浅谈切韵、广韵、平水、声律启蒙、注音、拼音、新韵
韵的发展史大致可以分为以下三个阶段：即三国西晋南北朝，隋唐宋晚清，近现代之中国。
三国西晋南北朝
传说中国最早的韵书是魏时左校令李登的《声类》。据唐代封演《闻见记》所载，《声类》分为十卷，共收11520字，以五声命字，不立诸部。由于该书早佚，其具体面貌不得而知。西晋时小学家吕忱之弟吕静曾仿照《声类》写过一本《韵集》，分作五卷，宫、商、角、徵、羽各为一篇，此书也早已失传。
其后韵书接踵相继，特别是南朝齐、梁时，沈约、周颙等人发现了汉语四个声调的存在，为韵书的编写又提供了一个重要的条件。自是以后，各种韵书风起云涌，各有乖互。
隋唐宋晚清
现在所能看到的最早韵书是隋陆法言所撰的《切韵》。由于《切韵》撰者名高，审音精确，权威性强，适应范围广，所以自《切韵》一出，六朝以来的韵书便失去市场，淹没无闻。《切韵》继承了前代韵书的优点，总结了韵书编写的得失，是中国韵书史上划时代的产物。到了唐代，《切韵》被作为科举考试的标准韵书，其地位得到进一步的提高。隋朝陆法言《切韵》分为193韵，北宋陈彭年编纂的《大宋重修广韵》（《广韵》）在《切韵》的基础上又细分为206韵。
但《切韵》、《广韵》的分韵都过于琐细，后来有了“同用”的规定，允许人们把临近的韵合起来用。于是南宋刘渊，原籍山西平水（今山西省临汾市尧都区）人，在所著的《壬子新刊礼部韵略》中，把同用韵合并成107韵；同期山西平水官员金人王文郁所著《平水新刊韵略》将韵修订为106韵。
到了清代康熙年间，《佩文韵府》把《平水韵》并为106个韵部，这就是后来广为流传的平水韵。今人所说的《平水韵》实际多指清朝的《佩文诗韵》。《平水韵》共一百零六韵，其中平声三十韵(上平十五韵、下平十五韵)，上声二十九韵，去声三十韵，入声十七韵。
唐宋诗人作近体诗，只押平声韵，而平水韵又是基于唐人近体诗制作整理出来的，再后来于是就出现了三十韵的声律启蒙。如今我们使用的，是清代光绪癸未年间约公元1883年成都魏朝俊“墨耕堂”私藏的版本，其封面题名为《声律启蒙》，内页所载名为《声律启蒙撮要》，作者题名为“衡山聂铣敏蓉峰重订、邵陵车万育双亭著、湘潭夏大观枫江笺”。很明显，这是撮取了《平水韵》的平声三十韵（即绝大部分格律诗所用的韵部），并以它为基础，作者做了一些自认为必要的删改和修订。
近现代之中国
到了近现代，相继出现注音符号，汉语拼音。这些也都是后人在总结前人韵文学的基础上作的韵母整合改动。
基于平声三十韵，注音符号将韵改动为16基本韵。到后来汉语拼音规定39韵，以及简化拼音后的14新韵。
《中华新韵到底是怎么一回事？》一文中已经谈到，新韵其实就是注音与拼音整合后的产物。
总结
从数量看韵的发展史：《切韵》193韵，《广韵》206韵，《平水韵》（《佩文诗韵》）106韵；《注音符号》16韵，《汉语拼音》39韵，《新韵》14韵。韵的发展史其实就是一部数量缩减史。
This essay briefly discusses the evolution of Chinese rhymes through various rhyme books such as Qieyun, Guangyun, Pingshui, Shenglü Qimeng, Zhuyin, Pinyin, and the New Rhymes.
The history of rhymes can generally be divided into three phases: the Three Kingdoms, Western Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties; the Sui, Tang, Song, and Late Qing periods; and modern and contemporary China.
The Three Kingdoms, Western Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties
It is said that the earliest rhyme book in China was Shenglei, written by Li Deng, the Left Commander during the Wei Dynasty. According to Wen Jian Ji by Feng Yan from the Tang Dynasty, Shenglei was divided into ten volumes, containing 11,520 characters, categorized by the five tones, without defining the various rhyme groups. Since this book was lost early on, its specific content remains unknown. During the Western Jin period, the scholar Lü Chen’s younger brother, Lü Jing, wrote a work called Yunji, modeled after Shenglei. This work was also divided into five volumes, each dedicated to one of the five tones (Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu), but like its predecessor, it is now lost.
Following these, a series of rhyme books emerged, especially during the Southern Dynasties of the Qi and Liang periods. Scholars such as Shen Yue and Zhou Yang discovered the existence of four tones in Chinese, which provided an important foundation for compiling rhyme books. From this point onward, a variety of rhyme books emerged, each with its own nuances.
The Sui, Tang, Song, and Late Qing Periods
The earliest rhyme book that we can still access today is Qieyun written by Lu Fayan during the Sui Dynasty. Due to Lu Fayan’s prominent reputation, precise tone analysis, and authoritative work, Qieyun quickly gained widespread recognition. It eclipsed earlier rhyme books from the Six Dynasties. Qieyun inherited the strengths of previous works and summarized the successes and shortcomings of rhyme book compilation, marking a revolutionary advancement in the history of Chinese rhyme books. By the Tang Dynasty, Qieyun was adopted as the standard rhyme book for the imperial examination, solidifying its importance. Qieyun was divided into 193 rhymes, and the Guangyun, edited by Chen Pengnian during the Northern Song, refined it further to 206 rhymes.
However, the divisions in Qieyun and Guangyun were often too detailed. Later, a rule of “same usage” was established, allowing adjacent rhymes to be grouped together. In the Southern Song period, Liu Yuan of Ping Shui (modern-day Yao Du, Shanxi) in his Renzi Xinkan Libu Yunlüe combined similar rhymes into 107 groups, while Wang Wenyu, an official in Ping Shui from Shanxi, compiled Ping Shui Xinkan Yunlüe, which revised the rhyme system into 106 categories.
In the Qing Dynasty, during the Kangxi period, Peiwen Yunfu unified the Ping Shui Yun into 106 rhyme categories, which became the widely recognized Ping Shui Yun. The modern Ping Shui Yun usually refers to the Peiwen Shiyun published during the Qing. The Ping Shui Yun consists of 106 rhymes, including 30 rhymes in the level tone (15 upper-level, 15 lower-level), 29 rhymes in the rising tone, 30 rhymes in the departing tone, and 17 rhymes in the entering tone.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, poets composed regulated verse using only level tone rhymes. Ping Shui Yun, based on the Tang regulated poetry, was later systematized into the Shenglü Qimeng, a primer on rhyme and metrics. The version commonly used today is a privately collected edition from Chengdu in 1883, titled Shenglü Qimeng, and is based on the 30 level tone rhymes of Ping Shui Yun, with some modifications and revisions by its editors.
Modern and Contemporary China
In modern times, the development of Zhuyin (Bopomofo) and Pinyin has provided further adjustments to the rhyme system, incorporating and simplifying the past frameworks of rhyme. Based on the 30 rhymes of the level tone, Zhuyin simplified it into 16 basic rhymes. Later, Pinyin was established with 39 rhymes, and the simplified version, the New Rhymes, contains only 14.
As mentioned in the article “What Exactly Is the New Rhyme?” the New Rhymes are the result of integrating Zhuyin and Pinyin.
Conclusion
Looking at the numbers of rhymes in each system throughout history: Qieyun had 193 rhymes, Guangyun had 206 rhymes, and Ping Shui Yun (or Peiwen Shiyun) has 106 rhymes. The Zhuyin system has 16 rhymes, the Pinyin system has 39, and the New Rhymes system has 14. The history of rhymes is, in essence, a history of reduction in the number of rhyme categories.