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.