of tones or phonological patterns. The characters and symbols in parentheses are arrangement markers from the original. “Seven tones,” “six tones,” “eight sounds,” and “nine sounds” are category names, while “closed sound,” “entering tone,” “harmonious singing,” and “lü” are related terms for sound categories or antiphonal singing. Because the original is arranged so tersely, this passage alone does not make it possible to determine the specific pronunciations or correspondences represented by each symbol.

It begins with “seven tones” and “six tones,” followed by several sets of example characters. It then lists combinations such as “seven sounds, eight sounds,” “eight tones, six tones,” “seven sounds, nine sounds,” and “nine tones, six tones.” Among these, “nan kan qian,” “lao leng lü,” “lu luo li,” “zou zai zu,” “zai zai jiang,” and “cao cai qi” are examples of characters or sound-category markers arranged in the order given in the original.

“Closed Sound, Voiced Harmony, and Tuning: Section Two of Eight” is the heading or general marker for this part. Below it are examples such as “duo ke ge she” and “zhuang zhen,” alongside the labels “eight sounds” and “eleven sounds.” These are followed by combinations such as “one tone, six tones,” “eight sounds, twelve sounds,” and “two tones, six tones,” paired with examples including “kai zai ai,” “yi chi,” “hui mei tui,” “chong chen,” “ding jing gen,” and “che chou.”

“Entering Tone, Harmonious Singing, and Lü: Section Two of Seven” is the heading or general marker for the next part. “Entering tone” refers to a category of tone, while “harmonious singing” concerns the relationship between sounds joined in singing. “Lü” is a term from the ancient system of musical pitches. The text then lists examples such as “qian dian dan,” “gu jia jiu gui,” “yuan quan ban,” “jin kui,” “chen yin gen,” “kun qiao qiu qi,” “jun yun xun,” and “qian qiu,” with their arrangement indicated by symbols such as “ten ten ten ten.”

Overall, this passage is not continuous prose but a table of character examples and symbols arranged by categories of tone, sound, and pitch. It records relationships among different sound categories. On the basis of this surviving passage alone, it is not possible to reconstruct every symbol as a definite modern pronunciation.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi mainly arranges phonological categories such as “eight sounds,” “four tones,” and “seven tones,” and illustrates the pronunciation of each category with groups of Chinese characters. The original includes circles, slashes, and symbols such as “ten ten ten ten,” which seem to mark phonemes or positions on the page. Their precise meaning cannot be determined from this text alone, so the reading below follows only the words that can be identified.

After “eight sounds, two sounds,” it lists characters read as huang, hua, xiong, and xian. After “four tones, seven tones,” it lists characters read as wa and yang. It then arranges characters read as yu, wu, ya, yue, and yao, followed by qi, zi, si, and ri.

The text next continues with groups under “eight sounds,” identifying categories in sequence as “three sounds,” “five sounds,” “six sounds,” “seven sounds,” and “eight sounds.” It gives characters read as shuai, shuai, and gu; mu, ma, mei, and mi; gui, shui, gui, and bei; gong, kong, and zhong; long, yong, and yong; yu, shu, and qu; wu, hu, and tu; and xin, shen, and jin as examples. Later it lists characters read as shi, bu, bai, bei, and bi; nan, kan, and qian; pu, pu, pin, and pi; and qie, pang, pai, ping, and ping.

Further on, under headings such as “eight sounds, six sounds,” “eight tones, seven tones,” “eight sounds, seven sounds,” “nine tones, seven tones,” “eight sounds, eight sounds,” and “ten tones, seven tones,” it arranges characters read as dui, da, and di; tu, tan, and tian; tong, tan, and tian; nai, ni, and nü; nei, nan, and nian; lao, leng, and lü; lu, luo, and li; zou, zai, and zu; zi, zai, and jiang; cao, cai, and qi; and cao, cai, and quan.

The final phrase, “closed sound, voiced harmony, pitch, two of nine,” may be understood as a notation or explanation concerning “closed sound,” “voiced harmony,” “pitch,” and “two of nine.” Since the symbols and layout in this text may be incomplete, the relationships among these terms cannot be established more precisely from the available material alone.

This passage consists mainly of what appear to be phonological markers, graphic cues, or diagram symbols, mixed with terms such as “jiu yin,” “yi sheng,” “qi sheng,” and “ru sheng.” The meaning of the parentheses, slashes, and strings in the text, such as “(/duo ke ge she)” and “si san xing/shi shi shi shi,” cannot be reliably determined from this text alone, so they cannot be reconstructed as coherent vernacular prose.

The identifiable phrase “ru sheng xi chang lü er zhi ba” may mean that the entering tone section uses a “xi chang” singing method and involves “lü er zhi ba” as a musical or classification marker. However, the precise meanings of “xi chang” and “lü er zhi ba” here can only be established by consulting the original page layout or a reliable critical edition.

This passage is not continuous prose, but a chart classifying the sounds of characters under “sounds” and “tones.” “Seven sounds,” “eight sounds,” and “nine rhymes” are category labels in the chart; the corresponding characters are listed in parentheses. The slashes and circles are also markings in the original, and their precise meaning cannot be determined from this passage alone. They are retained below as written.

Seven sounds (nan, kan, qian, ○)　Eight sounds (mu, ma, mei, mi)

(○, ○, ○, qie)　(mu, mao, mei, min)

(fu, fa, fei)

Nine rhymes, four rhymes (fu, fan, fei)

Eight sounds, eight sounds (wu, wan, wei)

(wen, wan, wei)

(bu, bai, bing, bi)

Nine rhymes, five rhymes (bu, bai, bei, bi)

Nine tones, eight sounds (pu, pu, pin, pi)

(pang, pai, ping, ping)

(dong, dan, di)

Nine rhymes, six rhymes (dui, da, di)

Ten tones, eight sounds (shi, tan, tian)

(tong, tan, tian)

Closed rhymes, voiced and regulated, second of ten

(duo, ke, ge, she)　(nai, ni, nü)

Ten rhymes (he, huo, hua, ba)　Seven rhymes (nei, nan, nian)

First tone (kai, zai, ai, ○)　Eight sounds (lao, leng, lü)

(hui, mei, tui, ○)　(lu, luo, li)

(liang, liang, xiang, ○)　(zou, zai, zu)

Ten rhymes (guang, guang, kuang, ○)　Eight rhymes (zi, zai, jiang)

Second tone (ding, jing, gen, ○)　Eight sounds (cao, cai, qi)

(xiong, yong, ying, ○)　(cao, cai, quan)

(qian, dian, dan, ○)　(si, sanxing)

Ten rhymes (yuan, quan, ban, ○)　Nine rhymes (si, xiang)

Third tone (chen, yin, gen, ○)　Eight sounds

(jun, yun, xun, ○)

(dao, zao, xiao, yue)　(shan, shou)

Ten rhymes (mao, bao, bao, huo)　Ten rhymes (shi, shi)

Fourth tone (niu, dou, zou, liu)　Eight sounds (er)

(○, ○, ○, yu)　(er)

(qi, zi, si, ri)　(zhuang, zhen)

Ten rhymes (shuai, ○, shuai, gu)　Eleven rhymes (zha)

Fifth tone (○, ○, ○, de)　Eight sounds (yi, chi)

(gui, shui, gui, bei)　(chong, chen)

(gong, kong, zhong, ○)　(zhuo, zhong)

Ten rhymes (long, yong, yong, ○)　Twelve rhymes (zhai, zhi)

Sixth tone (yu, shu, qu, ○)　Eight sounds (che, chou)

This passage mainly arranges categories of Chinese speech sounds, using different characters as examples to illustrate the combinations of initial sounds, finals, and syllables. The terms “sound” and “voice” are categories in phonological classification. “Entering tone” refers to an ancient tone, while “xichang” and “closed sounds” are also names within the phonological system.

The section on the entering tone is called “xichang lü, section two, part nine.” It then lists several sound and voice categories in sequence, using such characters as wu, hu, tu; xin, shen, jin as examples. It goes on to list combinations such as “ten sounds, two sound types” and “seven voices, nine voices,” with further examples including qian, qiu, hei, hua, xiang, xue. The subsequent entries—“ten sounds, three sound types,” “nine voices, nine voices,” “ten sounds, four sound types,” and “ten voices, nine voices”—continue arranging different sound and voice categories, accompanied by examples such as yao, wang, yin; mu, ma, mei, mi; mu, mao, mei, min; fu, fan, fei; wu, wan, wei; and wen, wan, wei.

The text then moves to “closed sounds, turbid harmony and lü, section two, part eleven.” “Closed sounds” and “turbid harmony and lü” are the classification names for this section. It first gives examples such as duo, ke, ge, she and bu, bai, bing, bi. It then continues arranging the categories by sound and voice, with entries such as “eleven sounds, five sound types,” “one voice, nine voices,” “eleven sounds, six sound types,” “two voices, nine voices,” “eleven sounds, seven sound types,” and “three voices, nine voices.” Examples include bu, bai, bei, bi; pu, po, pin, pi; pang, pai, ping, ping; dong, dan, di; tu, tan, tian; tong, tan, tian; nei, nan, nian; and lao, leng, lü.

The passage as a whole uses category names and character examples to present a system of sound classification and ordering. The slashes, circles, and some missing characters in the original are layout or notation marks; this excerpt alone does not make clear what specific pronunciations or meanings they represent.

This passage is not continuous narrative prose but a phonological chart from Huangji Jingshi, listing different categories of sounds and tones alongside example characters. The circles, diagonal lines, and spaces in the chart are also symbols used in its layout.

It lists items such as “eleven sounds, eight sounds” and “four tones, nine tones,” with examples including lu, luo, li; dao, zao, xiao, yue; and mao, bao, bao, huo. It then gives further sound combinations, such as “Si Sanhuang,” “Si Xiang,” “Gui Shui Gui Bei,” “Long Yong Yong,” “Yu Shu Qu,” and “Xin Shen Jin.” In the latter part, headings include “Entering-tone Xi Chang Lü, section two, number ten” and “Closed-tone Zhuo He Lü, section two, number twelve.” Under these, it continues listing sound classes, tones, and examples, such as “Gu Jia Jiu Gui,” “Jin Kui,” “Kun Qiao Qiu Bai,” “Qian Qiu,” “Huang Hua Xiong Xian,” “Wu Wa Yang,” and “Wu Ya Yue Yao.”

Here, “sound,” “tone,” “entering tone,” “closed tone,” and “Zhuo He Lü” are terms for phonological categories or modes of pronunciation. The passage mainly organizes and compares pronunciations; it does not recount an event. Since the circles and lines, the order of the examples, and some characters in the current text may have been affected by layout or recognition errors, the precise correspondence between each column cannot be reliably determined from this text alone. It should therefore not be rewritten as continuous prose or supplemented with meanings the chart does not clearly express.

This passage appears to arrange “twelve tones,” several other tones, and sounds alongside example characters, like a phonological table grouped by sound class. Each group first names a category within the “twelve tones,” then lists several “tones” or “sounds” with examples. For instance, the opening group lists guang, guang, and kuang, followed by fu, fan, and fei. Later groups similarly list wu, wan, and wei, then wen, wan, and wei.

The circles most likely indicate missing characters or blank spaces. The relationships among the slashes, parentheses, and examples are also unclear, so this text alone does not allow us to reliably determine which tone or sound each character belongs to. Headings such as “twelve tones,” “ten tones,” and “nine sounds” appear to be names within this system of phonological classification; their precise meanings would need to be established by consulting relevant passages or annotations in the Huangji Jingshi.

The passage ends: “The sounds of Chen and Xing: the three categories of entering tone belong to pi. The tones of Shi and Tu: the three categories of closed sound belong to qing. Closed sound, qing, and the third part of the lü; entering tone, pi, and the third part of the lü.” “Entering tone” is one of the traditional tone categories, while “qing,” “pi,” “lü,” and “lü̈” are terms in this system of tones and sounds. Because the original has no punctuation and may be incomplete, the precise punctuation and meaning of the final sentence cannot be determined from the available text alone.

This passage does not appear to be a complete classical scripture. It looks more like a list of pronunciations organized by “yin” and “sheng.” The strings before each entry, such as “qiqiqiqi,” may be characters corrupted in the source or transcription errors; after the slash, several examples are listed, such as “gu, jia, jiu, gui” and “he, huo, hua, ba.”

The text only shows that it successively marks “first yin,” “second yin,” “third yin,” “fourth yin,” and “fifth yin,” as well as “first sheng,” “second sheng,” “third sheng,” “fourth sheng,” and “fifth sheng,” with corresponding examples. Since key content has been corrupted, the meanings of these categories cannot be reliably recovered, and a complete interpretation cannot be translated from it.

This passage consists mainly of rhyme-book-style pronunciations, ordered sound categories, and chart notation. The surviving text contains many symbols such as “qi” and “○,” and some characters and columns may have been lost during transcription. The passage’s overall meaning therefore cannot be reliably reconstructed from this text alone.

The legible portions list, in sequence, “one sound, six sounds, six tones, one tone,” then continue with “one sound, seven sounds, seven tones, one tone,” up to “one sound, ten sounds, ten tones, one tone.” Interspersed are characters such as gong, kong, dong, dan, long, yong, and dui, apparently marking correspondences among sound patterns or sound categories. The final phrase, “closed sound, clear harmony, third of the musical modes,” seems to be the title of a section or chart; the entries “two sounds” and “eleven sounds” follow it.

This material appears to be a chart of musical modes or phonological categories from the Huangji Jingshi. The surviving transcription is insufficient to determine the specific meaning of each entry or to translate the missing content into coherent sentences.

This passage is a phonological table from the Huangji Jingshi. It arranges entries under categories such as “one tone, two sounds” and “two tones,” and lists the corresponding characters. The text after slashes and the circle symbols are phonetic annotations or table markers in the original. Some are now difficult to make out, so the specific pronunciations cannot be established from them.

The table also includes the phrase “entering tone, pi chang, Lü, three of two.” “Entering tone” is one of the traditional tone categories; “Lü” may refer to musical pitch or to a classification term. The relationship of “pi chang” and “three of two” to the table cannot be determined with confidence from this passage alone.

The remaining sections appear to list tone classes, sound classes, and their associated characters in sequence. Examples include “Qian, Dian, Dan” alongside “Gu, Jia, Jiu, Gui”; “Jun, Yun, Xun” alongside “Qian, Qiu”; and “Niu, Dou, Zou, Liu” alongside “Wu, Wa, Yang.” Because many markers in the original are missing or illegible, the precise correspondences between these characters and the tone and sound categories cannot be fully reconstructed.

This passage from Huangji Jingshi (“The Book of Supreme World Ordering”) mainly arranges phonetic categories using “sounds,” “tones,” and sets of example characters. It belongs to the classification and analysis of phonology, rather than being continuous prose.

Repeated expressions such as “two sounds,” “five sounds,” and “seven tones” indicate levels or sequence numbers within the phonological classification. Characters such as “bu,” “bai,” “bei,” and “bi,” or “nan,” “kan,” and “qian,” serve as examples marking different sounds. Symbols such as circles and slashes in parentheses may be marks from the original book or a particular edition, intended to be read alongside phonological charts.

“Closed sounds, clear and harmonious modes, third of three” appears to be the heading or classification note for this section. “Closed sounds” refers to a category of sounds in which the breath is obstructed during articulation; “clear and harmonious modes” is a term used in phonological classification. The text then continues listing examples in sequence, such as “three sounds, nine sounds” and “first tone, second tone,” with characters including “si” and “xiang,” and “kai,” “zai,” and “ai.”

Since the passage consists chiefly of tables and example characters, and the text as it survives here contains many symbols and missing characters, the precise correspondences among the phonological groups cannot be reliably reconstructed from this material alone. In general, it arranges speech sounds according to a particular system and uses Chinese characters to illustrate the pronunciations in each category.

This passage from Huangji Jingshi consists mainly of phonological material arranged by categories called “sounds” and “tones,” rather than continuous narrative prose. The words in parentheses and the circled symbols appear to mark, arrange, or help memorize pronunciations. Based on this transcription alone, it is not possible to determine how each group of symbols should be read or how they correspond to one another.

The passage lists entries in sequence, including “three tones,” “two tones,” “three sounds,” “twelve sounds,” and “four tones.” In between, it also marks “entering tone, pi chang lü, third of three.” It then continues with entries such as “three sounds,” “one sound,” “five tones,” “three tones,” “six tones,” and “seven tones.” After each entry are strings such as “mi mi mi mi,” “chen yin gen,” “jun yun xun,” and “dao zao xiao yue,” along with circles or blank spaces.

Because this material depends on the original book’s layout, charts, and system of symbols, the text available here cannot be reliably rendered in plain language, and the precise meaning of “entering tone, pi chang lü, third of three” cannot be established. Accurate interpretation requires comparison with a facsimile of the original page or with an editorial collation and commentary.

This passage is not a continuous classical Chinese text. It is phonological material arranged under categories such as “eight sounds,” “three sounds,” “three tones,” and “five tones.” The groups of characters that follow, such as “wu, wan, wei” and “bu, bai, bei, bi,” are examples corresponding to those categories. “Bi yin, qing he, lü, third section, fourth item” appears to be a chapter or classification heading, roughly meaning “the fourth item in the third section of the closed-sound, clear-and-harmonious, lü category.”

The repeated “mi mi mi mi” and the circles after the slashes appear to be symbols used for marking or layout. The groups of characters after “mi mi mi mi” may also contain copying or reading errors. This material alone does not allow them to be reliably reconstructed as continuous prose, so it should not be translated sentence by sentence as an ordinary text.

This passage is not ordinary continuous prose but a phonological chart from the Huangji Jingshi. It arranges characters by sound category, using “sound” and “voice” to mark different groups of pronunciations. The circles, blank spaces, and repeated appearances of the word “ending” may be traces left by transcription or typesetting of the original chart; this text alone does not reveal what the chart originally looked like.

The chart lists several groups of representative characters, such as “Jun, Yun, Xun”; “Dao, Zao, Xiao, Yue”; and “Mao, Bao, Bao, Huo,” alongside counts such as “four sounds,” “five voices,” “eleven sounds,” and “three voices.” Here, “sound” and “voice” are terms for phonological categories and cannot simply be equated with the initials, finals, or tones of modern Chinese. The precise classification of each group must be determined with reference to the original chart and the relevant phonological system.

“Entering the entering-tone section, marked ‘Lü three of four’” can be understood as a transition to the entering-tone portion, with “Lü three of four” serving as a label or explanatory note. The characters that follow—“Xin, Shen, Jin”; “Nan, Kan, Qian”; “Qian, Qiu”; and “Hei, Hua, Xiang, Xue”—continue in the chart’s format. Phrases such as “Gu Jia Jiu Gui,” “Jin Kui,” and “Kun Qiao Qiu Qi” appear to be corresponding classification labels or pronunciation cues.

Overall, this passage presents an ancient system of phonological categories and representative characters; it is not an argument that can be translated sentence by sentence. Without the original chart and fuller context, the precise relationships among its numbers, symbols, and characters cannot be reliably reconstructed from the text available.

Many of the characters and symbols in the image appear to be placeholders or encoding fragments from a literacy chart, such as “(wei wei wei wei),” “liu liu liu liu,” and “○,” so the original text cannot be reliably reconstructed word for word. The surviving text seems broadly to list examples by sound class and tone, and to indicate the corresponding phonological categories.

The title, “Bi Yin Qing He Lü San Zhi Wu,” can be understood as “Closed Sounds, Clear and Harmonious Tones: Part Three, Item Five.” The text then lists, in order, the characters for “mother,” “eye,” “husband,” “father,” “martial,” and “writing,” followed by those for “match,” “divination,” “step,” “universal,” “return,” “side,” “good,” “east,” “light,” “exchange,” “nail,” “scholar,” “elder brother,” “same,” “thousand,” “then,” “origin,” “inside,” “minister,” “old,” “ruler,” “deer,” “knife,” and “walk,” classifying them by sound and tone.

Because the key symbols and groups of characters in the original are damaged or illegible, the specific phonological category assigned to each character cannot be determined from this text, and a more detailed interpretation would be unwarranted.

This passage is not a continuous essay. It resembles a chart or mnemonic from Huangji Jingshi, arranged according to sound categories. “Five sounds,” “four tones,” and “eight sounds” are names for sound classifications. “Entering tone” is one of the traditional four tones, referring to a tone with a short, abrupt ending. The text also contains many groups of characters and symbols that may mark rhyme categories or the order of a deduction.

Judging from the surviving text, its general outline is as follows: it lists “five sounds,” “four tones,” “five tones,” “six tones,” “seven tones,” and “eight tones” in sequence, pairing each with several sound categories or examples. The entries also include counts such as eight sounds, nine sounds, ten sounds, eleven sounds, twelve sounds, and one sound. The passage ends by mentioning “entering tone” and listing the phrase “Lü three to five.”

However, repeated strings such as “pi pi pi pi,” “six six six six,” and “zero zero zero,” along with several groups of characters in parentheses, clearly cannot be translated directly as ordinary sentences. They may be chart symbols or phonological markers, or they may be transcription or reading errors. This text alone does not make it possible to reliably reconstruct the specific meaning of each entry, so it would be unwise to interpret them as a complete account of cultivation or ritual practice.

This passage mainly lists sounds, sound categories, and corresponding character examples according to a particular system of phonetic classification; it is not continuous prose.

At the beginning, it lists categories such as “nine sounds,” “five sounds,” “five tones,” “two tones,” and “ten sounds,” along with their corresponding written forms. The phrase “closed sound, clear and harmonious, the third of the six pitch standards” then appears and may mark a shift to further notation of tones or sound categories.

The following sections list several sound and tone categories in sequence, with corresponding examples such as “an, ya, yi, yi”; “yao, wang, yin”; “mu, ma, mei, mi”; “mu, mao, mei, min”; “fu, fa, fei”; and “fu, fan, fei.” Later examples include “wu, wan, wei”; “wen, wan, wei”; “bu, bai, bing, bi”; “bu, bai, bei, bi”; “pu, pu, pin, pi”; and “pang, pai, ping, ping.” Further examples include “dao, zao, xiao, yue”; “dong, dan, di”; “niu, dou, zou, liu”; “shi, tan, tian”; “tong, tan, tian”; “qi, zi, si, ri”; and “nai, ni, nü.”

The material in parentheses, the slash marks, and the repeated “de de de de” appear to be phonetic annotations or special formatting from the source. Because the passage lacks the accompanying chart and explanations, the specific relationships between the symbols and the examples cannot be reliably determined.

This passage is not a continuous narrative but a set of examples arranged by “sound” and “tone” categories, possibly intended to illustrate different sound or rhyme classes. The slashes, circles, and repeated occurrences of “De” in the source appear to be table symbols or artifacts of text recognition; their original meaning cannot be determined from this text alone.

The first part lists categories in sequence, including “six sounds, seven sounds,” “five tones, five tones,” and “six sounds, eight sounds,” accompanied by examples such as “shuai, shuai, gu” and “nei, nan, nian.” It then lists “gui, shui, gui, bei”; “lu, luo, li”; “gong, kong, zhong”; and “zou, zai, zu.” Further on, the entries continue under headings such as “six sounds, nine sounds,” “seven tones, five tones,” “six sounds, ten sounds,” and “eight tones, five tones,” with examples including “si, xiang”; “nan, kan, qian”; “shan, shou”; “shi, shi”; “er”; “zhuang, zhen”; “zha”; “yi, chi”; “chong, chen”; “zhuo, zhong”; “zhai, zhi”; “che, chou”; and “cha, cheng.”

The ending mentions “closing sound, clear and harmonious with the lü; the third of the seven entering tones; pi chants lü, the third of the six.” Here, “lü” and “lü” are terms from musical tuning, while the “entering tone” is a category in traditional Chinese tones. However, because the context and table format are incomplete, it is not possible to reliably determine how this sentence relates to the classifications above. The text then lists further examples: “duo, ke, ge, she”; “gu, jia, jiu, gui”; “he, huo, hua, ba”; “jin, kui”; “kai, zai, ai”; “kun, qiao, qiu, qi”; “hui, mei, tui”; “qian, qiu”; “liang, liang, xiang”; and “hei, hua, xiang, xue.”

Overall, this material arranges sound and tone categories alongside representative characters, and includes terms relating to musical tuning and the entering tone. The surviving text lacks the original table’s row and column structure, so it cannot support a precise account of the correspondence rules among the sound categories.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi is not continuous prose, but a table of phonological categories and example characters arranged in groups labeled “yin” and “sheng.” The characters on either side of a slash appear in separate columns; circles mark blank spaces in the original table. Here, “yin” and “sheng” are category names in the book’s phonological system and should not be understood directly as the initials and finals of modern Mandarin pinyin.

Following the order of the original, the first group is labeled “seven yin” and lists guang, guang, kuang, and other characters; the other column is labeled “two yin” and lists huang, hua, xiong, xian, and others.

A group labeled “two sheng” lists ding, jing, gen, and others; the other column is labeled “six sheng” and lists wu, wa, yang, and others. The next two columns list xiong, yong, ying, followed by wu, ya, yue, yao; then qian, dian, dan, followed by an, ya, yi, yi.

Next is a group labeled “seven yin,” listing yuan, quan, ban, and other characters; the other column is labeled “three yin” and lists yao, wang, yin. A group labeled “three sheng” lists chen, yin, gen, and others; the other column is labeled “six sheng” and lists mu, ma, mei, mi. Following these are jun, yun, xun, and mu, mao, mei, min; then dao, zao, xiao, yue, and fu, fa, fei.

In the next group, the “seven yin” column lists mao, bao, bao, huo, while the other column is labeled “four yin” and lists fu, fan, fei. The “four sheng” column lists niu, dou, zou, liu, while the other column is labeled “six sheng” and lists wu, wan, wei. Further entries are yu, alongside wen, wan, wei; then qi, zi, si, ri, alongside bu, bai, bing, bi.

Farther down, the “seven yin” column lists shuai, shuai, gu, and other characters; the other column is labeled “five yin” and lists bu, bai, bei, bi. The “five sheng” column lists de and other characters; the other column is labeled “six sheng” and lists pu, pu, pin, pi. Following these are gui, shui, gui, bei, alongside pang, pai, ping, ping; then gong, kong, zhong, and other characters, alongside dong, dan, di.

The final groups proceed as follows: the “seven yin” column lists long, yong, yong, and other characters, while the other column is labeled “six yin” and lists dui, da, di. The “six sheng” column lists yu, shu, qu, and other characters, while the other column is also labeled “six sheng” and lists shi, tan, tian. Further entries are wu, hu, tu, alongside tong, tan, tian; xin, shen, jin, alongside nai, ni, nü; the “seven yin” column lists shi and other characters, while the other column is labeled “seven yin” and lists nei, nan, nian; the “seven sheng” column lists nan, kan, qian, and other characters, while the other column is labeled “six sheng” and lists lao, leng, lü. The final entries are qie, alongside lu, luo, li.

This passage mainly presents Chinese characters grouped by phonological and “sheng” categories. Since the original preserves its slashes, circles, and column layout but provides no detailed explanation of the columns, this excerpt alone does not make it possible to determine the precise pronunciation or classification rule for each character in this system.

This passage is not continuous narrative prose, but a phonological table in the Huangji Jingshi, arranged by sound classes and tones. “Sound” and “tone” are category labels; the characters and symbols that follow serve as markers or examples. Terms such as “closed sounds,” “entering tones,” “clear and harmonious pitch,” and “open vocalization in the lü mode” also belong to the technical vocabulary of phonology. The original contains many circles and slashes, and some characters and phrases are difficult to make out, so the specific pronunciations cannot be reliably reconstructed or each entry explained on this basis alone.

In broad outline, the passage lists several groups of sound classes and tones in sequence, including “seven sounds, eight sounds,” “eight tones, six tones,” “seven sounds, nine sounds,” “nine tones, six tones,” “seven sounds, ten sounds,” and “ten tones, six tones.” It then gives a group labeled “closed sounds, clear and harmonious pitch, three over eight,” with character examples arranged under headings such as “eight sounds,” “first tone,” and “sixth tone.” Next comes a group labeled “entering tones, open vocalization in the lü mode, three over seven,” likewise listing character examples under headings such as “eight sounds,” “third tone,” and “seventh tone.” The characters in parentheses, such as “zou, zai, zu,” “zai, zi, jiang,” and “cao, cai, qi,” are characters or sound-class markers listed in the original table. The material after the slashes and the circles may be marks in the original or the result of incomplete transcription; their meaning cannot be determined from the present text alone.

This passage is not continuous classical prose. It resembles a phonetic classification table from the Huangji Jingshi, grouping examples under “sound” and “tone.” Labels such as “eight sounds,” “three sounds,” and “five tones” appear to mark categories in the table. The slashes, circles, and some character forms in the source may be chart symbols or damaged text, so the specific rules cannot be reconstructed reliably.

The legible examples in the table include, in sequence: “wu, ya, yue, yao”; “qi, zi, si, ri”; “yao, wang, yin”; “mu, ma, mei, mi”; “gui, shui, gui, bei”; and “mu, mao, mei, min.” Later groups include “gong, kong, zhong”; “long, yong, yong”; “yu, shu, qu”; “wu, hu, tu”; “xin, shen, jin”; “nan, kan, qian”; “pang, pai, ping, ping”; “dong, dan, di”; “dui, da, di”; “tu, tan, tian”; “tong, tan, tian”; “nai, ni, nü”; “nei, nan, nian”; “lao, leng, lü”; “lu, luo, li”; “zou, zai, zu”; “zi, zai, jiang”; “cao, cai, quan”; and “cao, cai, quan.”

The final items, “closed sound, clear harmony, and the third of the nine tones,” along with “duo, ke, ge, she”; “si, san, xing”; “he, huo, hua, ba”; and “si, xiang,” also appear to be entries in a phonetic classification. Because the source chart and its symbols are damaged, this text alone does not allow a reliable account of the precise correspondences among the groups.

One voice divides into seven sounds, followed by a sound category made up of four empty slots.

Further down are characters grouped by sound category: hui, mei, tui, and others form one group; liang, liang, xiang, and others form another. The text also lists shan and shou, and indicates that this section belongs to the nine-tone category.

Next it lists the characters included under nine tones and ten tones, such as guang, guang, kuang, shi, and shi.

The second voice also divides into seven sounds, followed by er and a sound category made up of four empty slots. Then come xiong, yong, ying, and other characters, with markers such as “two” attached. Further on are qian, dian, dan, zhuang, zhen, and other characters, assigned to nine tones; the nine-tone, eleven-tone column lists yuan, quan, ban, zha, and others.

The third voice divides into seven sounds and includes chen, yin, gen, yi, chi, and others. Next are jun, yun, xun, chong, chen, and other characters, followed by dao, zao, xiao, yue, zhuo, zhong, and others. The nine-tone column contains mao, bao, bao, huo, and others; the nine-tone, twelve-tone column lists zhai, zhi, and others.

The fourth voice divides into seven sounds and includes niu, dou, zou, liu, che, chou, and others. Further on are yu, cha, cheng, and others.

The entering-tone section is explained by the phrase “bi chang lü san zhi ba.” It is followed by characters such as qi, zi, si, ri, gu, jia, jiu, and gui; the nine-tone column contains shuai, shuai, gu, jin, kui, and others.

The fifth voice divides into eight sounds and includes de, kun, qiao, qiu, qi, gui, shui, gui, bei, qian, qiu, and others. Next are gong, kong, zhong, hei, hua, xiang, xue, and other characters. The nine-tone column lists long, yong, yong, and others; the nine-tone, two-tone column lists huang, hua, xiong, xian.

The sixth voice divides into eight sounds and includes yu, shu, qu, wu, wa, yang, wu, hu, tu, wu, ya, yue, yao, and others. Next are xin, shen, jin, an, ya, yi, yi, and other characters. The nine-tone column contains yao, wang, yin, and others.

The seventh voice divides into eight sounds and includes nan, kan, qian, mu, ma, mei, mi, and others. Next are qie, mu, mao, mei, min, fu, fa, fei, and others. The nine-tone, four-tone column lists fu, fan, fei.

This passage appears to be a table of rhyme characters arranged by tone and sound in the Huangji Jingshi, rather than a continuous discussion. The original uses “tone” and “sound” to mark categories, with characters in parentheses as examples. Some places also contain blank spaces or special symbols, which may indicate characters or phonetic positions yet to be filled in.

The opening lists combinations such as “eight tones, eight tones” and “nine sounds, five sounds,” alongside characters such as “martial,” “evening,” and “tail,” and “pattern,” “ten thousand,” and “not yet,” as examples for the corresponding sound classes. The phrase “closed sound, clear harmony, pitch pattern three, section ten” follows. The text then lists categories including ten sounds, eleven sounds, and twelve sounds, as well as groups from one tone through six tones. The characters listed after each group—such as “old,” “cold,” and “lü”; “grass,” “gather,” and “seven”; “mountain” and “hand”; “ear”; “righteousness” and “red”; and “tea” and “present”—serve as phonological examples for that group.

The latter half is headed “Entering tone, open chant, pitch pattern three, section nine.” It lists characters such as “heart,” “examine,” and “prohibit,” as well as “ancient,” “first branch,” “nine,” and “gui,” with labels such as “ten sounds” and “one sound” marking the sound classes. “Entering tone” is a category in traditional Chinese phonology; here, “pitch pattern” relates to musical pitch and the classification of sounds and rhymes.

Taken as a whole, this scripture uses examples of characters to illustrate a system for classifying and arranging tones and sounds. Because the symbols, blank spaces, and character sequence in the original are incomplete, this passage alone does not make it possible to determine the specific pronunciations or the full rules for each category.

Seven sounds: nan, kan, qian. Nine sounds: kun, qiao, qiu, bai.

Qie. Qian, qiu.

Hei, hua, xiang, xue.

Ten tones, second tone: huang, hua, xiong, xian.

Eight sounds, nine sounds: wu, wa, yang.

Wu, ya, yue, yao.

An, ya, yi, yi.

Ten tones, third tone: yao, wang, yin.

Nine sounds, ninth tone: mu, ma, mei, mi.

Mu, mao, mei, min.

Fu, fa, fei.

Ten tones, fourth tone: fu, fan, fei.

Ten sounds, ninth tone: wu, wan, wei.

Wen, wan, wei.

Closed tones, Qinghe pitch system (a classification of musical pitches), section three, item eleven.

Duo, ke, ge, she. Bu, bai, bing, bi.

Eleventh tone: he, huo, hua, ba. Fifth tone: bu, bai, bei, bi.

First sound: kai, zai, ai. Ninth sound: pu, pu, pin, pi.

Hui, mei, tui. Pang, pai, ping, ping.

Liang, liang, xiang. Dong, dan, di.

Eleventh tone: guang, guang, kuang. Sixth tone: dui, da, di.

Second sound: ding, jing, gen. Ninth sound: shi, tan, tian.

Xiong, yong, ying. Tong, tan, tian.

Qian, dian, dan. Nai, ni, nü.

Eleventh tone: yuan, quan, ban. Seventh tone: nei, nan, nian.

Third sound: chen, yin, gen. Ninth sound: lao, leng, lü.

Jun, yun, xun. Lu, luo, li.

Dao, zao, xiao, yue. Zou, zai, zu.

Eleventh tone: mao, bao, bao, huo. Eighth tone: zi, zai, jiang.

Fourth sound: niu, dou, zou, liu. Ninth sound: cao, cai, qi.

Yu. Cao, cai, quan.

Qi, zi, si, ri. Si, san, xing.

Eleventh tone: shuai, shuai, gu. Ninth tone: si, xiang.

Fifth sound: de. Ninth sound.

Gui, shui, gui, bei.

Gong, kong, zhong. Shan, shou.

The original mainly lists character examples according to categories of “sounds,” “tones,” and “pitch systems.” It is phonological classification material rather than continuous prose. The precise meaning of symbols such as circles and slashes is difficult to determine from this passage alone; “Closed tones, Qinghe pitch system, section three, item eleven” also appears to be a title or classification marker. The examples above are therefore retained in their original order, without supplying implied meanings or explanations of the system.

This passage mainly arranges sound classes and their corresponding example characters; it is not continuous prose.

“Rùshēng pìchàng lǚ sān zhī shí” is the heading or label for this group. Below it are examples such as “gǔ,” “jiǎ,” “jiǔ,” and “guǐ,” arranged under categories such as “eleven sounds,” “two sounds,” “nine tones,” and “ten tones.” The characters in parentheses are the corresponding examples.

“Bìyīn qīnghé lǜ sān zhī shí’èr” is the heading or label for the next group. Below it are examples such as “duō,” “kě,” “gè,” and “shé”; “hé,” “huǒ,” “huà,” and “bā”; and “kāi,” “zǎi,” and “ài,” marked with categories such as “twelve sounds,” “three sounds,” “first tone,” and “tenth tone.”

The slashes, circles, and parentheses throughout the passage are classification or phonetic notation in the original. From this passage alone, it is not possible to determine the specific pronunciations or relationships each one represents.

This passage is primarily a table of sound and rhyme categories from Huangji Jingshi. It separates “sounds” and “tones” into columns and provides several example characters. Many entries have been replaced by circles, and the original text also appears to contain copying errors, so the full contents cannot be reliably reconstructed.

The first half lists several groups of sound and tone categories in sequence, with examples such as “twelve sounds,” “seven sounds,” “five tones,” and “ten tones.” Later, characters such as “gui, shui, gui, bei”; “lu, luo, li”; “gong, kong, zhong”; and “zou, zai, zu” appear. They seem to mark or illustrate different sound categories rather than form connected sentences.

“Huangji Jingshi, juan ten, middle” and “Huangji Jingshi, juan ten, lower, section six” are volume and section headings. “Written by Shao Yaofu of Sanchuan” identifies the author as Shao Yaofu of Sanchuan—Shao Yong, whose courtesy name was Yaofu.

The final passage continues with phonological terms and example characters. Terms such as “entering tone,” “closed sound,” “voiced,” and “lü” relate to traditional classifications of sounds. The characters listed beneath them—“qiu, he, huo, hua, kai, zai, ai”—are examples in the table. Because the layout and characters are incomplete, we can only confirm that this section continues the table of sound categories and examples; the specific correspondences among its entries cannot be determined accurately.

This passage is not continuous prose but a table of pronunciations arranged by “sound” and “tone” categories. “One sound,” “two sounds,” and so on indicate sound classes; “first tone,” “second tone,” and so on indicate tone classes. The characters in parentheses are examples listed in the table, while the circle symbol marks a blank or an unlisted character.

The table’s columns repeatedly show “qiu qiu qiu qiu,” alongside the characters for “liang,” “liang,” and “xiang,” and for “hei,” “hua,” “xiang,” and “xue.” The entries then proceed as follows:

Under one sound and two sounds, the table lists the characters for “guang,” “guang,” and “kuang,” as well as “huang,” “hua,” “xiong,” and “xian.” Under second tone and first tone, it lists “ding,” “jing,” and “gen,” as well as “wu,” “wa,” and “yang.” The following entries are “xiong,” “yong,” and “ying”; “wu,” “ya,” “yue,” and “yao”; “an,” “ya,” “yi,” and “yi”; and “qian,” “dian,” and “dan.”

Under one sound and three sounds, the table lists “yuan,” “quan,” and “ban,” as well as “yao,” “wang,” and “yin.” Under third tone and first tone, it lists “chen,” “yin,” and “gen,” as well as “mu,” “ma,” “mei,” and “mi.” The following entries are “jun,” “yun,” and “xun”; “mu,” “mao,” “mei,” and “min”; “dao,” “zao,” “xiao,” and “yue”; and “fu,” “fa,” and “fei.”

Under one sound and four sounds, the table lists “mao,” “bao,” “bao,” and “huo,” as well as “fu,” “fan,” and “fei.” Under fourth tone and first tone, it lists “niu,” “dou,” “zou,” and “liu,” as well as “wu,” “wan,” and “wei.” The following entries are “wen,” “wan,” and “wei”; “qi,” “zi,” “si,” and “ri”; and “bu,” “bai,” “bing,” and “bi.”

Under one sound and five sounds, the table lists “shuai,” “shuai,” and “gu,” as well as “bu,” “bai,” “bei,” and “bi.” Under fifth tone and first tone, it lists “de,” as well as “pu,” “pu,” “pin,” and “pi.” The following entries are “gui,” “shui,” “gui,” and “bei”; “pang,” “pai,” “ping,” and “ping”; “gong,” “kong,” and “zhong”; and “dong,” “dan,” and “di.”

Under one sound and six sounds, the table lists “long,” “yong,” and “yong,” as well as “dui,” “da,” and “di.” Under sixth tone and first tone, it lists “yu,” “shu,” and “qu,” as well as “tu,” “tan,” and “tian.”

Thus, the passage mainly consists of characters arranged in categories for distinguishing or comparing their sounds and tones. Based on the surviving layout alone, the precise meaning of “qiu qiu qiu qiu” and the blank symbols in the columns cannot be determined.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi employs a unique symbolic arrangement to explore the correspondence between musical tones and numerical sequences. The recurring symbols like "虯虯虯虯" actually represent an ancient notational system for recording tonal variations.

The text systematically pairs numbers one through ten with specific tonal combinations. For instance, "one tone" corresponds to "seven tones and seven pitches," while "eight tones" match "eight pitches and one tone," and so forth. The passage incorporates specialized terminology from ancient music theory, including tone names like "wu-hu-tu" (乌虎兔) and "xin-shen-jin" (心审禁), along with pitch designations such as "nan-kan-qian" (男坎欠) and "lao-leng-lü" (老冷吕).

The latter section shifts to another tonal combination pattern with phrases like "closed tones and turbid harmonies in the second of four musical modes." Here we find articulatory descriptions like "duo-ke-ge-she" (多可个舌) and "he-huo-hua-ba" (禾火化八), alongside musical terms such as "zhuang-zhen" (庄震) and "chong-chen" (崇辰). The passage concludes with final tonal markers including "liang-liang-xiang" (良两向) and "zhuo-zhong" (卓中).

As a whole, this text represents a specialized record of ancient music theory, constructing a complete tonal system through numerical-symbolic correspondences. The use of this arcane notational system means modern readers require knowledge of ancient musical theory to fully comprehend its specific meanings.

This passage is not a conventional narrative scripture. It is material for classifying sounds and rhymes in Huangji Jingshi: the terms “yin” and “sheng,” together with a set of Chinese characters, mark different pronunciation categories. The characters in parentheses serve as examples to suggest the pronunciations, while the circles are marks found in the original text. From this passage alone, it is not possible to determine their full significance in the original layout or within its phonological system.

“Rusheng xichang, Lü si zhi er” describes a category or recitation position for entering-tone syllables. “Lü si” may refer to a traditional musical-tone or phonological notation; without the surrounding context, it should not be interpreted more specifically as a definite procedure.

The remaining lines list different “yin” and “sheng” categories in sequence, with corresponding character examples, such as “guang, guang, kuang,” “zhai, zhi,” “ding, jing, gen,” and “che, chou.” Overall, the passage records and compares pronunciation categories; it does not describe cultivation, ritual, or doctrine.

This passage cannot currently be rendered reliably in plain language. It does not appear to be continuous classical prose; it looks more like a table related to phonological categories, tones, or pronunciation marks. Terms such as “er yin,” “wu yin,” and “qi sheng” may be category labels, while the characters that follow may serve as pronunciation guides or examples. The circles, slashes, and repeated “Yao” and “Min” in parentheses also look like layout marks or recognition errors.

For example, “bi yin, zhuo he, lü si zhi san” might tentatively be read as “closed sound, voiced harmony, third of the fourth lü,” but without context and the original layout, the terms’ meanings cannot be determined, nor can the passage as a whole be reconstructed. A faithful interpretation would require a clear image of the original page or a critically edited text.

This passage from Huangji Jingshi presents phonological material used to mark sound categories and give corresponding character examples. It mainly concerns classifications such as sounds, syllables, and entering-tone syllables; it is not continuous narrative prose. The character forms and symbols such as circles and numbers in parentheses appear to be classification marks in the original. Their specific meanings cannot be established from this text alone, so the following is a close reading of what can be recognized, without forcing additional interpretations.

The passage begins by listing several groups of sound-category labels, including “two sounds,” “three syllables,” “three sounds,” and “eleven syllables,” alongside examples such as “Ding, Jing, Geng”; “Er”; “Xiong, Yong, Ying”; “Qian, Dian, Dan”; “Yuan, Quan, Ban”; “Chen, Yin, Gen”; and “Jun, Yun, Xun.” It then gives further examples—“Dao, Zao, Xiao, Yue”; “Mao, Bao, Bao, Huo”; and “Niu, Dou, Zou, Liu”—with different syllable and sound categories marked beside them.

“One note reads: ‘Entering-tone syllables: harmonious chanting, Lü four of three.’” It mentions entering-tone syllables, one of the traditional categories in Chinese phonology, as well as “harmonious chanting, Lü four of three,” but the available text does not make the phrase’s precise meaning clear.

The latter part continues listing examples and category marks, including “Qi, Zi, Si, Ri”; “Gu, Jia, Jiu, Gui”; “Shuai, Shuai, Gu”; “Kun, Qiao, Qiu, Qi”; “Gui, Shui, Gui, Bei”; “Qian, Qiu”; “Gong, Kong, Zhong”; “Hei, Hua, Xiang, Xue”; “Long, Yong, Yong”; “Huang, Hua, Xiong, Xian”; “Yu, Shu, Qu”; “Wu, Wa, Yang”; “Wu, Hu, Tu”; “Wu, Ya, Yue, Yao”; and “An, Ya, Yi, Yi.” The final examples include “Yao, Wang, Yin,” among others.

Overall, the passage arranges examples according to a phonological system and uses numbers and symbols to indicate categories. Since some of the marks in the text may have been corrupted or lost, the pronunciation rules for these categories cannot be reliably reconstructed from it.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi arranges sound categories alongside corresponding written examples. Here, “sheng” refers to tone categories, while “yin” refers to sound classes. The characters in parentheses mark or illustrate syllable material, and the “○” after a slash indicates an empty slot or unfilled entry. The source does not specify how these symbols are read, so this passage alone cannot establish the sound value represented by each position.

The first half lists “seven tones,” “eight tones,” “nine tones,” and “ten tones” in sequence, pairing them with “three tones,” “three sound classes,” and various examples, such as “nan, kan, qian”; “mu, ma, mei, mi”; “fu, fa, fei”; “fu, fan, fei”; “wu, wan, wei”; “wen, wan, wei”; “bu, bai, bing, bi”; “bu, bai, bei, bi”; “pu, pu, pin, pi”; “pang, pai, ping, ping”; “dong, dan, di”; “dui, da, di”; “tu, tan, tian”; and “tong, tan, tian.” Repeated forms such as “min min min min” function, given the layout of this passage, as table markers or placeholder entries; they should not be read directly as sentences.

“Closed Sounds, Voiced Harmony, and Rhythmic Pattern, Part Four of Four” is the heading for this section. It indicates that the entries belong to the category of “closed sounds, voiced harmony, and rhythmic pattern,” and are marked as the fourth item in the fourth part. Below the heading, the text continues to arrange sound classes and examples, including “duo, ke, ge, she”; “nai, ni, nü”; “he, huo, hua, ba”; “nei, nan, nian”; “kai, zai, ai”; “lao, leng, lü”; “hui, mei, tui”; “lu, luo, li”; “liang, liang, xiang”; “zou, zai, zu”; “guang, guang, kuang”; “zizai, jiang”; “ding, jing, geng”; and “cao, cai, qi.” These are examples organized by sound category, not connected phrases.

This passage is therefore primarily a reference table comparing sound classes, intended for distinguishing among them. “Sheng,” “yin,” “closed sounds,” and “voiced harmony and rhythmic pattern” are terms used in phonological classification. Because the markings and empty slots in the available text are not explained, the complete system of pronunciation or the rules for interpreting each position cannot be reconstructed from this passage alone.

This passage is not continuous scripture; it looks like a page of phonological tables from Huangji Jingshi. The repeated “wei,” groups of circles and “yu,” and strings separated by slashes may be layout symbols or missing characters that were recognized as text. The table’s row and column relationships have also been lost, so the passage cannot be translated reliably as a whole.

The legible terms “four sounds,” “nine sounds,” “three tones,” and “four tones” appear to label sound classes or tone categories. The final phrase, “entering tone, xichang, lü four of four,” mentions the entering tone, a traditional category in Chinese phonology. The precise meaning of “xichang lü four of four” still needs to be confirmed against the original layout and context. To interpret the passage accurately, the corresponding page or a clear image of it is needed.

This passage does not read like a continuous scripture. It looks more like a table recording pronunciations. The table repeatedly lists “yin,” “sheng,” and several Chinese characters, perhaps to classify or compare pronunciations. Terms such as “si yin,” “ba sheng,” “jiu sheng,” and “shi sheng” appear to be category labels in the table.

“Bi yin zhuo he lü si zhi wu” looks like a heading or note for this section. It may mean something like “the fifth item under the fourth category of closed sounds, voiced sounds, and harmonized tones,” but its precise meaning cannot be determined from the text available.

Several forms in the text are repeated or garbled, such as “wei wei wei wei,” “yu yu yu yu,” and “ping ping ping ping,” followed by examples of pronunciations. Since these cannot be reliably identified, they do not provide enough evidence to reconstruct the passage’s full meaning.

This passage cannot currently be rendered reliably in plain language. Much of the scripture appears as repeated characters such as “bottle” and “jade,” along with circles, suggesting corruption during optical character recognition or text encoding. The surviving fragments also lack context, so their meaning in the original cannot be determined.

The terms “five tones,” “seven tones,” “three tones,” and “four tones” are legible, as are the characters for “dragon,” “fish,” “crow,” “tiger,” and “rabbit.” But these surviving words alone do not reveal how they relate to one another or what they express here. Accurate interpretation requires a clear facsimile of the original or a text that has not been corrupted.

This passage mainly lists phonological categories such as the “Five Tones” and “Eight Sounds,” then gives groups of characters as examples to show how different tones or pronunciations correspond.

The “Five Tones” are divided into twelve tonal divisions, while the “Eight Sounds” are divided into four tones. The text then illustrates some of these sound classes and mentions “the entering tone, drawn in and chanted, in the fourth and fifth Lü categories.” In broad terms, this means that the entering tone, one of the traditional tones of Chinese, is pronounced briefly and with a clipped, constricted quality, and belongs to the fourth and fifth categories in the Lü pitch system.

The text goes on to list the first and second tones among the Five Tones, along with categories such as the ninth and tenth sounds, pairing each with example characters. It also says, “closed-mouth sounds and voiced, harmonized sounds belong to the fourth through sixth Lü categories.” In broad terms, this groups sounds made with the lips closed together with voiced, harmonized sounds, assigning them to the fourth through sixth categories in the Lü system.

The latter part continues to group characters by tone and sound class, listing examples such as “an, ya, yi, yi”; “yao, wang, yin”; “mu, ma, mei, mi”; “mu, mao, mei, min”; and “fu, fa, fei.” It then gives further examples: “fu, fan, fei”; “wu, wan, wei”; “wen, wan, wei”; “bu, bai, bing, bi”; “bu, bai, bei, bi”; “pu, pu, pin, pi”; and “pang, pai, ping, ping.”

The strings “ping ping ping ping,” “yu yu yu yu,” and “bei bei bei bei,” along with the sequences of characters set between slashes in the original, appear to be marks or corruptions introduced during copying, typesetting, or text recognition. Based on the text available, it is not possible to determine reliably which phonological terms or written forms they originally represented.

This passage is not continuous prose but appears to list sound or rhyme categories alongside corresponding characters. The surviving text contains many “○” marks and sequences such as “beibeibeibei,” which appear to be transcription or typesetting damage. The complete meaning cannot be reliably reconstructed from them.

The recognizable portions are arranged under categories such as six sounds, seven sounds, eight sounds, nine sounds, ten sounds, eleven sounds, and twelve sounds, interspersed with headings such as four tones, five tones, six tones, seven tones, eight tones, nine tones, and ten tones. The items following these headings, such as “dong,” “dan,” and “di”; “niu,” “dou,” “zou,” and “liu”; and “tu,” “tan,” and “tian,” seem to serve as examples or labels for the corresponding sounds.

The final phrase, “bi yin zhuo he lü si zhi qi, ru sheng xi chang lü si zhi liu,” also seems to be a terse record of prosodic terminology. Without context, and given the possibility of textual corruption, it is difficult to translate accurately.

For now, this material can only be treated as a fragmentary record of sound categories or prosody. It cannot be rendered as complete plain-language prose without speculation.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi arranges different speech sounds by classifying their phonetic features. “Seven sounds” and “first sound,” “second sound,” and so on refer to sound classes; “first tone” through “sixth tone” refer to tone classes. The characters following each group are examples listed under those categories.

Under the seven sounds, the first sound lists “jin” and “kui”; the first tone lists “kun,” “qiao,” “qiu,” and “qi.” “Qian” and “qiu” are listed separately.

The second group lists “hei,” “hua,” “xiang,” and “xue”; the second sound among the seven sounds lists “huang,” “hua,” “xiong,” and “xian”; the second tone lists “wu,” “wa,” and “yang.” “Wu,” “ya,” “yue,” and “yao” are listed separately.

The third group lists “an,” “ya,” “yi,” and “yi”; the third sound among the seven sounds lists “yao,” “wang,” and “yin”; the third tone lists “mu,” “ma,” “mei,” and “mi.” “Mu,” “mao,” “mei,” and “min” are listed separately.

The fourth group lists “fu,” “fa,” and “fei”; the fourth sound among the seven sounds lists “fu,” “fan,” and “fei”; the fourth tone lists “wu,” “wan,” and “wei.” “Wen,” “wan,” and “wei” are listed separately.

The fifth group lists “bu,” “bai,” “bing,” and “bi”; the fifth sound among the seven sounds lists “bu,” “bai,” “bei,” and “bi”; the fifth tone lists “pu,” “pu,” “pin,” and “pi.” “Pang,” “pai,” “ping,” and “ping” are listed separately.

The sixth group lists “dong,” “dan,” and “di”; the sixth sound among the seven sounds lists “dui,” “da,” and “di”; the sixth tone lists “tu,” “tan,” and “tian.”

The slashes, circles, and some character forms in the passage appear to be layout elements or notation from the original text. Their individual meanings cannot be determined from this excerpt alone, so the description here follows only the arrangement of the legible text.

This passage from the Huangji Jingshi appears to be a fragment of a table arranged by phonological categories. It lists items such as “seven sounds,” “eight sounds,” “seven tones,” “six tones,” and “entering tone,” interspersed with groups of characters and circle placeholders. It contains no connected sentences, so it cannot be used to reconstruct a complete passage in modern prose.

The identifiable headings include “Closed sounds, voiced harmony, pitch standard four, part eight” and “Entering tone, convergent singing, Lü four, part seven.” They appear to mark phonological categories related to closed sounds, voiced sounds, harmonic pitch standards, entering tone, and convergent singing. Terms such as “seven sounds,” “eight sounds,” and “six tones” may refer to classes of sounds or tones; however, this fragment alone does not make clear which pronunciations or categories the groups of characters and circles represent.

This passage is not continuous prose, but appears to be a phonological classification table from the Huangji Jingshi. It uses “sheng,” “yin,” and numbers to mark categories, then lists examples of characters for each. Its general meaning is as follows:

The category “three sheng, seven sheng” lists examples such as chen, yin, and gen; it also lists kun, qiao, qiu, and qi.

The category “eight yin, two yin” lists examples such as mao, bao, bao, and huo, as well as huang, hua, xiong, and xian.

The category “four sheng, seven sheng” lists examples such as niu, dou, zou, and liu, as well as wu, wa, and yang.

The category “eight yin, three yin” lists examples such as shuai, shuai, and gu, as well as yao, wang, and yin.

The category “five sheng, seven sheng” lists examples such as mu, ma, mei, and mi. The remaining categories likewise list examples, including gui, shui, gui, and bei; mu, mao, mei, and min; long, yong, and yong; yu, shu, and qu; nan, kan, and qian; dong, dan, and di; and lao, leng, and lü.

Here, “sheng,” “yin,” and the numbers are technical terms in this classification system; they should not be understood as ordinary references to “sounds.” The surviving text also contains circles, slashes, and the repeatedly appearing word qie. Some of the examples seem incomplete or corrupted, so it is not possible to reliably reconstruct the full contents of each category from this passage.

The passage appears to have suffered severe recognition or typesetting damage. Many characters have been replaced by “qie qie qie qie” or “○,” and some content is divided by slashes, so it cannot be reliably identified. As a result, the whole passage cannot be translated coherently from this version.

The parts that can be identified include “eight sounds,” “ten tones,” “seven tones,” “nine sounds,” “one tone” through “five tones,” and phrases such as “closed sound, voiced and harmonious, lü number four, ninth” and “entering tone, inhaling and chanting, lü number four, eighth.” These appear to concern phonology, tones, and the classification of musical pitches. “Entering tone” is a traditional category in Chinese phonology, while “lü-lü” refers to the ancient system of pitch standards.

The rest is too fragmentary to determine how the groups of words relate to one another. Accurate interpretation would require an image of the original text before recognition processing, or a checked version of the text.

This passage is not continuous classical prose. It is a collection of pronunciations arranged under categories labeled “sheng” and “yin.” The numbers at the start of each group mark a sound category, followed by the corresponding characters. The symbol “○” indicates that no character is listed at that point, or that a space has been left blank; symbols such as “/” are also preserved as they appear.

For example, the group labeled “six sheng” lists yu, shu, and qu; the group labeled “eight sheng” lists wu, wa, and yang. These are followed in turn by wu, hu, and tu; then wu, ya, yue, and yao; and other entries. The later portion follows a similar pattern: under “seven sheng” it lists nan, kan, and qian; under “eight sheng” it lists mu, ma, mei, and mi. It also lists fu, fa, and fei; then fu, fan, and fei, among other entries.

The phrase “bi yin zhuo he lü si zhi shi” is the only part of this passage that resembles explanatory text. It may be understood as “the tenth item in the fourth group of closed sounds, voiced sounds, harmonious sounds, and regulated sounds.” The rest remains a sequence of sound categories, sound types, and example pronunciations, such as duo, ke, ge, she; nai, ni, nü; lao, leng, lü; and jun, yun, xun.

Because the source includes blank-space symbols, numerical labels, and what appear to be incomplete pronunciation tables, the available text does not make it possible to determine the full phonological rules represented by each mark or to reconstruct the passage as more continuous prose.

This passage arranges sound classes and tone classes alongside examples of the characters assigned to them. The numbers indicate the order of the sound or tone classes; “○” marks an empty or unnoted position. Some forms and symbols in the source are difficult to identify, so the examples are retained as they appear in the available text, without attempting to supply interpretations.

For the fifth tone, the example is “De”; for the eighth tone, the examples are “Yi” and “Chi.”

“Gui, Shui, Gui, Bei” form one group, and “Chong, Chen” another; “Gong, Kong, Zhong” form one group, and “Zhuo, Zhong” another.

For the tenth sound, the examples are “Long, Yong, Yong”; for the twelfth sound, they are “Zhai, Zhi.”

For the sixth tone, the examples are “Yu, Shu, Qu”; for the eighth tone, they are “Che, Chou.”

“Wu, Hu, Tu” form one group, and “Cha, Cheng” another.

The entering tone is characterized by “xichang” and is listed in the section “Lü four, ninth.” “Entering tone” is a category in the traditional classification of tones; “xichang” is a prosodic term used in the source.

“Xin, Shen, Jin” form one group, and “Gu, Jia, Jiu, Gui” another.

For the tenth sound, the example is “Shi”; for the first sound, the examples are “Jin, Kui.”

For the seventh tone, the examples are “Nan, Kan, Qian”; for the ninth tone, they are “Kun, Qiao, Qiu, Qi.”

“Qie” is listed separately, while “Qian, Qiu” form one group; “Hei, Hua, Xiang, Xue” form one group.

For the tenth and second sounds, the examples are “Huang, Hua, Xiong, Xian.”

For the eighth and ninth tones, the examples are “Wu, Wa, Yang.” “Wu, Ya, Yue, Yao” form one group, and “An, Ya, Yi, Yi” another.

For the tenth and third sounds, the examples are “Yao, Wang, Yin.”

For the ninth and ninth tones, the examples are “Mu, Ma, Mei, Mi.” “Mu, Mao, Mei, Min” form one group, and “Fu, Fa, Fei” another.

For the tenth and fourth sounds, the examples are “Fu, Fan, Fei.”

For the tenth and ninth tones, the examples are “Wu, Wan, Wei”; “Wen, Wan, Wei” form one group.

The next section is “Closed sounds, voiced harmony, Lü four, eleventh.” It lists closed sounds, voiced sounds, and other prosodic categories alongside examples.

“Duo, Ke, Ge, She” form one group, and “Bu, Bai, Bing, Bi” another.

For the eleventh sound, the examples are “He, Huo, Hua, Ba”; for the fifth sound, they are “Bu, Bai, Bei, Bi.”

For the first tone, the examples are “Kai, Zai, Ai”; for the ninth tone, they are “Pu, Piao, Pin, Pi.”

“Liang, Liang, Xiang” form one group, and “Pang, Pai, Ping, Ping” another. “Liang, Liang, Xiang” are listed again, paired with “Dong, Dan, Di.”

For the eleventh sound, the examples are “Guang, Guang, Kuang”; for the sixth sound, they are “Dui, Da, Di.”

For the second tone, the examples are “Ding, Jing, Gen”; for the ninth tone, they are “Tu, Tan, Tian.”

“Xiong, Yong, Ying” form one group, paired with “Tong, Tan, Tian.” “Xiong, Yong, Ying” are listed again, paired with “Nai, Nai, Nu.”

For the eleventh sound, the examples are “Yuan, Quan, Ban”; for the seventh sound, they are “Nei, Nan, Nian.”

For the third tone, the examples are “Chen, Yin, Gen”; for the ninth tone, they are “Lao, Leng, Lü.”

“Dao, Zao, Xiao, Yue” form one group, and “Lu, Luo, Li” another.

This is not a continuous narrative but a phonological table from the Huangji Jingshi (Supreme Principles Governing the World) by Shao Yong, listing character examples under different "yin" (sounds) and "sheng" (tones). The slashes, circles, and some glyph forms in the original may be chart symbols or damaged characters, so they cannot be reliably reconstructed.

The table lists, in order, the categories of eleven yin, four sheng, and nine sheng, each with corresponding character examples. It then turns to "rusheng" (entering tone) and marks "xi chang lü, si zhi shi" (roughly "harmonized chant, pitch-pipe, four-part, tenth"). It continues with examples and sound classes for "Gujia" and "Jiugui." The latter half shifts to "bi yin" (closed sounds) and "zhuo he" (turbid harmony), with "lü, si zhi shi'er" (the twelfth in the four-part sequence), and then arranges examples under categories such as twelve yin, first sheng, and second sheng.

The terms yin, sheng, rusheng, bi yin, and zhuo he are phonological classification terms. The passage mainly serves to distinguish sounds, classify them, or compare them. From this text alone, the specific rules that connect the categories cannot be recovered.

Among all things, nothing is vaster than Heaven and Earth, yet even Heaven and Earth have an end. Heaven's...

The greatest principles of Yin-Yang (yin-yang) between Heaven and Earth are all contained within the four seasons, and the greatest principles of firmness and softness across the great earth are all contained within the four dimensions (siwei). When the transformations of Yin and Yang fully unfold, the four seasons take form; when the transformations of firmness and softness fully unfold, the four dimensions take form. The four seasons and the four dimensions are the most vast things between Heaven and Earth. Whatever is called "greatest" has nothing that can surpass it, and yet they never regard themselves as great, which is why they can achieve their greatness. Is this not the most magnificent?

Heaven arises from movement, and Earth arises from stillness. When one movement and one stillness intermingle, the principles of Heaven and Earth are fully revealed. At the beginning of movement, Yang qi (qi) arises; when movement reaches its extreme, Yin qi arises. When Yin and Yang intermingle, the workings of Heaven are fully revealed. At the beginning of stillness, softness arises; when stillness reaches its extreme, firmness arises. When firmness and softness intermingle, the workings of Earth are fully revealed.

Where the force of movement is great, it is called Greater Yang (taiyang); where it is small, it is called Lesser Yang (shaoyang). Where the force of stillness is great, it is called Greater Yin (taiyin); where it is small, it is called Lesser Yin (shaoyin). Greater Yang corresponds to the sun, Greater Yin to the moon, Lesser Yang to the stars, and Lesser Yin to the celestial stations (chen), that is, the stars. When the sun, moon, stars, and celestial stations intermingle, the physical form of Heaven is fully revealed.

Within stillness, the most yielding portion is called Greater Softness (tairou), and the portion of lesser stillness is called Lesser Softness (shaorou). Lesser Softness corresponds to Earth, and Lesser Firmness corresponds to stone. When water, fire, earth, and stone intermingle, the physical form of Earth is fully revealed.

The sun brings heat and the moon brings cold; the stars correspond to daytime, and the celestial stations correspond to night. When heat, cold, day, and night intermingle, the transformations of Heaven are fully revealed. Water forms rain, fire forms wind, earth forms dew, and stone forms thunder. When rain, wind, dew, and thunder intermingle, the nurturing and transforming function of Earth is fully revealed.

Heat alters the nature of all things, cold alters their emotions, daylight alters their form, and night alters their bodily substance. When nature, emotion, form, and substance intermingle, the responses of animals and plants are fully revealed. Rain transforms things into beasts, wind transforms them into birds, dew transforms them into grasses, and thunder transforms them into trees. When beasts, birds, grasses, and trees intermingle, the responses of living things to external change are fully revealed.

When beasts change in response to heat, this is a change in the nature of beasts; when they change in response to cold, this is a change in their emotions; when they change in response to daylight, this is a change in their form; when they change in response to night, this is a change in their body. Birds, when they change in response to heat, cold, daylight, and night, likewise undergo changes in their nature, emotions, form, and body. When grasses change in response to heat, this is a change in the nature of grasses; when they respond to cold...

Qing, like the sprouting of grass and trees, changes in response to the daytime; xing (nature), too, like the sprouting of grass and trees, changes in response to the nighttime; and ti (body), likewise like the sprouting of grass and trees, changes in response to both day and night.

When grass and trees respond to summer heat and change, this is the work of xing (nature); when they respond to cold and change, this is the work of qing (emotion); when they change in response to daylight, this is the work of xing (form); and when they change in response to darkness, this is the work of ti (body).

The xing of animals changes in response to rain, the xing of birds in response to wind, the xing of grasses in response to dew, and the xing of trees in response to thunder. The qing, xing, and ti of animals, birds, grasses, and trees likewise each change in response to rain, wind, dew, and thunder.

The xing of animals excels at manifesting color, the qing of animals excels at producing sound, the form of animals excels at giving off breath, and the body of animals excels at manifesting flavor. The xing, qing, form, and body of birds, grasses, and trees each likewise have their own expressions of color, sound, breath, and flavor.

The xing of animals is attuned to the ear, the xing of birds to the eye, the xing of grasses to the mouth, and the xing of trees to the nose. Their qing, form, and body likewise each correspond: animals respond through the ear, birds through the eye, grasses through the mouth, and trees through the nose.

Humans can sense the heat, cold, and the alternation of day and night, and can also respond to rain, wind, dew, and thunder. Xing, qing, form, and body all have some form of response, and animals, birds, and plants all have some form of reply. Thus, the human eye can discern the colors of all things, the ear can distinguish the sounds of all things, the nose can smell the breath of all things, and the mouth can taste the flavors of all things. That humans are more sensitive than all other beings is surely only natural, is it not?

Note: "Xing, qing, form, and body" are terms used in this passage to distinguish different levels of things; "zou, fei, cao, mu" refer respectively to ground-running beasts, flying birds, grasses, and trees.

What makes humans more spiritually aware than other things is that the eyes can take in the colors of all things, the ears can take in their sounds, the nose can take in their breath, and the mouth can take in their flavors. Sound, color, breath, and flavor are the forms in which things manifest, while the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth are the functions by which humans perceive them. Forms have no fixed function and act only as they change; functions have no fixed form and appear only as they transform. Form and function interpenetrate, and only then is the principle connecting humans and all things complete.

Given this, humans are also among the myriad things, and the sage (shengren) is also a human being. Among things there are those of one rank, ten ranks, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred million, and even a trillion. Is not whatever reaches the rank of "a trillion things" a human being? Among people, too, there are those of one rank, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred million, and even a trillion. Is not whoever reaches the rank of "a trillion people" a sage?

From this we know that humans are the most outstanding among things, and sages are the most outstanding among people. Only what reaches the highest rank can be called "the thing among things"; only what reaches the highest rank can be called "the person among persons." The "thing among things" is the most outstanding thing, and the "person among persons" is the most outstanding person. If we match the most outstanding thing with the most outstanding person, who could such a person be but a sage? If someone says such a person is not a sage, I truly cannot believe it. Why? Because the sage can use one heart to perceive the hearts of the multitude, use one person's body to experience the lives of the multitude, infer all things from one thing, and infer all ages from one age.

Moreover, the sage can use his own heart to perceive the intention of Heaven, use his own words to express the intention of Heaven, use his own hands to carry out the works of Heaven, and use his own body to bear the affairs of Heaven. He can follow the seasons above, accord with the patterns of the earth below, examine the conditions of all things in between, and comprehend and manage the affairs of the human world. He can further hold together Heaven and earth, enter and exit the transformations of creation (the processes by which the myriad things come into being and change), penetrate past and present, and see through the surface and substance of worldly affairs.

Alas, sages do not appear in every generation for us to see with our own eyes. Yet even if I cannot see a sage in person, I can examine his intentions, observe his conduct, investigate his essence, and grasp the workings hidden within him. Even if separated by hundreds of millions of years, I can still infer him by following the logic of things. Someone told me: "Beyond Heaven and earth there is yet another Heaven and earth, where the myriad things are the same as these..."

Chapter Fifty-Three: Observing Things

I cannot know the principles of the myriad things, and it is not only I who cannot know them; even the sages cannot. To "know" means that the mind has truly apprehended something. To "speak" means that the mouth is truly able to express it. If the mind cannot yet apprehend a thing, how could the mouth speak of it? To claim knowledge of what one fundamentally cannot know is called false knowing, and to put into words what one fundamentally cannot articulate is called false speech. How could I follow such deluded people and engage in conduct born of false knowing and false speech?

The Book of Changes (Yi) says: "Exhaust the principles of things, fully know the nature of humanity, and thereby attain to an understanding of the decree of Heaven." By "li" (principle) is meant the inherent pattern of things themselves. By "xing" (nature) is meant the nature bestowed by Heaven. By "ming" (decree) is meant the standard that settles and governs li and xing. What could settle li and xing other than the Dao (the Way)?

From this we can see that the Dao is the root of Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth are the root of the myriad things. Viewed from the standpoint of Heaven and Earth, each of the myriad things becomes a thing among others. Viewed from the standpoint of the Dao, Heaven and Earth are themselves only a part of the myriad things. The course of the Dao is fully embodied in Heaven; the course of Heaven is fully embodied in Earth; the regularities of Heaven and Earth are fully embodied in the myriad things; and the regularities of the myriad things are in turn fully embodied in the human person.

If a person understands how the regularities of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things converge and become manifest in humanity, he can go on to fulfill the responsibility of governing the common people. When Heaven enables all things to attain their proper places, it is called the "Vast Heaven" (Haotian). When a person enables the people to attain their proper places, he is called a "sage" (shengren). If one holds that the Vast Heaven is distinct from the myriad things, this does not accord with the original meaning of the name "Vast Heaven." If one holds that the sage is distinct from the common people, this too does not accord with the original meaning of the name "sage."

The common people share one Dao with the myriad things, and the sage naturally does not differ from the Vast Heaven. Therefore the sage and the Vast Heaven are one in the Dao, and the common people and the myriad things may likewise be said to share one Dao. Since the people and things of a single generation share one Dao, it is quite clear that the people and things of generation after generation share one Dao as well.

The Vast Heaven causes the myriad things to attain their proper places, and the sage causes the common people to attain their proper places, and each of these has four components. The four components of the Vast Heaven are the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The rise of yin and yang…

Everything is born within these four seasons. The "Four Repositories" that the Sage speaks of refer to the four classics: the Book of Changes, the Book of Documents, the Book of Odes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. The rise and decline of ritual and music are also manifest within them.

Spring is the repository where all things are generated, summer the repository where they grow, autumn the repository where they gather in, and winter the repository where they are stored away. The kinds of things are many, and so they are called "the myriad things." Yet even if one says there are ten thousand times ten thousand, can these kinds exceed the scope of Heaven's four seasons?

The Book of Changes, the Book of Documents, the Book of Odes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals are the repositories in which the people generate, grow, gather in, and store away. The kinds of people are many, and so they are called "the myriad people." Yet even if one says there are ten thousand times ten thousand, can these kinds exceed the scope covered by the Sage's four classics?

Heaven's four repositories are the four seasons, and the Sage's four repositories are the classics. Heaven bestows upon people the laws by which they operate through the four seasons, while the Sage uses the classics to take Heaven as a model. What, then, is the relationship between human affairs and Heaven?

Chapter 54: Observing Things

Observe spring, and you will understand the principles embodied in the Book of Changes (Yi). Observe summer, and you will understand the principles embodied in the Book of Documents (Shu). Observe autumn, and you will understand the principles embodied in the Book of Odes (Shi). Observe winter, and you will understand the principles embodied in the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu).

In the Book of Changes, spring is the ceaseless engendering of life; summer is generation followed by growth; autumn is generation followed by gathering in; winter is generation followed by storing away.

In the Book of Documents, spring is generation within growth; summer is unceasing growth; autumn is gathering in after growth; winter is storing away after growth.

In the Book of Odes, spring is generation within gathering in; summer is growth within gathering in; autumn is unceasing gathering in; winter is storing away after gathering in.

In the Spring and Autumn Annals, spring is generation within storing away; summer is growth within storing away; autumn is gathering in within storing away; winter is unceasing storing away.

Generation within generation is the cultivation of intention; generation followed by growth is the cultivation of speech; generation followed by gathering in is the cultivation of images and phenomena; generation followed by storing away is the cultivation of number and principle.

Generation within growth is the cultivation of benevolence (ren); unceasing growth is the cultivation of ritual (li); growth followed by gathering in is the cultivation of righteousness (yi); growth followed by storing away is the cultivation of wisdom (zhi).

Generation within gathering in is the cultivation of original nature; growth within gathering in is the cultivation of feeling and emotion; unceasing gathering in...

The one who cultivates the form stores "gathering" (shou). The one who cultivates the body stores "life" (sheng). The one who cultivates sagely virtue stores "growth" (zhang). The one who cultivates worthy virtue stores "gathering" (shou). The one who cultivates talent stores "storing" (cang). The one who cultivates the arts of governance cultivates the intentions of the mind. These are the characteristics of the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang).

Cultivating speech is the characteristic of the Five Emperors (Wudi). Cultivating appearance is the characteristic of the Three Kings (Sanwang). Cultivating strategy is the characteristic of the Five Hegemons (Wubo). Cultivating benevolence is the characteristic of Youyu, the clan of Shun. Cultivating ritual and law is the characteristic of Xia Yu. Cultivating righteousness is the characteristic of Shang Tang. Cultivating wisdom is the characteristic of King Wu of Zhou, Ji Fa. Cultivating one's nature is the characteristic of King Wen of Zhou. Cultivating one's emotions is the characteristic of King Wu. Cultivating the form is the characteristic of the Duke of Zhou. Cultivating the body is the characteristic of the Duke of Shao. Cultivating sagely virtue is the characteristic of Duke Mu of Qin. Cultivating worthy virtue is the characteristic of Duke Wen of Jin. Cultivating talent is the characteristic of Duke Huan of Qi. Cultivating the arts of governance is the characteristic of King Zhuang of Chu.

Huang, Di, Wang, and Ba are the substance (ti) of the Book of Changes (Yi). Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou are the substance of the Book of Documents (Shu). King Wen, King Wu, the Duke of Zhou, and the Duke of Shao are the substance of the Book of Odes (Shi). Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu are the substance of the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu). Here "substance" refers to the root and the thing that is manifested. Intention, word, image, and number are the function (yong) of the Changes. Benevolence, righteousness, ritual, and wisdom are the function of the Documents. Nature, emotion, form, and body are the function of the Odes. Sagehood, worthiness, talent, and the arts of governance are the function of the Spring and Autumn Annals. Here "function" refers to operation and application. Function belongs to the inner mind, while substance appears as outward traces. Between the inner mind and outward traces there is flexible adaptation to circumstances, and this is what the sage manages.

The Three Sovereigns shared the same purport but differed in their methods of teaching. The Five Emperors shared the same verbal teachings but differed in their methods of instruction. The Three Kings shared the same models but differed in the way they encouraged people. The Five Hegemons shared the same strategies but differed in their methods of leadership. A shared purport with different methods of teaching arose because all of them acted according to the Dao (the Way). Teaching the people by the Dao, the people also turn toward the Dao, and so they honor naturalness (ziran). By "naturalness" is meant wuwei (non-action), that is, not clinging to what one has. Wuwei does not mean doing nothing. It means not forcing one's intentions. Not clinging to what one has does not mean having nothing. It means not stubbornly holding on to possessions. Only in this way can one be broad and vast. Being broad and vast, lacking nothing, while neither forcing nor clinging, is perhaps something only the Three Sovereigns achieved.

Therefore, one who knows how to teach the world by the Dao will find that the world turns toward the Dao as well. For this reason the sage says: "I practice non-action, and the people transform themselves. I do not disturb them, and the people become prosperous on their own. I love stillness, and the people become naturally..." The original text breaks off here.

Isn't this more or less what is meant by rectifying oneself and being free of selfish desire, so that the common people naturally return to simplicity and sincerity?

The Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang), legendary rulers of remote antiquity, all took benevolence as their foundation, yet their ways of instructing the people differed. The Five Emperors (Wudi) all valued ritual (li), yet their methods of teaching differed. The Three Kings (Sanwang) all upheld righteousness (yi), yet their ways of exhorting the people differed. The Five Hegemons (Wubo), lords of the Spring and Autumn period who gained dominance through force and strategy, all valued wisdom (zhi), yet their methods of command differed.

The Five Emperors all transformed the people through ritual, but their methods differed, and to achieve this they had to rely on De (Virtue/Power). When one transforms the people through virtue, the people in turn submit to them through virtue, and so they esteem yielding. Yielding means placing others before oneself and putting oneself behind. To hand over the realm to another and feel that nothing has been lost, as though it never belonged to oneself, and to receive the realm from another and feel nothing has been gained, as though it had always been one's own: this is yielding.

To regard the realm as at once never possessed and always possessed means not clinging to the notion of "I have not" or "I have." If one always feels that the realm is something one lacks, or something one already holds, then even if one were asked to give away a single hair, greed and stinginess would arise in the heart, let alone the entire realm. Only the Five Emperors, it seems, could understand that the realm belongs to all under heaven and not to oneself. Therefore, one who knows how to transform the realm through virtue will find that the people under heaven submit to him through virtue. This is the principle the sages referred to in the saying "Hang down the robes and the realm is governed" (the sage king rules with ease, and the realm is ordered). The phrase draws on the Qian and Kun hexagrams of the Book of Changes (Yijing), which stand for Heaven and Earth, and perhaps this is what it means.

The Three Sovereigns all shared a similar nature but differed in their methods of transformation. The Five Emperors shared a common sentiment but employed different methods of instruction. The Three Kings shared the same bodily form and character yet exhorted the people in different ways. The Five Hegemons had similar institutions yet differed in their methods of command.

The Three Kings all upheld righteousness, yet they exhorted the people in different ways, and to achieve this they had to rely on merit (gong). When one exhorts the people through merit, the people in turn submit through merit, and so they esteem governance (zheng). Governance means rectification: using the right way to correct improper conduct. The most proper affair under heaven is nothing other than benefiting the people; the most improper affair under heaven is nothing other than harming them. To benefit the people is the right way, and so it is called "kingly" (wang). To harm the people is the wrong way, and so it is called "brigandage" (zei). If one eliminates calamity by the way that benefits the people, how could the kingly way be lost? If one removes brigandage by the kingly way, how could regicide ever occur?

Therefore, one who understands that the kingly way is the right way, and who can use merit to correct what is wrong under heaven, will find that the people under heaven submit to him through merit. This is the principle the sages referred to in the saying "Heaven and earth transform, and the four seasons are thereby formed; Tang of Shang and King Wu of Zhou launched their revolutions, accorded with Heaven's will and responded to the hearts of the people." Perhaps this is what it means.

The Three Sovereigns all possessed sagely virtue, yet their methods of transformation differed. The Five Emperors were all worthy, yet employed different methods of instruction. The Three Kings each had their own talents, yet exhorted the people in different ways. The Five Hegemons were all skilled in strategy, yet their methods of command differed.

The Five Hegemons were all skilled in strategy, yet their methods of command differed, and to achieve this they had to rely on force (li). When one commands the people through force, the people in turn submit through force, and so they esteem contention for victory...

Contention means striving for advantage. To take things through profit rather than righteousness is what is called contention. Small contests are fought with words, and great ones with armed force. What is contended for is dominance, and dominance itself rests only on claims to status. A "name" (ming) is the designation given to things so that each matter is rightly ordered, while "profit" (li) is the means by which the people are nourished and undertakings are accomplished. If a claim to status is not rooted in benevolent De (Virtue/Power), it cannot preserve an undertaking. If profit is not guided by righteousness, it cannot secure lasting achievement. To hold a reputation with profit alone and no achievement is to invite disorder, because without undertakings to sustain it, the reputation collapses and order falls into chaos. For this reason, the common people will inevitably contend with one another.

The Five Hegemons (the five lords of the Spring and Autumn period who rose to dominance as feudal lords) used empty reputations to win real advantage. When a ruler's De fell short, he retreated to kingship. When kingly rule fell short, he retreated to hegemony. When hegemonic rule fell short as well, he sank to the level of the barbarians. Viewed in this light, the Five Hegemons cannot be said to have contributed nothing to the Central States. Measured by the standard of kingly rule, however, they fall short, and compared with the barbarians, the difference is vast. After the Zhou moved east, the achievements and virtuous governance founded by King Wen and King Wu were exhausted. Even so, the Zhou royal house was sustained for twenty-four generations, never reduced to a single thread, and the barbarians did not dare to massacre the people of the Central States on a large scale. All of this was due to the Five Hegemons' reliance on the authority of the Zhou royal house's status. From this we can see that whoever can lead the world by force will find the world submitting to them by force. The sage said: "Though the eye is small, it can still see; though the leg is lame, it can still walk. Step on a tiger's tail and the tiger bites: danger. A martial man would make himself the great lord." This, perhaps, is precisely such a case.

What is called "intention" (yi) is grasping the nature of things. "Words" (yan) express the condition of things, and "image" (xiang) presents their form. "Number" (shu) grasps their substance. Ren (benevolence) enables people to attain enlightenment, li (ritual propriety) equips them with virtue, yi (righteousness) allows their talents to be fully developed, and zhi (wisdom) allows their plans to be fully employed.

To grasp the nature of things is called Dao (the Way). To express their condition is called De, to present their form is called gong (merit), and to grasp their substance is called li (force). To bring people to enlightenment is called hua (transformation), to equip them with virtue is called jiao (teaching), to develop their talents is called quan (encouragement), and to employ their plans is called shuai (guidance). Dao, De, gong, and li belong to the root of things, while hua, jiao, quan, and shuai belong to their application. When change can occur between root and application and thereby allow things to continue, this is the enterprise of the sage.

What is called "change" (bian) is Heaven generating the myriad things. What is called "expedience" (quan) is the sage generating the myriad people. If one cannot generate the myriad things and nourish the myriad people, can it still be called expedient change?

He who is skilled at transforming the world need only fully embody the Dao (Dao). He who is skilled at teaching the world need only fully embody De (De, Virtue). He who is skilled at encouraging the world need only fully establish merit. He who is skilled at leading the world need only fully exercise power.

Those who transform the world through Dao, De, merit, and power are called Huang (sovereigns). Those who teach the world through Dao, De, merit, and power are called Di (emperors). Those who encourage the world through Dao, De, merit, and power are called Wang (kings). Those who lead the world through Dao, De, merit, and power are called Ba (hegemons). Those who reduce transformation, teaching, encouragement, and leadership to Dao are the Book of Changes (Yi). Those who reduce them to De are the Book of Documents (Shu). Those who reduce them to merit are the Book of Odes (Shi). Those who reduce them to power are the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu). These four classics, the Yi, Shu, Shi, and Chunqiu, refer to the canonical texts of the Confucian tradition. When heaven and earth began, these principles began with them, and when heaven and earth end, these principles end with them. Their beginnings and endings both change along with the changes of heaven and earth.

Antiquity and the present exist between heaven and earth as morning and evening do. Standing in the present and looking at the present, we call it "now" (jin). Looking back from the future at the present, the present will itself become "antiquity" (gu). Standing in the present and looking at the past, we call the past "antiquity." But people of antiquity, looking at their own age, also called it "now." From this we know that antiquity is not always antiquity, and the present is not always the present; both are judged from the standpoint of the age in which one stands. Who knows whether people a thousand years before or ten thousand years after us do not also observe us from their own positions?

If this is so, then "Huang, Di, Wang, Ba" describe the eras in which the sages lived, and the Yi, Shu, Shi, and Chunqiu describe the scriptures the sages left behind. The rise and decline of eras may be summarized by "pi" (stagnation) and "tai" (flourishing), and the inheritance and transformation of scriptures may be summarized by "sun" (decrease) and "yi" (increase). When the changes of stagnation and flourishing reach their limit, substance (ti) and function (yong) separate. When the changes of decrease and increase reach their limit, the inner mind and the outer traces of conduct come apart. Once substance and function, and inner mind and outer trace, are clearly distinguished, the sage's enterprise is complete.

Since antiquity, the rulers who governed the world have held one of four kinds of mandate: the first is the proper mandate (zheng ming), the second is the received mandate (shou ming), the third is the altered mandate (gai ming), and the fourth is the assumed mandate (she ming). The proper mandate continues old institutions and keeps on continuing them. The received mandate continues old institutions but makes changes. The altered mandate changes old institutions and then continues some of them. The assumed mandate changes old institutions and then changes them again. Continuing after continuing moves from prosperity to greater prosperity. Changing after continuing moves from prosperity to decline. Continuing after changing moves from decline back to prosperity. Changing again after changing... (The original text ends here.)

Earlier it was said that what is reformed again and again is the work of one generation; what is reformed while still following what came before is the work of ten generations; what follows the past but changes it in places is the work of a hundred generations; what keeps following what has already been followed is the work of a thousand generations; and only that which follows where it should follow and reforms where it should reform is the work of ten thousand generations.

If the work of one generation is the governance of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period, then the work of ten generations is the governance of the Three Kings, Xia Yu, Shang Tang, and King Wen of Zhou. The work of a hundred generations is the governance of the Five Emperors, and the work of a thousand generations is the governance of the Three Sovereigns. The work of ten thousand generations is the governance of Zhongni, Confucius. It follows that the sovereigns, emperors, kings, and hegemons were figures of their own eras, while Zhongni was a figure rarely matched across the ages.

Confucius said: "The Yin dynasty followed the ritual system of the Xia, and what was added and what was removed can be known. The Zhou dynasty followed the ritual system of the Yin, and what was added and what was removed can also be known. Whoever succeeds the Zhou, even after a hundred generations, can be foreseen." Given this, why stop at a hundred generations? Ten thousand generations can be foreseen.

Everyone knows that Confucius is Confucius, but few know why Confucius became Confucius. If one has no wish to know, that is fine. But if one does wish to know, where else could one seek it but in Heaven and Earth? Everyone knows that Heaven and Earth are Heaven and Earth, but few know why Heaven and Earth became Heaven and Earth. If one has no wish to know, that is fine. But if one does wish to know, where else could one seek it but in movement and stillness? The alternation of movement and stillness is perhaps the most subtle feature of Heaven and Earth. And the moment where movement and stillness meet is perhaps the most subtle feature of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Therefore it is said that Confucius could exhaust the Way of the three powers, Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, because his actions left no trace and simply followed what is natural.

(Guanwu pian, chapter 56) Confucius, in composing commentary on the Book of Changes, began with Fuxi and Xuanyuan. In arranging the Book of Documents, he began with Yao and Shun. In editing the Book of Odes, he began with King Wen and King Wu. In compiling the Spring and Autumn Annals, he began with Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin. Beginning with Fuxi and Xuanyuan makes the Three Sovereigns the ancestors. Beginning with Yao and Shun makes the Five Emperors the ancestral lineage. Beginning with Wen and Wu makes the Three Kings the sons. Beginning with Huan and Wen makes the Five Hegemons the grandsons. This uses the terms of ancestor, lineage, son, and grandson to order the distance and closeness of governance across the generations.

The Three Sovereigns (legendary ancient rulers) valued worthy men and selected talent by Dao (the Way). The Five Emperors (legendary ancient rulers) also valued worthy men, but selected talent by De (Virtue/Power). The Three Kings (the enlightened rulers of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties) appointed those close to them and governed the realm through merit. The Five Hegemons (the five dominant lords of the Spring and Autumn period) likewise appointed those close to them and established their supremacy through force. Alas, the ages that have passed span hundreds of millions of years, and the ages yet to come will span hundreds of millions of years as well. Why, then, were the ancestors few while the descendants were many? This is why I repeatedly praise Yao and Shun, down to Yu.

Confucius said, "As for Yu, I have nothing to find fault with." Confucius lived more than fifteen hundred years after Yu, and from Confucius to the present, another fifteen hundred-odd years have passed. Though I do not dare to claim that my virtue equals Confucius', if Mencius could praise Confucius in such terms, how could I not dare to praise Yao, Shun, and Yu as he did?

Some say it is a pity that Confucius had no territory. I do not think so. Commoners take a hundred mu of fields as their domain, great officers take a hundred li of fief, feudal lords take the land within their four borders, and the Son of Heaven takes all under heaven within the four seas. Confucius, however, took ten thousand generations as his domain. If this is so, Mencius's statement that "since there have been human beings, none has equaled Confucius" is not excessive.

A person cannot become wealthy through his own efforts alone; he must first receive the bestowal of Heaven before he can be wealthy. Nor can a person become honored through his own efforts alone; he must first receive the bestowal of Heaven before he can be honored. Viewed in this light, wealth and rank depend on Heaven, not on man. Some seek them and obtain them, while others seek them and fail. This depends on the will of Heaven.

Achievement and virtue, however, depend on man, not on Heaven. Cultivate them diligently and one will attain them; neglect to cultivate them and one will not. This is determined by man, not by Heaven. A person can seek wealth and rank because what he seeks is something he has a possibility of obtaining. If what he seeks is impossible to obtain, there is no way to get it.

Foolish people do not understand this. When they obtain what they seek, they assume it was entirely due to their own ability, and so they grow proud and self-satisfied. When they fail, they assume others have denied them the opportunity, and so they harbor resentment. If they understood why they obtain what they obtain and why others grant it to them, how could there remain anyone under heaven who fails to know his proper measure?

The richest person under heaven is the Son of Heaven, and the most honored is also the Son of Heaven. Can such wealth and honor be obtained simply by wild fancy and wishful thinking? Yet the Mandate of Heaven has never descended out of nothing; it comes from long accumulation of achievement and cultivation of virtue. Enlightened rulers succeed in their undertakings through hardship, while mediocre rulers ruin their undertakings through tyranny. Is this the will of Heaven, or the doing of man?

Thus it is clear that faults a person brings upon themselves can ultimately never be escaped, and what use would it be to seek relief from heaven-sent calamities through expiatory rites (sacrifices and other rituals meant to ward off disaster)? Accumulating merit and cultivating conduct belong to the proper duties of the gentleman, and are not done in order to obtain something. If one does good in order to gain profit, then benevolence has been turned into a means of seeking advantage. How could a gentleman concern himself with such things? Yet there truly is good fortune and misfortune in the world, and only in this sense can one speak of "fate" (ming).

Xia Yu possessed the realm because of his merit, and Xia Jie lost it because of his cruelty. Shang Tang possessed it because of his merit, and Shang Zhou lost it because of his cruelty. King Wu of Zhou possessed it because of his merit, and King You of Zhou lost it because of his cruelty. Although the circumstances of the Three Dynasties differed, the pattern of their success and failure was the same.

When King Ping of Zhou moved east, he had no achievements with which to restore the royal enterprise. King Nan of Zhou fled west without committing any act of tyranny, yet still lost the royal house. The authority and decrees of the Zhou king were not even equal to those of a small state, and the house could only be sustained by the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period (the overlords who, in turn, led the order among the feudal states). What is there to praise in this? In that age no true king arose, and though the Zhou king held only an empty title, what essential difference was there between him and the states of Qi and Song (feudal states that merely preserved the names of ancient royal lineages)? In such an age, was it not most fitting for Confucius to compile the Spring and Autumn Annals?

Confucius revised the classics (jing) in the time of King Ping of Zhou. The Book of Documents (Shangshu) records events only up to Duke Wen of Jin. The Book of Odes (Shijing) places the odes concerning the Zhou royal house under the heading "Airs of the Royal Domain" (Wang Feng). The Spring and Autumn Annals begins with Duke Yin of Lu, and the Book of Changes (Yijing) ends with the hexagram Weiji (Before Completion). As for me, I am not one who truly understands Confucius; I merely study to become a person in the Confucian manner.

The powers of ritual, music, and military campaigns should have been held by the Son of Heaven, but they fell into the hands of the feudal lords, and so the dignity of the Son of Heaven was lost. The achievements and virtuous governance of Zhou should have been carried on from King Wen and King Wu, but they came to be represented by rulers such as King Li and King You, and so the foundations laid by Wen and Wu declined. From then on, the Quanrong (an ancient people of the west) were able to harass the Central Plains. Although there was more than one feudal state in Zhou, only Jin was able to repel the Rong and Di peoples and escort the Zhou king east to Luoyi, allowing the royal house to continue. This also established the precedent of feudal lords becoming hegemons who honored the Zhou king. That Jin received the gifts of black millet wine (qiuchang) and jade ladle (guizan), symbols of the king's favor and courtesy, could it have been avoided?

The Analects records that Zigong wished to abolish the sacrifice of a live sheep in the Gaosuo ceremony. The Gaosuo was the ancient rite by which feudal lords, on the first day of each month, reported to the ancestral temple and received the calendar. Confucius said to him, "Ci, you care for the sheep, but I care for the rite." From this we can see that when the name remains though the substance is gone, it is still better than when both name and substance vanish together. Though the rite had decayed, the sheep was still preserved, and so later generations could know that the rite might yet be restored.

Duke Wen of Jin honored the Zhou king. Though he preserved only the name, he still made the feudal lords of the realm know that the Zhou king was still there, and they did not dare to march against the royal house. Once Jin declined, Qin dared to bring about the destruction of the Zhou royal house. Confucius's words about valuing the ritual system were indeed not mistaken.

Duke Jing of Qi once asked Confucius about governance. Confucius replied, "The ruler should be a ruler, the minister a minister, the father a father, and the son a son." Duke Jing said, "Well said! If the ruler is not a ruler, the minister is not a minister, the father is not a father, and the son is not a son, then even if I have grain, how could I eat it?"

At that time, the feudal lords usurped the status due to the Son of Heaven, and ministers held the state's political power. Stipends drained away from the ducal house, and orders issued from the private residences of powerful officials. Duke Jing could not even serve the Zhou king above him, yet he wanted his subordinates to serve him. Was this not very difficult? Later, the rule of Qi was ultimately seized by the Tian clan. The Tian clan's replacement of the Jiang clan resembled the way the state of Jin was divided among the three houses of Han, Zhao, and Wei. And Jin's division among three houses resembled the decline of the Zhou royal house and the rise of the lords as hegemons.

To Jin, the houses of Han, Zhao, and Wei both established merit and divided Jin's lands. They both belittled the Jin ruler and seized his state. To Qi, the Tian clan both obtained stipends and monopolized power. They both killed the ruler of Qi and took over Qi's rule. Were these great events under heaven not the product of gradual development? When one sees "treading on frost" (lüshuang), one should be wary that severe cold is coming. How could such a warning not be pondered deeply?

Transmitted texts say that "wang" (king) carries the sense of "wang" (to go toward and turn to). Only one who can make all under heaven turn toward him may be called king. When the Zhou dynasty declined, the feudal lords for a long time did not come to court. Later, Chu took part in the alliances of the Central States lords, and Confucius then raised the rank of the Chu ruler to viscount. For Chu, which had already usurped the royal title, was this approach not too shallow?

Those who defeat others by force will in turn be defeated by force. Wu once defeated Yue and therefore looked down on Chu. When it defeated Chu, it developed contempt for Qi. Wu was insatiable, constantly seizing territory and disregarding morality and good faith. It harassed and humiliated Qi and Jin, and devoted itself exclusively to the affairs of the barbarians as its own undertakings. In the end, it was destroyed by Yue. Yue did not learn from this, and was later destroyed by Chu. Chu also failed to learn, and was later destroyed by Qin. Qin still did not learn, and was later replaced by the Han dynasty. To rely on strength to bully the weak is no different from wolves, tigers, and leopards. Such a force does not deserve to be called a army of the Central States that acts according to righteousness.

Was Song noble in status yet weak in strength? When forming alliances, it did not weigh its own virtue. When convening meetings, it did not gauge its own strength. Yet it insisted on competing with the other lords for supremacy in the Central States, ashamed to fall behind them. Its desire to become hegemon, was that not very difficult indeed?

Among the Zhou's kindred lords, the only one that continued its line for generations over a long period was Yan. Yan lay in the remote north, far from the Central States. If it did not follow Han, Zhao, Wei, Qi……

The state of Chu, if it could set aside its contest over sharp weapons and empty fame, would have enough to cultivate its virtue, await its opportunity, and watch how affairs shift among the feudal states. In that case, even though Qin was as fierce as a tiger or wolf, it would hardly find it easy to harm Chu. If this could be sustained for another fifteen or sixteen years, the course of the world would still be impossible to foresee.

The land of the Central Plains measures nine thousand li around. In antiquity it did not grow larger because of this, and today it has not shrunk because of this. Yet among the dynasties, some enjoyed long fortune and others short; some held vast territories and others narrow ones. This is because the ways of attack and defense employed in governing were different.

After the three dynasties of Xia, Shang, and Zhou, the Han and Tang were the most flourishing. The Qin dynasty stood between Zhou and Han: it began to rise under Duke Mu of Qin, reached its midpoint under Duke Xiao of Qin, and came to its end under the First Emperor. Qin first arose in the remote western frontier, later moved to Qishan, and then relocated its capital to Xianyang. Its armies harried the world, and the flames of war turned the lands into rivers of blood. Qin annexed the four quarters and altered the pattern of past and present. Although Qin's virtue cannot be compared with that of the three dynasties, it cannot be mentioned in the same breath as dynasties such as Jin and Sui either.

Was it not because Qin's laws were too harsh and it killed too many people that its fortune did not last? This is why Confucius, in compiling the Book of Documents, placed the "Oath of Qin" as the closing chapter of the whole. Is not the intent behind this profound?

Those who love to let people live belong to the class that tends toward life; those who love killing belong to the class that tends toward death. The Zhou valued letting people survive, and it did so out of righteousness. The Han valued cherishing oxen, which likewise was grounded in righteousness. Qin loved killing for the sake of profit, and Chu loved killing for the very same reason. Though Zhou honored nurturing life on the basis of righteousness, Han fell short of Qin's killing carried out under the pretext of profit. In the matter of killing, Chu in turn surpassed Qin.

Would the Way of Heaven (Tiandao) and human sentiment favor any one of Zhou, Qin, Han, or Chu? What they choose and reject is nothing more than good and evil. From this we can see that good conduct has no true adversary, and all under heaven will jointly approve it; evil conduct likewise has no true adversary, and all under heaven will jointly loathe it. Would the Way of Heaven and human sentiment favor any one of Zhou, Qin, Han, or Chu? What they choose and reject is nothing more than good and evil.