The Design Concept and the Phonological System of Huangji Jingshi: Shengyin Changhe Tu: On the Influence of Image-Number Yijing Studies on the Creation of the Korean Alphabet

Abstract

Among the extant rhyme tables of the Song Dynasty, Shao Yong’s (1011–1077) Huangji Jingshi: Shengyin Changhe Tu is the most unique. It is different from other phonological tables, such as Yunjing and Qiyin Lue, that were designed for the interpretation of fanqie formulae in terms of arrangement and phonological terminology. However, most contemporary scholars have failed to notice the unique design in Shengyin Changhe Tu and merely follow Karlgren’s paradigm, which contends that a phonological table objectively reflects certain dialectal phonological features through the prism of historical phonology. Instead, the present paper approaches the question of how the rhyme table is structured from the perspective of the history of phonological philosophy rather than historical phonology. By so doing, the role of philologists is reconsidered as that of a rhyme designer constructing an ideal sound system, rather than that of a dialectologist investigating a real sound system. The following questions are then discussed: What is the purpose for compiling such a work as Shengyin Changhe Tu and what are its design motivations? Can other scholars’ reconstructions of the sound system and sound values of Shengyin Changhe Tu be considered reasonable? In addition to Shengyin Changhe Tu, did the Image-Number Yijing School have any impact on the design of the later phonological tables? In this way the author wishes to develop a new humanistic approach toward understanding of the rhyme tables in order to correct the blind spots and flaws resulting from an overly extreme tendency toward scientism.