500 years of Old Chinese phonology

Abstract

This article introduces research on Old Chinese phonology before the Qing dynasty by reviewing the important relevant literature of recent intellectual historians. The article has six parts. The first section is an introduction. The second through fourth parts review the views and arguments over how to understand the works of several important linguists, treating respectively the Southern Song (§ 2, containing Wú Yù 吳棫, Zhū Xī 朱熹 etc.), the Yuan (§ 3, containing Dài Tóng 戴侗, Liú Yùrǔ 劉玉汝, Xióng Pénglái 熊朋來 etc.), and the Ming (§ 4, containing Yáng Shèn 楊慎, Jiāo Hóng 焦竑, Chén Dì 陳第 etc.). Section 5 discusses several methodological issues that concern researchers today, including the historical emergence of three methodologies and methodological issues in researching the history of scholarship. Finally, I point out those topics in need of further investigation.