(Ebook) A Phonological History of Chinese by

Zhongwei Shen (■■■) ISBN 9781107135840,

9781316476925, 9781316501658, 1107135842,
1316476928, 1316501655 direct download

Get your copy at ebooknice.com

( 4.5/5.0 ★ | 287 downloads )

https://ebooknice.com/product/a-phonological-history-of-
chinese-11150634
 (Ebook) A Phonological History of Chinese by Zhongwei Shen
(■■■) ISBN 9781107135840, 9781316476925, 9781316501658,
1107135842, 1316476928, 1316501655 Pdf Download

EBOOK

Available Formats

■ PDF eBook Study Guide Ebook

EXCLUSIVE 2025 EDUCATIONAL COLLECTION - LIMITED TIME

INSTANT DOWNLOAD VIEW LIBRARY

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

(Ebook) Biota Grow 2C gather 2C cook by Loucas, Jason; Viles, James

ISBN 9781459699816, 9781743365571, 9781925268492, 1459699815,
1743365578, 1925268497

https://ebooknice.com/product/biota-grow-2c-gather-2c-cook-6661374

(Ebook) Matematik 5000+ Kurs 2c Lärobok by Lena Alfredsson, Hans

Heikne, Sanna Bodemyr ISBN 9789127456600, 9127456609

https://ebooknice.com/product/matematik-5000-kurs-2c-larobok-23848312

(Ebook) SAT II Success MATH 1C and 2C 2002 (Peterson's SAT II Success)

by Peterson's ISBN 9780768906677, 0768906679

https://ebooknice.com/product/sat-ii-success-
math-1c-and-2c-2002-peterson-s-sat-ii-success-1722018

(Ebook) Cambridge IGCSE and O Level History Workbook 2C - Depth Study:

the United States, 1919-41 2nd Edition by Benjamin Harrison ISBN
9781398375147, 9781398375048, 1398375144, 1398375047

https://ebooknice.com/product/cambridge-igcse-and-o-level-history-
workbook-2c-depth-study-the-united-states-1919-41-2nd-edition-53538044
(Ebook) Master SAT II Math 1c and 2c 4th ed (Arco Master the SAT
Subject Test: Math Levels 1 & 2) by Arco ISBN 9780768923049,
0768923042

https://ebooknice.com/product/master-sat-ii-math-1c-and-2c-4th-ed-
arco-master-the-sat-subject-test-math-levels-1-2-2326094

(Ebook) Vagabond, Vol. 29 (29) by Inoue, Takehiko ISBN 9781421531489,

1421531488

https://ebooknice.com/product/vagabond-vol-29-29-37511002

(Ebook) Winning the Board: A Guide to Success on NCO Boards E4-E5-E6 &
Soldier of the Month by Gregory S. Skinner

https://ebooknice.com/product/winning-the-board-a-guide-to-success-on-
nco-boards-e4-e5-e6-soldier-of-the-month-48672806

(Ebook) The Safest Sicilian: A Black Repertoire with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6

by Alexander Delchev ISBN 9789548782456, 9548782456

https://ebooknice.com/product/the-safest-sicilian-a-black-repertoire-
with-1-e4-c5-2-nf3-e6-53511298

(Ebook) History of Technology: Volume 29. Technology in China by Ian

Inkster (Editor) ISBN 9781441136114, 1441136118

https://ebooknice.com/product/history-of-technology-
volume-29-technology-in-china-2252790
A Phonological History of Chinese

The phonological history of Chinese can be traced back to two main traditions:
one starting with the Qieyun of 601, and the other starting with the Zhongyuan
Yinyun of 1324. The former marks the beginning of Middle Chinese, and the
latter marks the beginning of Old Mandarin. Both of these systems, as well as
reconstructed Old Chinese, should be understood as ideal phonological stand-
ards and composite in nature. Until modern times, phonological standards were
never based strictly on the phonology of a single dialect. This book provides
the first study written in English of the phonological history of Chinese. It
provides information about the standard phonological systems for each of the
language’s major historical periods, drawing on a range of historical materials
such as dictionaries, rhyming tables, and poetry, and is a reference book for
understanding the key developments in the Chinese sound system.

professor zhongwei shen is a Full Professor of Chinese Linguistics in

the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at University of
Massachusetts Amherst. He has served as a co-editor of the Journal of
Chinese Linguistics, and co-editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of Chinese
Linguistics.
A Phonological History
of Chinese

Zhongwei Shen
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre,
New Delhi – 110025, India
79 Anson Road, #06–04/06, Singapore 079906

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107135840
DOI: 10.1017/9781316476925
© Zhongwei Shen 2020
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2020
Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd, Padstow Cornwall
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shen, Zhongwei, author.
Title: A phonological history of Chinese / Zhongwei Shen.
Description: Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019036955 (print) | LCCN 2019036956 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781107135840 (hardback) | ISBN 9781316501658 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781316476925 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Chinese language–Phonology, Historical.
Classification: LCC PL1201 .S456 2020 (print) | LCC PL1201 (ebook) |
DDC 495.1/15–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019036955
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019036956
ISBN 978-1-107-13584-0 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
 Contents

List of Figures page xi

List of Tables xiii
Foreword by William S-Y. Wang 王士元 xxx
Preface xxxiii
Major Periods of Chinese History xxxv
Locations of Ancient Capitals of China xxxvi

Part I The Keys to Traditional Phonology 1

1 An Introduction to Chinese Historical Phonology 3
1.1 Defining Chinese 4
1.2 The Nature of Phonological History 6
1.2.1 Chinese Phonology through Written Record 6
1.2.2 Phonological Categories in Logographic Systems 7
1.2.3 Terminology of Traditional Chinese Phonology 8
1.2.4 Syllable Structure 9
1.2.5 Nonsyllabic Phonological Characteristics 10
1.3 Yùnshū 韻書 ‘Rhyme Dictionaries’ 11
1.3.1 The Qièyùn 切韻 (601) 12
1.3.2 Fǎnqiè 反切 16
1.3.3 Zhíyīn 直音 Notation 19
1.3.4 Shēngdiào 聲調 ‘Tones’ 20
1.3.5 Yùnxì 韻系 ‘Rhyme Series’ 21
1.4 Yùntú 韻圖 ‘Rhyme Tables (Rhyme Charts)’ 22
1.4.1 The Thirty-Six Initials 25
1.4.2 The Qīngzhuó 清濁 System 27
1.4.3 Yīndiào 陰調 and Yángdiào 陽調 29
1.4.4 Děng 等 ‘Division’ and ‘Rank’ 30
1.4.5 Kāihé 開合 35
1.4.6 Chóngniǔ 重紐 and Chóngyùn 重韻 36
1.4.7 Sìhū 四呼 38
1.4.8 Wàizhuǎn 外轉 and Nèizhuǎn 內轉 39
1.4.9 Shè 攝 ‘Rhyme Groups’ 46
1.4.10 Yīnshēng Yùn 陰聲韻, Yángshēng Yùn 陽聲韻, and
Rùshēng Yùn 入聲韻 48

v
vi Contents

1.5 Nonanalytical Source Materials 48

1.5.1 Poem Rhyming 48
1.5.2 Foreign Transcriptions and Sino-Xenic Pronunciation 49
1.5.3 Xiéshēng Characters 諧聲字 50
1.6 The Availability and Reliability of Source Materials 51
1.7 Periodization 54
1.8 Reconstruction 54
1.9 Transcriptions 56

Part II Old Chinese 57

2 Old Chinese 59
2.1 Introduction 59
2.1.1 The Tibeto-Burman Connection 61
2.1.2 Methodology and Working Principles 61
2.2 Source Materials 62
2.2.1 Shījīng 詩經 Rhyming 63
2.2.2 Xiéshēng Characters 諧聲字 63
2.2.3 Partially Reduplicated Words 65
2.2.4 The Qièyùn 切韻 System 65
2.3 Reconstruction 66
2.3.1 The Reconstruction of Syllable Structures 67
2.3.2 The Reconstruction of Onsets 69
2.3.3 The Reconstruction of Rhymes 78
2.3.4 The Reconstruction of Syllable Structures 97
2.3.5 Recent Advances 99
2.4 Examples of Old Chinese 102

Part III Middle Chinese 105

3 Middle Chinese: The Qièyùn 切韻 107
3.1 Special Notes on the Qièyùn 切韻 and Fǎnqiè 反切 108
3.1.1 The Fǎnqiè of Rank-III 108
3.1.2 The Information Contained within the Qièyùn 110
3.1.3 Some Main Issues of the Qièyùn 112
3.1.4 A Single System or a Composite System 112
3.1.5 The Qièyùn Rhymes and the Nature of the Yùn 韻 116
3.1.6 The Revisions of the Qièyùn and the Splitting of Rhymes 119
3.2 The Nature of the Rhymes 120
3.2.1 New Approaches 122
3.2.2 A Possible Solution 123
3.3 Complementary and Near-Complementary Relationships 126
3.4 Syllable Structure 128
3.4.1 Suprasegmental Tones 129
3.4.2 Segmentals 130
3.4.3 Initials (I) 131
3.4.4 Medials (M) 132
3.4.5 Main Vowels (V) 133
3.4.6 Codas (E) 134
 Contents vii

3.5 Phonological Characteristics of Middle Chinese 134

3.5.1 The Tripartite Distinction of Stop and Affricate Initials 134
3.5.2 The Labials 135
3.5.3 The Retroflex Stops 135
3.5.4 The Four Ranks (Divisions) 137
3.5.5 The Kāihé 開合 Contrast 141
3.5.6 The Contrast of Chóngniǔ 重紐 Syllables 141
3.5.7 The Contrast of Chóngyùn 重韻 Rhymes 143
3.5.8 Final Types 143
3.6 Modern Evidence of the Phonological Contrasts 146
3.6.1 The Three-Way Contrast of Phonation Types 146
3.6.2 The Coda System 147
3.6.3 The Chóngniǔ 重紐 Contrast 148
3.6.4 The Chóngyùn 重韻 Contrast 148
3.6.5 The Contrast of Rank-III and Rank-IV 150
3.7 Examples of Middle Chinese Phonology 150

4 Middle Chinese: The Tang and Song Dynasties 152

4.1 The Tang Dynasty (618–907) 152
4.1.1 Xuánzàng’s 玄奘 Inscriptions 152
4.1.2 Simplification and Tóngyòng 同用 Marking 154
4.1.3 The New Standard 155
4.1.4 Devoicing of Voiced Stops and Affricates 159
4.1.5 Labiodentalization 160
4.1.6 Later Middle Chinese 162
4.2 The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–960) 163
4.2.1 Ěryǎ Yīntú 爾雅音圖 (tenth century) 163
4.2.2 Northwest Dialects 165
4.3 Northern Song (960–1127) 166
4.3.1 Guǎngyùn 廣韻 (1008) 166
4.3.2 Jíyùn 集韻 (1039) and Lǐbù Yùnlüè 禮部韻略 (1037) 168
4.3.3 Shēngyīn Chànghè Tú 聲音唱和圖 169
4.3.4 Summary 179
4.4 Southern Song (1127–1297) 180
4.4.1 Hangzhou Dialect 181
4.4.2 The Sìshēng Děngzǐ 四聲等子 183
4.4.3 The Qièyùn Zhǐzhǎngtú 切韻指掌圖 187
4.4.4 The Qièyùn Zhǐnán 切韻指南 189
4.5 Examples of Tang Poetry 192

Part IV The Beginnings of Mandarin 195

5 The Chinese of the Liao, Jin, and Xixia Dynasties 197
5.1 The Liao Dynasty (916–1125) 197
5.1.1 The Khitan Materials 197
5.1.2 Diphthongization of Middle Chinese Syllables with Coda -k 200
5.1.3 Devoicing of Middle Chinese Voiced Obstruents 201
5.1.4 Labiodentalization 202
5.1.5 The Merger of the Middle Chinese zhī 知 and zhào 照 Initial Series 203
5.1.6 The Loss of the Middle Chinese Stop Codas -p, -t, -k 204
viii Contents

5.1.7 The Status of the Middle Chinese Velar Nasal Initial ŋ- 204
5.1.8 The Middle Chinese Bilabial Nasal Coda -m 204
5.1.9 Middle Chinese má-III (麻) Syllables 205
5.1.10 The Foundations of Mandarin 206
5.1.11 Examples 206
5.2 The Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) 207
5.2.1 The Gǎibìng Wǔyīn Jíyùn 改併五音集韻 (1212) 208
5.2.2 The Jurchen Materials 210
5.3 The Xixia Dynasty (1038–1227) 215
5.3.1 The Tangut Script 215
5.3.2 Phonological Characteristics and Differences of Northern Dialects 225

Part V A New Standard 229

6 Old Mandarin: The Ménggǔ Zìyùn 蒙古字韻 231
6.1 The hP’ags-pa Script 234
6.1.1_ Adaptations between Tibetan and hP’ags-pa Script 234
_
6.1.2 The Syllable Block 238
6.1.3 The Problems of the Script 238
6.1.4 Phonological Contrasts That Cannot Be Reflected 240
6.2 The Phonological System of the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 蒙古字韻 241
6.2.1 The Fifteen Rhyme Groups 243
6.2.2 The Phonetic Values of the hP’ags-pa Letters 244
6.2.3 The Spelling of Finals _ 244
6.2.4 The Subsystems of Finals 245
6.2.5 Tonal Marks 246
6.3 Sound Changes in the Initial System 247
6.3.1 The Loss of Voiced Obstruents 247
6.3.2 Labiodentalization of Middle Chinese Bilabial Initials 248
6.3.3 The Loss of the Middle Chinese yí 疑 ŋ- Initial 248
6.4 Sound Changes in the Final System 249
6.4.1 The Medial 249
6.4.2 The Reduction of the Vowel System 250
6.4.3 Chóngniǔ 重紐 Reflexes in the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 251
6.4.4 The Loss of Final Consonant Codas 255
6.4.5 Diphthongization of Middle Chinese Syllables with Coda -k 255
6.4.6 The Loss of the Parallel Relationship between yáng and rù Syllables 256
6.4.7 The Contrast of jan/jɛn and jaw/jɛw 257
6.4.8 The High Central (Apical) Vowel 258
6.4.9 Vowel Raising 259

7 Old Mandarin: The Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 中原音韻 262

7.1 The Base Dialect 264
7.1.1 The Influence of Southern Mandarin 268
7.2 The Zhèngyǔ Zuòcí Qǐlì 正語作詞起例 270
7.2.1 Dialect Features 270
7.3 The Phonetic Reconstruction 272
7.3.1 Initials (21) 272
7.3.2 Finals (47) 276
 Contents ix

7.4 Innovative Characteristics of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 中原音韻 278

7.4.1 Devoicing of the Middle Chinese Voiced Obstruents in the Initial
Position 279
7.4.2 The Emergence of the Labiodental Fricative 279
7.4.3 The Development of the High Central (Apical) Vowels 281
7.4.4 The New Four-Tone System 282
7.4.5 The Loss of the Middle Chinese yí 疑 Velar Nasal Initial 285
7.4.6 The Disappearance of the Four-Rank System of Finals 286
7.4.7 The Preservation of the -m Coda 290
7.4.8 The jiān-tuán 尖團 Distinction 290
7.5 Examples of Yuan Pronunciation 291
7.6 Summary 293

8 Old Mandarin: The Persian Transcriptions 294

8.1 The Ancient Persian Script 294
8.2 History of China 295
8.2.1 Middle Chinese Voiced Stops and Affricates 296
8.2.2 The Loss of Velar Nasal Initial yí 疑 ŋ- 296
8.2.3 Middle Chinese rì 日 Initial 298
8.2.4 Middle Chinese wēi 微 Initial 299
8.2.5 The Coda of rù 入 Syllables 300
8.2.6 High Centralized (Apical) Vowels 301
8.2.7 Main Vowel -e 301
8.2.8 Summary of Features 302
8.3 The Mài Jué 脈訣 302
8.3.1 The Stop Codas of the rù 入 Syllables 304
8.3.2 The Inconsistency of the Stop Coda in the Transcription 306
8.3.3 The Dialectal Features Reflected in the Transcription 307
8.3.4 The Nebulous Nature of Early Guānhuà 官話 313

Part VI Toward Modern Mandarin 317

9 The Mandarin of the Ming Dynasty 319
9.1 North Versus South 319
9.1.1 Guānhuà 官話 320
9.2 The Hóngwǔ Zhèngyùn 洪武正韻 (1375) 320
9.2.1 Initials 322
9.2.2 Finals 322
9.2.3 Tones 323
9.2.4 A Coherent System 325
9.2.5 Zhèngyīn 正音 and Súyīn 俗音 325
9.2.6 Revision of the Hóngwǔ Zhèngyùn 326
9.3 The Yùnluè Yìtōng 韻略易通 (1442) 327
9.3.1 Initials and the Zǎ o Méi 早梅 ‘Early Plum Blossom’ Poem 328
9.3.2 Finals and the Twenty Rhyme Groups 329
9.3.3 Běnwù’s 本悟 Revision 331
9.3.4 Tones 333
9.4 The Sìshēng Tōngjiě 四聲通解 (1517), Fānyì Lǎo Qǐdà 翻譯老乞大, and Fānyì
Piáo Tōngshì 翻譯朴通事 334
9.4.1 Initials 335
x Contents

9.4.2 Finals 336

9.4.3 Tone Sandhi 340
9.5 The Xīrú Ěrmù Zī 西儒耳目資 (1626) 342
9.5.1 Initials 342
9.5.2 Finals 345
9.5.3 Tones 349
9.6 The Děngyùn Tújīng 等韻圖經 (1606) 350
9.6.1 Initials 350
9.6.2 Finals 355
9.6.3 Tones 356
9.6.4 Innovative Features 356

10 The Mandarin of the Qing Dynasty and the Modern Era 360
10.1 The Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) 360
10.1.1 The Yùdìng Pèiwén Yùnfŭ 御定佩文韻府 (1711) 361
10.1.2 The Yīnyùn Chǎnwēi 音韻闡微 (1728) 366
10.1.3 The Wade Textbook (1867) 369
10.2 Post-Imperial China (1912–present) 377
10.2.1 The Old National Standard 377
10.2.2 The New National Standard 378
10.2.3 Modern Standard Phonology 379
10.2.4 Modern Dialects (Fāngyán 方言) 379

References 385
Index 395
 Figures

1.1 A page from the Kānmiù Bǔquē Qièyùn 刊謬補缺切韻. page 13

1.2 The first table in the Yùnjìng 韻鏡 ‘Mirror of Rhymes’, one
of the earliest rhyme tables. 24
1.3 A page from the Sìshēng Děngzǐ 四聲等子. 32
1.4 The Yùnjìng pages for the rhymes dōng 東, dōng/zhōng 冬/鍾,
and jiāng 江, and their zè 仄 tone equivalents. 40
2.1 Baxter and Sagart’s representation of the Old Chinese root. 100
3.1 Middle Chinese (and Modern Mandarin) syllable structure. 128
4.1 A page from the Ze-Cun-Tang version (澤存堂本 zécúntáng běn)
of the Guǎngyùn 廣韻. 167
4.2 Two pages from the Sìshēng Děngzǐ, showing the merger of the
syllables of the dōng 東, dōng 冬, and zhōng 鍾 rhyme series. 184
4.3 The first table in the Qièyùn Zhǐzhǎngtú 切韻指掌圖. 188
4.4 The first page of the tables in the Qièyùn Zhǐnán 切韻指南. 190
4.5 A page from the Qièyùn Zhǐnán, showing the Ménfǎ Yùyàoshi
門法玉鑰匙. 191
5.1 A rubbing from the Dàozōng Āicè 道宗哀冊. 199
5.2 The titles of Yélǜ Gù 耶律固. 207
5.3 A page from the Zhǎng Zhōng Zhū 掌中珠. 217
6.1 A page from the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 蒙古字韻. 232
6.2 A comparison of the Tibetan and hP’ags-pa scripts. 235
6.3 A vowel chart demonstrating vowel _ raising in the Yuan era. 260
7.1 A page from the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 中原音韻. 263
7.2 A page from the second part of the Zhèngyǔ Zuòcí Qǐlì
正語作詞起例. 271
8.1 A page of the Mài Jué 脈訣. 303
9.1 A page from the Hóngwǔ Zhèngyùn 洪武正韻 (Sìkù Quánshū
四庫全書 version). 321
9.2 A page from the Lǎo Qǐdà Yànjiě 老乞大諺解. 343
9.3 Two pages from the Xīrú Ěrmù Zī 西儒耳目資. 344

xi
xii List of Figures

10.1 The first three pages of the Pèiwén Yùnfǔ 佩文韻府

(Sìkù Quánshū version). 363
10.2 The first page of the Yīnyùn Chǎnwēi 音韻闡微
(Sìkù Quánshū version). 367
10.3 The cover of 語言自邇集 Yü-yen tzǔ-êrh chi. 370
 Tables

1.1 Additional syllable terms with their component segments page 10

1.2 Tone sandhi in modern Beijing dialect 11
1.3 Illustration of the Qièyùn structure, as excerpted from the
Kānmiù Bǔquē Qièyùn 14
1.4 The representative characters of each rhyme of the Qièyùn 15
1.5 The structure of fǎnqiè spellers 17
1.6 An example of the fǎnqiè system 17
1.7 The pronunciation of zhuāng 樁 ‘stake’ throughout history 19
1.8 More examples of fǎnqiè spellings that are obsolete in Modern
Standard Mandarin 19
1.9 The basic syllable structure with the medial broken down into its
component parts 19
1.10 Categorical combinations realized differently phonetically 20
1.11 The four tones of Middle Chinese, with píng-zè and shū-cù tones
demarcated 21
1.12 Rhyme series with both nasal and nonnasal píng tone endings 21
1.13 An example of allophonic variants of the columns of rhyme
tables 25
1.14 The thirty-six initials in the Qīyīn Lüè, with their reconstructions 25
1.15 The reconstructed values of three groups of the syllables from
the thirty-six initial characters 26
1.16 A comparison of the initial characters and their categorical
terminologies 26
1.17 Definitions and categorizations of the Jīngshǐ Zhèngyīn Qièyùn
Zhǐnán 27
1.18 Categories in the Yùnjìng directly compared to their
modern phonemic analogues 27
1.19 An analysis of the four groups of qīngzhuó patterns 28
1.20 The eight tones divided along traditional tonal categories and the
yīndiào–yángdiào distinction 29

xiii
xiv List of Tables

1.21 The eight register-tones as commonly labelled in Chinese

phonology 29
1.22 The names and Middle Chinese representations of
Mandarin tones 30
1.23 Divisions reflected in their reconstruction through similar vowels
or through different medials 31
1.24 Divisions reflected in their reconstruction through different
initials 33
1.25 Divisions allowed among each initial group 33
1.26 Subdivision of zhào 照 initials into zhào-èr 照二 initials and
zhào-sān 照三 initials 34
1.27 The relationship between divisions and ranks 34
1.28 The relationship between the Qièyùn and rhyme tables (Rank-III
rhymes) 34
1.29 Division placements of syllables of the Rank-III yáng 陽 rhyme 35
1.30 Division placements of syllables of the Rank-III zhī 支 rhyme 35
1.31 A comparison of rhyme groups in the Qièyùn and Guǎngyùn,
showing a rhyme split along the kāihé contrast 35
1.32 A comparison of the classification of kāihé in the Yùnjìng and
the Gǔjīn Zìyīn Duìzhào Shǒucè 36
1.33 The four kāihé labeled tables in the Yùnjìng 36
1.34 Examples of the sìhū 38
1.35 The medial systems of Middle Chinese and the sìhū 39
1.36 The division assignments of different rhymes within the rhyme
groups (shè), divided by their zhuǎn 43
1.37 The vowel quality of rhymes in the nèizhuǎn and wàizhuǎn rhyme
groups, according to Luó Chángpéi 43
1.38 The phonetic values of nèizhuǎn and wàizhuǎn rhyme groups,
according to the phonetic components of the Zhuang characters 45
1.39 A summary of the long and short vowels in Table 1.38 45
1.40 A summary of the long and short vowels in Table 1.37 46
1.41 The sixteen shè with their basic main vowels and codas 47
1.42 The shè system systematically categorized into different
vowel-coda pairings 47
1.43 The parallel structure of Rùshēng Yùn and Yángshēng Yùn seen
through a comparison of their codas 48
1.44 The xiéshēng characters of gōng 工 51
1.45 A grading of different source materials by six categories in
historical phonology 53
1.46 The availability of different source materials for the study of the
major historical periods 53
 List of Tables xv

1.47 A generalization of the phonological information available at

each period of Chinese phonological history 54
1.48 An example of the reconstruction format, using the character
luò 落 56
2.1 The periodization of Old Chinese associated with different
Chinese dynasties 60
2.2 The four language families, and some of their constituent
languages, in the Sino-Tibetan language family 60
2.3 Some poems from the Shījīng 64
2.4 Examples from the gōng 工, chéng 成, mén 門, jiān 監, and
měi 每 xiéshēng series 65
2.5 Examples of partially reduplicated words 66
2.6 Two analyses of Chinese syllable structure 67
2.7 A common analysis of an Old Chinese syllable 68
2.8 Reconstructions exemplifying the varied syllable structure of
Old Chinese, with as many as six segments CCCVCC 68
2.9 Li Fang-Kuei’s reconstruction system (thirty initials) 69
2.10 Baxter’s reconstruction system (thirty-seven initials) 69
2.11 Zhèngzhāng’s reconstruction system (twenty-five initials) 70
2.12 The nineteen universal initials seen throughout Old Chinese
reconstructions 70
2.13 Some characters with component bā 巴, categorized by
Middle Chinese initial 71
2.14 Xiéshēng characters from the gè 各 and jiān 監 components 71
2.15 Jaxontov’s reconstruction of several words with their cognates 72
2.16 Li Fang-Kuei’s reconstruction of gè 各 component xiéshēng
characters 72
2.17 A summary of Li Fang-Kuei’s explanation of the -r- medial
being responsible for the creation of the retroflex series 73
2.18 Jaxontov’s reconstructions of sC- clusters across different nasals
and approximants 74
2.19 Li Fang-Kuei’s initial reconstruction of cì 賜 ‘bestow’ and
xiē 楔 ‘wedge’ as alveolar and palatal stop consonant initials,
respectively 74
2.20 Zhèngzhāng’s reconstruction of sC- and hC- clusters 75
2.21 Li Fang-Kuei’s reconstruction of voiceless nasals and laterals 75
2.22 Jaxontov’s examples of three types of syllables with l- and
syllables from Rank-II with other initials 76
2.23 Jaxontov’s examples of syllables with l- and syllables from
Rank-IIIb with other initials 77
2.24 Some examples of Old Chinese rhyme groups (yùnbù) 78
xvi List of Tables

2.25 The yùnbù of Old Chinese arranged according to three types

of codas 79
2.26 Some of Kǒng Guǎngsēn’s paired yīn-yáng
rhymes with their reconstructions 79
2.27 Dài Zhèn’s suggested relationship between the yīn, yáng,
and rù 入 syllables 80
2.28 The xiéshēng components of the rhyme groups zhī bù 之部,
zhí bù 職部, and zhēng bù 蒸部 80
2.29 The possible combinations of medials in Middle Chinese, and
their respective kāihé and rank 81
2.30 The four rhyme patterns listed by Jaxontov 82
2.31 Jaxontov’s proposal 82
2.32 The frequency of Qièyùn rhymes (ignoring tone) by their rank 83
2.33 Rank-III syllables in the Taishun dialect 84
2.34 Go-on and kan-on readings of Rank-III characters 85
2.35 More examples of go-on readings lacking palatal glides
otherwise seen in kan-on 85
2.36 Length contrast and vowel quality in Chinese dialects 85
2.37 The fǎnqiè spellings of Rank-III syllables 86
2.38 Karlgren’s fourteen reconstructed vowels 87
2.39 Li Fang-Kuei’s four-vowel system 88
2.40 Baxter’s six-vowel system 89
2.41 Zhèngzhāng’s six-vowel system 89
2.42 A comparison of -ŋ coda syllables in Li Fang-Kuei’s four-vowel
system and Zhèngzhāng’s six-vowel system. 90
2.43 Relationship between tones in Middle Chinese and coda
clusters in Old Chinese 91
2.44 Rhyming words in the Shījīng and Chǔcí 91
2.45 Zhèngzhāng’s suggested tones that coexisted with different
finals 92
2.46 Basic words in the shǎng tone 93
2.47 Middle Chinese qù syllables with -s coda in Sino-Korean 94
2.48 Sanskrit -s and -ʂ transcribed by using qù tone syllables 94
2.49 Middle Chinese qù tone characters used to transcribe syllables
with a stop coda in Sanskrit transcription 94
2.50 Xiéshēng characters with qù tone and rù tone 94
2.51 More examples of rhymes jì 祭, tài 泰, guài 夬, and fèi 廢 95
2.52 The reconstructed earlier forms of jì 祭, tài 泰, guài 夬, and
fèi 廢 95
2.53 Reconstructed finals of jì 祭, tài 泰, guài 夬, and fèi 廢 for Old
Chinese and Middle Chinese 95
 List of Tables xvii

2.54 Examples of -s functioning as a morphological particle 96

2.55 Further examples of the morphological function of -s with
different characters 96
2.56 A summary of the relationship between the codas and tones 97
2.57 A comparison of two-way and three-way contrast for the
alveolar codas 97
2.58 Morphologically related pronoun pairs 98
2.59 Some examples illustrating the devoicing regular-causative
pattern in Old Chinese 98
2.60 Baxter and Sagart’s reconstruction of Type A and B syllables 100
2.61 Nonpharyngealized Old Chinese initial alveolar stops and nasals
and Middle Chinese palatal affricates and nasals 101
2.62 The Old Chinese onsets with initial or medial *r and Middle
Chinese retroflex initials 101
2.63 The Old Chinese nasal pre-initial and Middle Chinese voiced
stops and affricates 101
2.64 Correspondence table between Pān’s uvular proposal (uvulars
and velars) for Old Chinese, and the Middle Chinese reflexes 102
2.65 The reconstructions of various stages of Chinese, reflecting the
original Old Chinese pronunciation of Jìng Nǚ 靜女 103
2.66 The reconstructions of various stages of Chinese, reflecting the
original Old Chinese pronunciation of Táo Yāo 桃夭 103
3.1 Evidence of codas -m, -n, -ŋ and -p, -t, -k in the Qièyùn system 108
3.2 The fǎnqiè spellings and Middle Chinese reconstruction for
Rank-III syllables, with the lower speller of jū 居 or yú 魚 109
3.3 Karlgren and his successors’ reconstructions 109
3.4 Upper spellers of Rank-III and non-Rank-III characters 109
3.5 The divisional placement of the Qièyùn rhymes in the rhyme
tables 110
3.6 The divisional placement of the Rank-III syllables of the Qièyùn
in the rhyme table Yùnjìng 111
3.7 The nature of the Qièyùn rhymes 115
3.8 The parallel nature of rhymes across different tones 116
3.9 195 rhymes from Wáng Rénxù’s version of the Qièyùn 117
3.10 Pān’s reconstruction organized in table style 117
3.11 Main vowels and medials of Pān’s reconstruction 118
3.12 Pān’s reconstructed main vowels organized by medial 118
3.13 The rhyme splits between the Qièyùn, Kānmiù Bǔquē Qièyùn,
and Guǎngyùn 119
3.14 Rhyme splitting from the Kānmiù Bǔquē Qièyùn to the
Guǎngyùn 120
xviii List of Tables

3.15 Samples of two different approaches (Mài 1995; Pān 2000) 121
3.16 An example of Mài’s reconstruction of Middle Chinese rhymes 121
3.17 The Main Vowel Approach and the Medial Approach to yùn 韻
analysis 123
3.18 Rhyme categories of Yán Zhītuī’s Guān Wǒ Shēng Fù 123
3.19 An interpretation of Lù Fǎyán’s judgments 124
3.20 Examples of the rhymes that split or not along the medial
difference 125
3.21 The zhēn 真 rhyme and the zhēn 臻 rhyme are in complementary
distribution 126
3.22 The type-distribution of Rank-III rhymes 127
3.23 The relationship between the gēng-III 庚三 and qīng 清 rhyme
series 127
3.24 The relationship between the yōu 幽 and yóu 尤 rhyme series 127
3.25 A basic outline of the syllable structure as analyzed from the
Qièyùn 128
3.26 Simplification of the Chinese syllable structure 129
3.27 The parallelism of reconstructed pronunciations categorized
by tone 130
3.28 The Chinese-Sanskrit transcriptions in the Yíqiè Jīng Yīnyì
by Buddhist monk Huìlín 130
3.29 Some descriptions of tones in the Xī Tán Zàng by the
Japanese monk Annen 131
3.30 The sporadic organization of initials in different rhymes 132
3.31 Pān’s reconstruction of thirty-seven initials 133
3.32 An example of the twelve-vowel system needed to maintain
non-medial based rhyme differentiation 134
3.33 Three phonation types of stops and affricates for each place of
articulation 135
3.34 The labial series before the split 136
3.35 Sanskrit letters for retroflex stops and nasals and corresponding
zhī 知 initial series characters 136
3.36 The retroflex obstruent and nasal syllables in Sanskrit and the
corresponding Chinese characters 137
3.37 The coexistence of retroflex and palatal affricates, and
retroflex stops 137
3.38 The changes of grave and acute initials, and the -r- of Old
Chinese 138
3.39 The four ranks of the xiào 效 rhyme group, illustrating
Karlgren’s reconstruction the four ranks of the Guǎngyùn 138
3.40 Karlgren’s reconstruction in terms of medials and main vowels 138
 List of Tables xix

3.41 Redundancy in criteria for distinguishing the syllables of the

four ranks 139
3.42 The relationship between the four ranks as related to the medials
-ɰ- and -j- 139
3.43 Simpler main vowels reconstructed phonemically 140
3.44 Calculations of the prevalence of the rank of upper spellers for
Rank-III characters in the Qièyùn 140
3.45 The complementary distribution of syllables with labial initials
in rhymes with -n coda 141
3.46 Sino-Sanskrit proof of the existence of the medial -r- in IIIb
characters 142
3.47 Examples of chóngniǔ contrasts across all eight rhymes that
contain them 142
3.48 The traditional chóngyùn rhymes 143
3.49 Some samples of the reconstructed phonetic values of the
chóngyùn pairs 144
3.50 A series of minimal pairs, exemplifying a difference in the
manner of articulation of the coda 144
3.51 The parallel relationship between syllables with a nasal coda
and syllables with a stop coda 145
3.52 Rhymes jì 祭, tài 泰, guài 夬, and fèi 廢 with no equivalent
píng and shǎng tone rhymes 145
3.53 A comparison of the Beijing, Suzhou, Wenzhou, and
Shuangfeng dialects, highlighting the maintenance of a
three-way phonation type contrast in the Wu and Xiang
dialects 147
3.54 A comparison of the Beijing, Suzhou, Guangzhou, and
Yangjiang dialects, highlighting different coda systems, each
descended from Middle Chinese, maintaining different contrasts,
and merging others 147
3.55 An example of chóngniǔ contrast reflexes 148
3.56 Some examples of the chóngyùn contrast of Rank-I rhymes
hāi 咍 and tài 泰 149
3.57 The chóngyùn contrast between the yú 魚 and yú 虞 rhyme
groups in the Wu dialects 149
3.58 The contrast between Rank-III and -IV in the Wu dialects 150
3.59 The reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation of Qiān Zì
Wén 151
3.60 The reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation of
Běi Zhǔ 151
4.1 Reconstructions of Xuánzàng’s transliterations 153
xx List of Tables

4.2 The rhyming words in poems composed during the imperial

examinations before the year 717 155
4.3 The twelve -ŋ coda rhymes of the Qièyùn 155
4.4 The seven groups according to tóngyòng labels 155
4.5 The twelve rhymes in the Qièyùn system with -n coda 155
4.6 The additional tóngyòng of wén 文 and yīn 殷, added in 1037 156
4.7 All tóngyòng rhymes, organized by coda 156
4.8 A rhyme chart arranged according to tóngyòng markings 157
4.9 The values of Qièyùn and post-717 Tang poetry rhymes 158
4.10 The relationship between the phonetic, phonemic, and rhyming
systems of Tang-era Middle Chinese 159
4.11 The progression of devoicing across Tang-era Northwestern
Chinese dialects 159
4.12 The Tang era Chinese three-way contrast within labiodental
sounds, reconstructed as f-, v-, and ɱ-, respectively 160
4.13 The labiodentalization of labials preceding the medial -j- in
Tang-era Chinese 161
4.14 The labiodental fricatives realized as /f/ and /v/ in Sino-
Vietnamese 161
4.15 The distinction of Early and Late Middle Chinese in
Pulleyblank’s reconstruction 162
4.16 The distribution of Qièyùn initials in the Ěryǎ Yīntú 164
4.17 The devoicing pattern in the Ěryǎ Yīntú 164
4.18 The twelve Yīn Tú tables, with their respective reconstructed
initials for each row’s gaps 170
4.19 The twenty-one initials of the Shēngyīn Chànghè Tú 170
4.20 Shào Yōng’s assignment of bh- initials resembles Indic
phonology 171
4.21 The relationship between voiced píng and voiced zè
syllables 171
4.22 The complementary distribution of labiodentals across tones 172
4.23 The distribution of labiodentals in the Shēngyīn Chànghè Tú,
categorized by Middle Chinese initial and tone 172
4.24 A comparison of different texts’ reconstructions of the bilabial
and labiodental series, showcasing the evolution of the series
from Middle Chinese to Modern Mandarin 173
4.25 The seven non-empty Shēng Tú tables, with their respective
reconstructed finals for each row 174
4.26 The merger of syllables with -k coda and a back vowel with
syllables with -w coda 175
4.27 The merger of syllables with -k coda and a non-back vowel with
syllables with -j coda 175
 List of Tables xxi

4.28 The phonological conditions for the reflexes with -w and

-j coda 176
4.29 The main vowel of shuāi 衰 and shuài 帥 in Song-era Chinese 176
4.30 A comparison of Middle Chinese -ŋ rhymes and those of the
Shēngyīn Chànghè Tú 177
4.31 The simplification of rhymes with -ŋ codas, resulting in
a four-way contrast 178
4.32 A final chart of the Shēngyīn Chànghè Tú 178
4.33 The tonal reflexes of Middle Chinese tone II syllables according
to different types of initials 179
4.34 The tonal reflexes of Middle Chinese tone II syllables according
to different types of initials (tones written in full) 179
4.35 A correspondence table between Middle Chinese, the Chinese
of the Shēngyīn Chànghè Tú, and Modern Mandarin 180
4.36 Láng Yīng’s referenced characters 182
4.37 Middle Chinese shǎng tone syllables merge differently both
historically and geographically 183
4.38 Chao’s noted features in the Hangzhou dialect 183
4.39 The kāihé divide in the jiāng 江 rhyme series 185
4.40 The reflexes of the syllables jiāng 江 rhyme in Modern
Mandarin 186
4.41 A comparison of the ordering of tone and division in the
Yùnjìng and Sìshēng Děngzǐ 186
4.42 The double listing of the rùshēng syllables in the Sìshēng
Děngzǐ 187
4.43 An allophonic split in the zhī 之 and zhī 支 rhyme series 189
4.44 The reconstructions of Middle Chinese, reflecting the original
Tang dynasty Chinese pronunciation of Lù Zhài 193
4.45 The reconstructions of Middle Chinese, reflecting the original
Tang dynasty Chinese pronunciation of Xīn Yí Wū 193
5.1 Diphthongization of coda -k syllables as shown in Khitan
sources 201
5.2 Khitan characters illustrate a Mandarin-like obstruent devoicing
pattern 202
5.3 Devoicing as shown in Khitan materials 202
5.4 Labiodentalization of phu in Sino-Khitan 203
5.5 Initial series, zhī 知 and zhào 照, merge in Sino-Khitan 203
5.6 The loss of stop codas in Sino-Khitan 204
5.7 Velar nasals in the onset position of Sino-Khitan 205
5.8 Nasal codas’ three-way distinction in Sino-Khitan 205
5.9 Conditioned vowel raising after a palatal glide in Sino-Khitan 206
5.10 A multidialectal gloss of the titles of Yélǜ Gù 208
xxii List of Tables

5.11 Examples of different rhymes merging in the GYJ 209

5.12 Rank and chóngniǔ mergers during the Jin dynasty 210
5.13 A comparison of mergers across three texts before, during, and
after the Jin dynasty 210
5.14 Diphthongization of coda -k syllables as shown in Jurchen
sources 211
5.15 Diphthongization of coda -k causes mergers between rù and
non-rù syllables 212
5.16 Devoicing patterns in Sino-Jurchen as a comparison of píng
tone characters 213
5.17 The labiodentalization process of Sino-Jurchen 213
5.18 Obstruent coda loss in Sino-Jurchen 214
5.19 The velar nasal in the onset position of Sino-Jurchen 214
5.20 Nasal codas’ three-way distinction in Sino-Jurchen 215
5.21 The initial system of Sino-Tangut 216
5.22 The Sino-Tangut vowel system 218
5.23 Obstruent devoicing across different tones in Sino-Tangut 219
5.24 Voiced and voiceless fricatives merge in Sino-Tangut 219
5.25 The labiodentalization process of Sino-Tangut 220
5.26 Initial series, zhī 知 and zhào 照, merge in Sino-Tangut 221
5.27 The loss of stop codas in Sino-Tangut 222
5.28 No velar nasal coda transcribed in Sino-Tangut 223
5.29 Tangut words transcribed by syllables both with and without
velar nasal coda 223
5.30 The loss of nasal codas in Sino-Tangut 223
5.31 High front vowels of Middle Chinese zhī 支, zhī 脂,
and zhī 之 rhyme undergo a conditioned centralization in
Sino-Tangut 224
5.32 A comparison of five modern Fenghe dialects 226
5.33 A comparison of northern and northwestern dialect sound
changes 227
6.1 The Ménggǔ Zìyùn as a fusion of previous works 233
6.2 A comparison of syllable creation in Tibetan and hP’ags-pa
script _ 235
6.3 Non-consonantal alloglyphs 236
6.4 The realization of different FT/vowel combinations in hP’ags-pa
script _ 237
6.5 The realization of hP’ags-pa finals in different locations 237
_
6.6 Types of syllable blocks for transcribing Chinese characters 239
6.7 Differences across the orthographic-phonological interface 240
6.8 Transcription of dōng 東 and gēng 庚 rhyme groups 241
 List of Tables xxiii

6.9 The thirty-six initial characters with their hP’ags-pa equivalents,

enumerated _ 242
6.10 Three zìmǔ split according to their allophonic variations 243
6.11 The fifteen rhyme groups of the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 243
6.12 An example of the initial arrangement pattern in the Ménggǔ
Zìyùn 244
6.13 The thirty-two initial sounds of the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 245
6.14 Phonetic values of the finals in the fifteen rhyme groups 246
6.15 hP’ags-pa spellings of the transcriptions in Table 6.14 246
6.16 _
Vowels of the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 247
6.17 The vowel-coda subsystem of the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 247
6.18 No tonal distinction in hP’ags-pa transcriptions 247
6.19 The voicing reversal of _stop initials 248
6.20 Labiodentalization in the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 248
6.21 Conditional loss of Middle Chinese initial ŋ- 249
6.22 Differences in the realization of medials depending on
kāihé 249
6.23 Changes to the Middle Chinese medial -ɰ- in different
contexts 250
6.24 Vowel Reduction in the Ménggǔ Zìyùn from the Middle Chinese
final system 251
6.25 The phonetic values of -Vŋ/-Vk finals before and after the
Ménggǔ Zìyùn’s vowel reduction 251
6.26 Type A and Type B rhyme groups 252
6.27 Chóngniǔ contrasts maintained between Rank-III and
Rank-IV 252
6.28 More examples showing the contrast of IIIa and IIIb syllables 253
6.29 A summary of chóngniǔ reflexes 253
6.30 The chóngniǔ reflexes of Type A and Type B rhyme groups 254
6.31 Diphthongization of syllables with Middle Chinese coda -k 256
6.32 Middle Chinese -k syllable changes and their rules 257
6.33 Change of relationship between yáng and rù syllables 257
6.34 The contrast between the finals of Rank-II and Rank-III/IV
syllables 258
6.35 The changes between the Chinese of the Ménggǔ Zìyùn and
Modern Mandarin, with the data from Table 6.34 reorganized
as examples of each change 259
6.36 Centralization of high vowels in the Ménggǔ Zìyùn 259
6.37 A set of rules determining vowel raising in Yuan-era Mandarin 260
7.1 A comparison of the arrangement of the Qièyùn, Ménggǔ Zìyùn,
and Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 264
xxiv List of Tables

7.2 All the rhyme groups of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 264

7.3 Middle Chinese rù tone syllables found in the xiāoháo
rhyme group 265
7.4 Some characters that maintain the -aw reflex from Dadu dialect 266
7.5 The presence and absence of -w coda in the relevant modern
dialects 266
7.6 A comparison of rhyme-ending realizations between the
Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn, and the modern Luoyang and Beijing
dialects 267
7.7 The irregular changes of modern Luoyang and Beijing dialects 267
7.8 Contrast of -on and -wan in the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 268
7.9 A comparison of rank contrast across many modern dialects 269
7.10 Dual pronunciation of some Chinese characters 269
7.11 Characteristics of different Mandarin subdialects during the
Yuan era 270
7.12 Some contrasts listed by Zhōu Déqīng in the Zhōngyuán
Yīnyùn 273
7.13 The initial system of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 274
7.14 Minimal triplets imply a three-way contrast 274
7.15 A comparison of different hypotheses for the value of the
retroflex series 275
7.16 Reconstructed values of finals in the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn,
organized by rhyme group 276
7.17 A comparison of the vowel systems of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn
and Ménggǔ Zìyùn 277
7.18 Summary of the vowel system in the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 277
7.19 The vowel system of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn before null
and -n codas 278
7.20 The vowel system of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn before -ŋ coda 278
7.21 Devoicing pattern of Middle Chinese voiced stops and
affricates 279
7.22 The Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn demonstrates a merger of voiced and
voiceless unaspirated stops and affricates 280
7.23 The merger of labiodental fricatives 280
7.24 The merger of three labial stops in qù syllables 280
7.25 The loss of nasality of the wēi ɱ- initial 281
7.26 The contrast between the wēi ɱ- and the yǐng Ø- initials 281
7.27 A comparison of the vowels of the Middle Chinese zhǐ 止
rhyme group within zhī 知, zhāng 章, and zhuāng 莊 group
initials 281
 List of Tables xxv

7.28 The rhyme and tone of non-zhǐ 止 rhyme group words with
vowel -i 282
7.29 Centralization of high vowels in the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 282
7.30 The merging and splitting conditions between Middle Chinese
and the early Mandarin of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 283
7.31 Mergers of the rù tone with three other tones 284
7.32 Middle Chinese codas are lost and rù tone syllables with
different codas merge 285
7.33 Interference between two changes to the Middle Chinese velar
nasal initial 285
7.34 Rank-II syllables merged with different finals based on rhyme
and place of articulation of the initial 286
7.35 The Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn merge between Rank-III and Rank-IV
syllables 286
7.36 A comparison of chóngniǔ contrasts (Middle Chinese IIIa
and IIIb) present in reflexes of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn and
modern Beijing dialect 287
7.37 The contrast of Rank-II and Rank-III syllables in the Zhōngyuán
Yīnyùn 288
7.38 The syllables of the chē-zhē rhyme group 289
7.39 A correspondence table showing the Beijing dialect reflexes
of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn chē-zhē rhyme 289
7.40 Contrasts between the -m and -n coda that remained in the
Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 290
7.41 Contrasts of the jiān-tuán distinction 291
7.42 A four-stage process resulting in the merging of velars and
coronals in front of high vowels 291
7.43 The pronunciation of Mǎ Zhìyuǎn’s Qiūsī in the
Mandarin of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn compared with Modern
Mandarin 292
8.1 The Persian letters present in the Mài Jué and their IPA values 295
8.2 A comparison of transcriptions of voiceless aspirated and
unaspirated Middle Chinese initials into Persian script in various
personal names 297
8.3 Persian transcriptions follow the same devoicing pattern present
in Mandarin 297
8.4 A loss of the yí 疑 initial is evident in the History of China 298
8.5 Examples highlighting the non-rhotic transcription of the Middle
Chinese rì 日 initial in the History of China 298
8.6 Character èr 二 transcribed as a rhotacized vowel 298
xxvi List of Tables

8.7 Different renderings of hP’ags-pa ʋ- initial 299

8.8 History of China features _ a lack of rù syllable stop codas 300
8.9 Rù syllables transcribed with ‹ h › and ‹ q › endings 300
8.10 Transcription of high central vowels 301
8.11 Zero form of vowels -e and -ɛ 301
8.12 A series of rù syllables in the Persian Mài Jué that maintain
their coda in transcription 305
8.13 A transcription of the Rènfù Shānghán Gē 305
8.14 Middle Chinese codas and their transcriptions in the Persian
Mài Jué 306
8.15 Chinese characters with different transcriptions in the Persian
Mài Jué 307
8.16 Phonological attributes of the PMJ-1; contrast with Table 8.17 309
8.17 Phonological attributes of the PMJ-2; contrast with Table 8.16 310
8.18 A comparison of characters across phonological attributes of
the Persian Mài Jué, along with modern Beijing, modern
Guangzhou, and the dialect of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 311
8.19 A compact generalization of the phonological attributes
shown in Table 8.18 312
8.20 A comparison of Beijing and Suzhou dialects, reflecting the
differences in rì 日 initial syllables and Rank-II kāikǒu
syllables 314
9.1 The thirty-one initials of the Hóngwǔ Zhèngyùn 322
9.2 The relationship between Hangul letters, the intrinsic values
of Hangul, and Ming Chinese values 323
9.3 The phonetic values of the finals in the Hóngwǔ Zhèngyùn Yìxùn 324
9.4 A final chart of the Hóngwǔ Zhèngyùn Yìxùn 324
9.5 A comparison of the zhī 支 rhyme before and after the split 327
9.6 A comparison of the modern Beijing and Hefei dialects 327
9.7 Zǎo Méi poem with phonetic values and pinyin 328
9.8 By reorganizing the characters of Zǎo Méi, the initial system of
the Ming dynasty is illuminated 329
9.9 Conditional variants of zhī 枝, chūn 春, and shàng 上 initials 329
9.10 Rhyme groups of the Yùnluè Yìtōng and their respective finals 330
9.11 Examples of the mergers in Běnwù’s revision 331
9.12 The loss of the palatal medial -j- after retroflex initials 331
9.13 The contrast of the rù syllables in Mandarin dialects 332
9.14 In a retroflex initial environment, -i becomes centralized,
and merges with -ɨ syllables 332
9.15 The main vowel system of the Yùnluè Yìtōng 333
 List of Tables xxvii

9.16 A final chart representing the phonological system of the

Yùnluè Yìtōng 333
9.17 The tonal system of the Yùnluè Yìtōng 333
9.18 Yīnpíng and yángpíng syllables as in the Yùnluè Yìtōng 333
9.19 The initial system of the Sìshēng Tōngjiě 335
9.20 Some of the exceptional words 336
9.21 The phonetic transcriptions of finals in the Sìshēng Tōngjiě 336
9.22 A final chart of the Chinese phonology based on the Hangul
spellings 337
9.23 Rank-III syllables of the tōng 通 rhyme group in the súyīn and
the jīn súyīn 338
9.24 The merging of the dàng 宕 and jiāng 江 groups 338
9.25 The change of syllables with final -jaj 339
9.26 The change of syllables with final -waw 339
9.27 The merger of Rank-II and Rank-III/IV syllables with coda
-n or -m 339
9.28 The merger of Rank-II and Rank-III/IV syllables with coda -w 339
9.29 The merger of Rank-II and Rank III/IV finals conditioned
by codas 340
9.30 The change of words with final -iw 340
9.31 Tone sandhi as explained in the Sìshēng Tōngjiě 341
9.32 Tone sandhi for longer phrases 341
9.33 The dialogue as presented in Figure 9.2, with pinyin and gloss 342
9.34 Initials of the Xīrú Ěrmù Zī 345
9.35 Initial chart of the Xīrú Ěrmù Zī 345
9.36 Some examples of finals transcribed by Trigault 346
9.37 The spellings of each of the fifty final tables as written in the
Xīrú Ěrmù Zī 346
9.38 The phonetic interpretations of the spellings in the fifty final
tables of the Xīrú Ěrmù Zī 347
9.39 The phonetic interpretations (fifty-four finals) of the spellings
in the fifty final tables of the Xīrú Ěrmù Zī, arranged by medial
and rime 348
9.40 Phonetic features of central vowels and other relevant vowels 349
9.41 Medials, main vowels, and codas of Trigault’s Xīrú Ěrmù Zī 349
9.42 The tones of the Xīrú Ěrmù Zī 349
9.43 The twenty-two initials given in the Děngyùn Tújīng 350
9.44 The nineteen actual initials of the Děngyùn Tújīng 351
9.45 The merger of k- initial series and ts- initial series 351
9.46 Three possible contrasts between the two initial groups 351
xxviii List of Tables

9.47 The change order of the palatalization from Middle Chinese to

Modern Mandarin 352
9.48 The change order of palatalization from Middle Chinese to
modern Zhongyuan Mandarin 353
9.49 The centralization of main vowel i after retroflex initials 353
9.50 The change of front vowels after retroflex initials 353
9.51 The loss of palatal medial -j- after retroflex initials 354
9.52 The thirteen rhyme groups of the Děngyùn Tújīng 355
9.53 A comparison of the rhyme groups of the Děngyùn Tújīng
and of the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn 355
9.54 Medials, main vowels, and codas of the Děngyùn Tújīng 356
9.55 Some examples of the zhī 知 and zhào 照 initials merger 357
9.56 Some examples of the wēi 微 and yǐng 影 initials merger 357
9.57 Some examples of the loss of the yí 疑 initial merger 357
9.58 The rounded central vowel of the Děngyùn Tújīng 358
9.59 The change of the rounded central vowel 358
10.1 Examples of the jiān-tuán héliú 361
10.2 The merging process of jiān (ts- group) and tuán (k- group)
initials 361
10.3 The complementary distribution of the tɕ-group and other initial
groups 361
10.4 An example of the new fǎnqiè method of the Yīnyùn Chǎnwēi 368
10.5 A schematic illustration of the new fǎnqiè method of the
Yīnyùn Chǎnwēi 369
10.6 A correspondence table showing a comparison of the Yü-yen
tzu-êrh chi with modern pinyin, and accompanying IPA 372
10.7 The orthographical difference of the alveolar and retroflex
initials 372
10.8 The retroflex serials and palatal series represented by the same
letters, ch and chʻ 373
10.9 The Yü-yen tzǔ-êrh chi finals in comparison with Modern
Standard Mandarin in pinyin spelling 374
10.10 The Yü-yen tzǔ-êrh chi multiple readings of jiǎo 角, què 卻,
lüè 略 374
10.11 The Yü-yen tzǔ-êrh chi multiple readings of jué 爵, què 卻,
lüè 略 374
10.12 Labial initial or initial-less syllables with êng finals 375
10.13 The tonal pitch of the four tones described as different
intonations 376
10.14 -rh as a suffix of the preceding syllable 376
10.15 Some examples of characters with multiple readings 377
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
 AFRICAN WARBLERS.

“We left old Hassan the next day, for the prosecution of the work
of the expedition, feeling much happier than we had felt for many a
day. Desertions had now ceased, and there remained in chains but
one incorrigible, whom I had apprehended twice after twice
deserting. Bombay and his sympathizers were now beginning to
perceive that after all there was not much danger—at least not as
much as the Arabs desired us to believe—and he was heard
expressing his belief in his broken English that I would ‘catch the
Tanganyika after all,’ and the standing joke was now that we could
smell the fish of the Tanganyika Lake, and that we could not be far
from it. New scenes also met the eye. Here and there were
upheaved above the tree tops sugar-loaf hills, and, darkly blue, west
of us loomed up a noble ridge of hills which formed the boundary
between Kamirambo’s territory and that of Utende. Elephant tracks
became numerous, and buffalo met the delighted eyes everywhere.
Crossing the mountainous ridge of Mwaru, with its lengthy slope
slowly descending westward, the vegetation became more varied
and the outlines of the land before us became more picturesque. We
became sated with the varieties of novel fruit which we saw hanging
thickly on trees. There was the mbembu, with the taste of an over
ripe peach; the tamarind pod and beans, with their grateful acidity,
resembling somewhat the lemon in its flavor. The matonga, or nux
vomica, was welcome, and the luscious singwe, the plum of Africa,
was the most delicious of all. There were wild plums like our own,
and grapes unpicked long past their season, and beyond eating.
Guinea fowls, the moorhen, ptarmigans and ducks supplied our
table; and often the lump of a buffalo or an extravagant piece of
venison filled our camp kettles. My health was firmly established.
The faster we prosecuted our journey the better I felt. I had long
bidden adieu to the nauseous calomel and rhubarb compounds, and
had become quite a stranger to quinine. There was only one
drawback to it all, and that was the feeble health of the Arab boy
Selim, who was suffering from an attack of acute dysentery, caused
by inordinate drinking of the bad water of the pools at which we had
camped between Manyara and Mrera. But judicious attendance and
Dover’s powders brought the boy round again.
“Mrera, in Ukonongo, nine days southwest of the Gombe Mellah,
brought to our minds the jungle habitats of the Wawkwere on the
coast, and an ominous sight to travellers were the bleached skulls of
men which adorned the tops of tall poles before the gates of the
village. The Sultan of Mrera and myself became fast friends after he
had tasted of my liberality.
 CROSSING A LAGOON.

“After a halt of three days at this village, for the benefit of the
Arab boy, we proceeded westerly, with the understanding that we
should behold the waters of the Tanganyika within ten days.
Traversing a dense forest of young trees, we came to a plain dotted
with scores of ant hills. Their uniform height (about seven feet high
above the plain) leads me to believe that they were constructed
during an unusually wet season, and when the country was
inundated for a long time in consequence. The surface of the plain
also bore the appearance of being subject to such inundations.
Beyond this plain about four miles we came to a running stream of
purest water—a most welcome sight after so many months spent by
brackish pools and nauseous swamps. Crossing the stream, which
ran northwest, we immediately ascended a steep and lofty ridge,
whence we obtained a view of grand and imposing mountains, of
isolated hills, rising sheer to great heights from a plain stretching far
into the heart of Ufipa, cut up by numerous streams flowing into the
Rungwa River, which during the rainy season overflows this plain and
forms the lagoon set down by Speke as the Rikwa. We continued still
westward, crossing many a broad stretch of marsh and oozy bed of
mellahs, whence rose the streams that formed the Rungwa some
forty miles south.
“At a camping place beyond Mrera we heard enough from some
natives who visited us to assure us that we were rushing to our
destruction if we still kept westward. After receiving hints of how to
evade the war-stricken country in our front, we took a road leading
north-northwest. While continuing on this course we crossed
streams running to the Rungwa south and others running directly
north to the Malagarazi, from either side of a lengthy ridge which
served to separate the country of Unyamwezi from Ukawendi. We
were also attracted for the first time by the lofty and tapering moule
tree, used on the Tanganyika Lake for the canoes of the natives,
who dwell on its shores. The banks of the numerous streams are
lined with dense growths of these shapely trees, as well as of
sycamore, and gigantic tamarinds, which rivalled the largest
sycamore in their breadth of shade. The undergrowth of bushes and
tall grass, dense and impenetrable, likely resorts of leopard and lion
and wild boar were enough to appal the stoutest heart. One of my
donkeys while being driven to water along a narrow path, hedged by
the awesome brake on either side, was attacked by a leopard, which
fastened its fangs in the poor animal’s neck, and it would have made
short work of it had not its companions set up such a braying chorus
as might well have terrified a score of leopards. And that same
night, while encamped contiguous to that limpid stream of Mtambu,
with that lofty line of enormous trees rising dark and awful above us,
the lions issued from the brakes beneath and prowled about the
well-set bush defence of our camp, venting their fearful clamor
without intermission until morning.
“Our camps by these thick belts of timber, peopled as they were
with wild beasts, my men never fancied. But Southern Ukawendi,
with its fair, lovely valleys and pellucid streams nourishing vegetation
to extravagant growth, density and height, is infested with troubles
of this kind. And it is probable, from the spread of this report among
the natives, that this is the cause of the scant population of one of
the loveliest countries Africa can boast. The fairest of California
scenery cannot excel, though it may equal, such scenes as Ukawendi
can boast of, and yet a land as large as the State of New York is
almost uninhabited. Days and days one may travel through primeval
forests, now ascending ridges overlooking broad, well watered
valleys, with belts of valuable timber crowning the banks of the
rivers, and behold exquisite bits of scenery—wild, fantastic,
picturesque and pretty—all within the scope of vision whichever way
one may turn. And to crown the glories of this lovely portion of
earth, underneath the surface but a few feet is one mass of iron ore,
extending across three degrees of longitude and nearly four of
latitude, cropping out at intervals, so that the traveller cannot remain
ignorant of the wealth lying beneath.
 AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE.

“What wild and ambitious projects fill a man’s brain as he looks

over the forgotten and unpeopled country, containing in its bosom
such store of wealth, and with such an expanse of fertile soil,
capable of sustaining millions! What a settlement one could have in
this valley! See, it is broad enough to support a large population!
Fancy a church spire rising where that tamarind rears its dark crown
of foliage and think how well a score or so of pretty cottages would
look instead of those thorn clumps and gum trees! Fancy this lovely
valley teeming with herds of cattle and fields of corn, spreading to
the right and left of this stream! How much better would such a
state become this valley, rather than its present deserted and wild
aspect! But be hopeful. The day will come and a future year will see
it, when happier lands have become crowded and nations have
become so overgrown that they have no room to turn about. It only
needs an Abraham or a Lot, an Alaric or an Attila to lead their hosts
to this land, which, perhaps, has been wisely reserved for such a
time.
“After the warning so kindly given by the natives soon after
leaving Mrera, in Ukonongo, five days’ marches brought us to Mrera,
in the district of Rusawa, in Ukawendi. Arriving here, we questioned
the natives as to the best course to pursue—should we make direct
for the Tanganyika or go north to the Malagarazi River? They advised
us to the latter course, though no Arab had ever taken it. Two days
through the forest, they said, would enable us to reach the
Malagarazi. The guide, who had by this forgotten our disagreement,
endorsed this opinion, as beyond the Malagarazi he was sufficiently
qualified to show the way. We laid in a stock of four days’ provisions
against contingencies, and bidding farewell to the hospitable people
of Rusawa, continued our journey northward.
“The scenery was getting more sublime every day as we advanced
northward, even approaching the terrible. We seemed to have left
the monotony of a desert for the wild, picturesque scenery of
Abyssinia and the terrible mountains of the Sierra Nevadas. I named
one tabular mountain, which recalled memories of the Abyssinian
campaign, Magdala, and as I gave it a place on my chart it became
of great use to me, as it rose so prominently into view that I was
enabled to lay down our route pretty accurately. The four days’
provisions we had taken with us were soon consumed, and still we
were far from the Malagarazi River. Though we eked out my own
stores with great care, as shipwrecked men at sea, these also gave
out on the sixth day, and still the Malagarazi was not in sight. The
country was getting more difficult for travel, owing to the numerous
ascents and descents we had to make in the course of a day’s
march. Bleached and bare, it was cut up by a thousand deep ravines
and intersected by a thousand dry water courses whose beds were
filled with immense sandstone rocks and boulders washed away
from the great heights which rose above us on every side. We were
not protected now by the shades of the forest, and the heat became
excessive and water became scarce. But we still held on our way,
hoping that each day’s march would bring us in sight of the long-
looked-for and much-desired Malagarazi. Fortunately we had filled
our bags and baskets with the forest peaches with which the forests
of Rusawa had supplied us, and these sustained us in this extremity.
“Proceeding on our road on the eighth day every thing we saw
tended to confirm us in the belief that food was at hand. After
travelling two hours, still descending rapidly towards a deep basin
which we saw, the foremost of the expedition halted, attracted by
the sight of a village situated on a table-topped mountain on our
right. The guide told us it must be that of the son of Nzogera, of
Uvinza. We followed a road leading to the foot of the mountain, and
camped on the edge of an extensive morass. Though we fired guns
to announce our arrival, it was unnecessary, for the people were
already hurrying to our camps to inquire about our intentions. The
explanation was satisfactory, but they said that they had taken us to
be enemies, few friends having ever come along our road. In a few
minutes there was an abundance of meat and grain in the camp,
and the men’s jaws were busy in the process of mastication.
“During the whole of the afternoon we were engaged upon the
terms Nzogera’s son exacted for the privilege of passing through his
country. We found him to be the first of a tribute-taking tribe which
subsequently made much havoc in the bales of the expedition.
Seven and a half doti of cloth were what we were compelled to pay,
whether we returned or proceeded on our way. After a day’s halt we
proceeded under the guidance of two men granted to me as
qualified to show the way to the Malagarazi River. We had to go
east-northeast for a considerable time in order to avoid the morass
that lay directly across the country that intervened between the
triangular mountain on whose top Nzogera’s son dwelt. This marsh
drains three extensive ranges of mountains which, starting from the
westward, separated only by two deep chasms from each other, run
at wide angles—one southeast, one northeast, and the other
northwest. From a distance this marsh looks fair enough; stately
trees at intervals rise seemingly from its bosom, and between them
one catches glimpses of a lovely champaign, bounded by
perpendicular mountains, in the far distance. After a wide detour we
struck straight for this marsh, which presented to us another novelty
in the watershed of the Tanganyika.
“Fancy a river broad as the Hudson at Albany, though not near so
deep or swift, covered over by water plants and grasses, which had
become so interwoven and netted together as to form a bridge
covering its entire length and breadth, under which the river flowed
calm and deep below. It was over this natural bridge we were
expected to cross. Adding to the tremor which one naturally felt at
having to cross this frail bridge was the tradition that only a few
yards higher up an Arab and his donkey, thirty-five slaves and
sixteen tusks of ivory had suddenly sunk forever out of sight. As
one-half of our little column had already arrived at the centre, we on
the shore could see the network of grass waving on either side, in
one place like to the swell of a sea after a storm, and in another like
a small lake violently ruffled by a squall. Hundreds of yards away
from them it ruffled, and undulated one wave after another. As we
all got on it we perceived it to sink about a foot, forcing the water on
which it rested into the grassy channel formed by our footsteps. One
of my donkeys broke through, and it required the united strength of
ten men to extricate him. The aggregate weight of the donkey and
men caused that portion of the bridge on which they stood to sink
about two feet and a circular pool of water was formed, and I
expected every minute to see them suddenly sink out of sight.
Fortunately we managed to cross the treacherous bridge without
accident.
“Arriving on the other side, we struck north, passing through a
delightful country, in every way suitable for agricultural settlements
or happy mission stations. The primitive rock began to show itself
anew in eccentric clusters, as a flat-topped rock, on which the
villages of the Wavinza were seen and where the natives prided
themselves on their security and conducted themselves accordingly,
ever insolent and forward. We were halted every two or three miles
by the demand for tribute, which we did not, because we could not,
pay.
“On the second day after leaving Nzogera’s son we commenced a
series of descents, the deep valleys on each side of us astonishing
us by their profundity, and the dark gloom prevailing below, amid
their wonderful dense forests of tall trees, and glimpses of plains
beyond, invited sincere admiration. In about a couple of hours we
discovered the river we were looking for below, at the distance of a
mile, running like a silver vein through a broad valley. Halting at
Kiala’s, eldest son of Nzogera, the principal Sultan of Uvinza, we
waited an hour to see on what terms he would ferry us over the
Malagarazi. As we could not come to a definite conclusion respecting
them we were obliged to camp in his village.
“Until three o’clock P. M. the following day continued the
negotiations for ferrying us across the Malagarazi, consisting of
arguments, threats, quarrels, loud shouting and stormy debate on
both sides. Finally, six doti and ten fundo of sami-sami beads were
agreed upon. After which we marched to the ferry, distant half a
mile from the scene of so much contention. The river at this place
was not more than thirty yards broad, sluggish and deep; yet I
would prefer attempting to cross the Mississippi by swimming rather
than the Malagarazi. Such another river for the crocodiles, cruel as
death, I cannot conceive. Their long, tapering heads dotted the river
everywhere, and though I amused myself, pelting them with two-
ounce balls, I made no effect on their numbers. Two canoes had
discharged their live cargo on the other side of the river when the
story of Captain Burton’s passage across the Malagarazi higher up
was brought vividly to my mind by the extortions which Mutware
now commenced.
 A FLOATING ALLIGATOR.

“Two marches from Malagarazi brought us to Uhha. Kawanga was

the first place in Uhha where we halted. It is the village where
resides the first mutware, or chief, to whom caravans have to pay
tribute. To this man we paid twelve and a half doti, upon the
understanding that we would have to pay no more between here
and Ujiji. We left Kawanga cheerfully enough. The country undulated
gently before us like the prairie of Nebraska, as devoid of trees
almost as our plains. The top of every wave of land enabled us to
see the scores of villages which dotted its surface, though it required
keen eyes to detect at a distance the beehived and straw-thatched
huts from the bleached grass of the plain.
“Pursuing our way next day, after a few hours’ march, we came to
Kahirigi, and quartered ourselves in a large village, governed over by
Mionvu’s brother, who had already been advised by Mionvu of the
windfall in store for him. This man, as soon as we had set the tent,
put in a claim for thirty doti, which I was able to reduce, after much
eloquence, lasting over five hours, to twenty-six doti. I saw my fine
array of bales being reduced fast. Four more such demands as
Mionvu’s would leave me, in unclassic phrase, ‘cleaned out.’
 “After paying this last tribute, as it was night, I closed my tent,
and, lighting my pipe, began to think seriously upon my position and
how to reach Ujiji without paying more tribute. It was high time to
resort either to a battle or to a strategy of some kind, possibly to
striking into the jungle; but there was no jungle in Uhha, and a man
might be seen miles off on its naked plains. At least this last was the
plan most likely to succeed without endangering the prospects
almost within reach of the expedition. Calling the guide, I questioned
him as to its feasibility. He said there was a Mguana, a slave of Thani
Bin Abdullah, in the Coma, with whom I might consult. Sending for
him, he presently came, and I began to ask him for how much he
would guide us out of Uhha without being compelled to pay any
more Muhongo. He replied that it was a hard thing to do, unless I
had complete control over my men and they could be got to do
exactly as I told them. When satisfied on this point he entered into
an agreement to show me a road—or rather to lead me to it—that
might be clear of all habitations as far as Ujiji for twelve doti, paid
beforehand. The cloth was paid to him at once.
“At half-past two A. M. the men were ready, and, stealing silently
past the huts, the guide opened the gates, and we filed out one by
one as quickly as possible. At dawn we crossed the swift Zunuzi,
which flowed southward into the Malagarazi, after which we took a
northwesterly direction through a thick jungle of bamboo. There was
no road, and behind us we left but little trail on the hard, dry
ground. At eight A. M. we halted for breakfast, having marched
nearly six hours, within the jungle, which stretched for miles around
us.
“At ten A. M. we resumed our journey, and after three hours
camped at Lake Musuma, a body of water which during the rainy
season has a length of three miles and a breadth of two miles. It is
one of a group of lakes which fill deep hollows in the plain of Uhha.
They swarm with hippopotami, and their shores are favorite resorts
of large herds of buffalo and game. The eland and buffalo especially
are in large numbers here, and the elephant and rhinoceros are
exceedingly numerous. We saw several of these, but did not dare to
fire. On the second morning after crossing the Sunuzi and Rugufu
Rivers, we had just started from our camp, and as there was no
moonlight the head of the column came to a village, whose
inhabitants, as we heard a few voices, were about starting. We were
all struck with consternation, but, consulting with the guide, we
despatched our goats and chickens, and leaving them in the road,
faced about, retraced our steps, and after a quarter of an hour
struck up a ravine, and descending several precipitous places, about
half-past six o’clock found ourselves in Ukaranga—safe and free from
all tribute taking Wahha.
“Exultant shouts were given—equivalent to the Anglo-Saxon
hurrah—upon our success. Addressing the men, I asked them, ‘Why
should we halt when but a few hours from Ujiji? Let us march a few
hours more and to-morrow we shall see the white man at Ujiji, and
who knows but this may be the man we are seeking? Let us go on,
and after to-morrow we shall have fish for dinner and many days’
rest afterwards, every day eating the fish of the Tanganyika. Stop; I
think I smell the Tanganyika fish even now.’ This speech was hailed
with what the newspapers call ‘loud applause; great cheering,’ and
‘Ngema—very well, master;’ ‘Hyah Barak-Allah—Onward, and the
blessing of God be on you.’
“We strode from the frontier at the rate of four miles an hour, and,
after six hours’ march, the tired caravan entered the woods which
separate the residence of the Chief of Ukaranga from the villages on
the Mkuti River. As we drew near the village we went slower,
unfurled the American and Zanzibar flags, presenting quite an
imposing array. When we came in sight of Nyamtaga, the name of
the Sultan’s residence, and our flags and numerous guns were seen,
the Wakaranga and their Sultan deserted their village en masse, and
rushed into the woods, believing that we were Mirambo’s robbers,
who, after destroying Unyanyembe, were come to destroy the Arabs
and bunder of Ujiji; but he and his people were soon reassured, and
came forward to welcome us with presents of goats and beer, all of
which were very welcome after the exceedingly lengthy marches we
had recently undertaken.
“Rising at early dawn our new clothes were brought forth again
that we might present as decent an appearance as possible before
the Arabs of Ujiji, and my helmet was well chalked and a new
puggeree folded around it, my boots were well oiled and my white
flannels put on, and altogether, without joking, I might have paraded
the streets of Bombay without attracting any very great attention.
“A couple of hours brought us to the base of a hill, from the top of
which the Kirangozi said we could obtain a view of the great
Tanganyika Lake. Heedless of the rough path or of the toilsome
steep, spurred onward by the cheery promise, the ascent was
performed in a short time. On arriving at the top we beheld it at last
from the spot whence, probably, Burton and Speke looked at it—‘the
one in a half paralyzed state, the other almost blind.’ Indeed, I was
pleased at the sight; and, as we descended, it opened more and
more into view until it was revealed at last into a grand inland sea,
bounded westward by an appalling and black-blue range of
mountains, and stretching north and south without bounds, a gray
expanse of water.
“From the western base of the hill was a three hours’ march,
though no march ever passed off so quickly. The hours seemed to
have been quarters, we had seen so much that was novel and rare
to us who had been travelling so long on the highlands. The
mountains bounding the lake on the eastward, receded and the lake
advanced. We had crossed the Ruche, or Linche, and its thick belt of
tall matete grass. We had plunged into a perfect forest of them, and
had entered into the cultivated fields which supply the port of Ujiji
with vegetables, etc., and we stood at last on the summit of the last
hill of the myriads we had crossed, and the port of Ujiji, embowered
in palms, with the tiny waves of the silver waters of the Tanganyika
rolling at its feet was directly below us.
“We are now about descending—in a few minutes we shall have
reached the spot where we imagine the object of our search—our
fate will soon be decided. No one in that town knows we are
coming; least of all do they know we are so close to them. If any of
them ever heard of the white man at Unyanyembe they must believe
we are there yet. We shall take them all by surprise, for no other but
a white man would dare leave Unyanyembe for Ujiji with the country
in such a distracted state—no other but a crazy white man whom
Sheik, the son of Nasib is going to report to Syed or Burghash for
not taking his advice.
“Well, we are but a mile from Ujiji now, and it is high time we
should let them know a caravan is coming; so ‘Commence firing’ is
the word passed along the length of the column, and gladly do they
begin. They have loaded their muskets half full, and they roar like
the broadside of a line-of-battle ship. Down go the ramrods, sending
huge charges home to the breech, and volley after volley is fired.
The flags are fluttered; the banner of America is in front waving
joyfully; the guide is in the zenith of his glory. The former residents
of Zanzita will know it directly, and will wonder—as well they may—
as to what it means. Never were the Stars and Stripes so beautiful to
my mind—the breeze of the Tanganyika has such an effect on them.
The guide blows his horn, and the shrill, wild clangor of it is far and
near; and still the cannon muskets tell the noisy seconds. By this
time the Arabs are fully alarmed; the natives of Ujiji, Waguhha,
Warundi, Wanguana, and I know not whom, hurry up by the
hundreds to ask what it all means—this fusilading, shouting, and
blowing of horns and flag flying. There are Yambos shouted out to
me by the dozen, and delighted Arabs have run up breathlessly to
shake my hands and ask anxiously where I came from. But I have
no patience with them. The expedition goes far too slow. I should
like to settle the vexed question by one personal view. Where is he?
Has he fled?
 WARLIKE DEMONSTRATIONS.

“Suddenly a man—a black man—at my elbow shouts in English,

‘How do you sir?’
“‘Hello! who are you?’ ‘I am the servant of Dr. Livingstone,’ he
says; but before I can ask any more questions he is running like a
madman toward the town.
“We have at last entered the town. There are hundreds of people
around me—I might say thousands without exaggeration, it seems
to me. It is a grand triumphal procession. As we move they move.
All eyes are drawn towards us. The expedition at last comes to a
halt; the journey is ended for a time; but I alone have a few more
steps to make.
“There is a group of the most respectable Arabs, and as I come
nearer I see the white face of an old man among them. He has a
cap with a gold band around it, his dress is a short jacket of red
blanket cloth and pants. I am shaking hands with him. We raise our
hats, and I say:—
“Dr. Livingstone, I presume?
 “And he says, ‘Yes.’
“Finis coronat opus.”
And thus was the goal won after long and toilsome and dangerous
journeyings, many hundred miles of them never before looked upon
by the eye of white man. It was a triumph magnificently
demonstrating the progress of humanity, science, and civilization;
and it must be universally regarded as an achievement remarkably
and most happily representative of the spirit of the age, since it was
accomplished, not by the power and wealth of prince, or potentate,
or government, but by the irrepressible enterprise of an American
Newspaper.
 CHAPTER IX.
LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY IN AFRICA.

The Great Explorer as a Companion — His Missionary Labors — The Story of His
Latest Explorations — The Probable Sources of the Nile — Great Lakes and
Rivers — The Country and People of Central Africa — A Race of African Amazons
— Slave Trade — A Horrid Massacre — The Discoverer Plundered.

Mr. Stanley, rather contrary, it would seem, to his expectations,

found Dr. Livingstone an exceedingly companionable and agreeable
gentleman. He had been led to suppose that the explorer of Africa
was haughty and reserved in manner. Instead, he found him
hospitable, most generous, and as open and unaffected as a child.
He deferred reading his own letters, brought by Mr. Stanley, until he
had the general news of the world during the long period in which
he had been “lost.” Then, he read of home, and gave the
commander of the “Herald” expedition an account of his
explorations. The result of these interviews is contained in a letter
dated at Bunder Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, December 26, 1871, from
which we largely extract as follows:
“The goal was won. Finis coronat opus. I might here stop very
well—for Livingstone was found—only the ‘Herald’ I know will not be
satisfied with one story, so I will sit down to another; a story so
interesting, because he, the great traveller, the hero Livingstone,
tells most of it himself.
“Together we turned our faces towards his tembe. He pointed to
the veranda of his house, which was an unrailed platform, built of
mud, covered by wide overhanging eaves. He pointed to his own
particular seat, on a carpet of goatskins spread over a thick mat of
palm leaf. I protested against taking his seat, but he insisted, and I
yielded. We were seated, the Doctor and I, with our back to the
wall, the Arabs to our right and left and in front, the natives forming
a dark perspective beyond. Then began conversation; I forget what
about; possibly about the road I took from Unyanyembe, but I am
not sure. I know the Doctor was talking, and I was answering
mechanically. I was conning the indomitable, energetic, patient and
persevering traveller, at whose side I now sat in Central Africa. Every
hair of his head and beard, every line and wrinkle of his face, the
wan face, the fatigued form, were all imparting the intelligence to
me which so many men so much desired. It was deeply interesting
intelligence and unvarnished truths these mute but certain witnesses
gave. They told me of the real nature of the work in which he was
engaged. Then his lips began to give me the details—lips that
cannot lie. I could not repeat what he said. He had so much to say
that he began at the end, seemingly oblivious of the fact that nearly
six years had to be accounted for. But the story came out bit by bit,
unreservedly—as unreservedly as if he was conversing with Sir R.
Murchison, his true friend and best on earth. The man’s heart was
gushing out, not in hurried sentences, in rapid utterances, in quick
relation—but in still and deep words. A happier companion, a truer
friend than the traveller, I could not wish for. He was always polite—
with a politeness of the genuine kind—and this politeness never
forsook him for an instant even in the midst of the most rugged
scenes and greatest difficulties. Upon my first introduction to him
Livingstone was to me like a huge tome, with a most unpretending
binding. Within, the book might contain much valuable lore and
wisdom, but its exterior gave no promise of what was within. Thus
outside Livingstone gave no token—except of being rudely dealt with
by the wilderness—of what element of power or talent lay within. He
is a man of unpretending appearance enough, has quiet, composed
features, from which the freshness of youth has quite departed, but
which retains the mobility of prime age just enough to show that
there yet lives much endurance and vigor within his frame. The
eyes, which are hazel, are remarkably bright, not dimmed in the
least, though the whiskers and mustache are very gray. The hair,
originally brown, is streaked here and there with gray over the
temples, otherwise it might belong to a man of thirty. The teeth
above show indications of being worn out. The hard fare of Londa
and Manyema have made havoc in their ranks. His form is stoutish,
a little over the ordinary in height, with slightly bowed shoulders.
When walking he has the heavy step of an overworked and fatigued
man. On his head he wears the naval cap, with a round vizor, with
which he has been identified throughout Africa. His dress shows that
at times he has had to resort to the needle to repair and replace
what travel has worn. Such is Livingstone externally.

THE DISCOVERY OF LIVINGSTONE.

“Of the inner man much more may be said than of the outer. As
he reveals himself, bit by bit, to the stranger, a great many favorable
points present themselves, any of which taken singly might well
dispose you toward him. I had brought him a packet of letters, and
though I urged him again and again to defer conversation with me
until he had read the news from home and children, he said he
would defer reading until night; for the time he would enjoy being
astonished by the European and any general world news I could
communicate. He had acquired the art of being patient long ago, he
said, and he had waited so long for letters that he could well afford
to wait a few hours more. So we sat and talked on that humble
veranda of one of the poorest houses in Ujiji. Talked quite oblivious
of the large concourse of Arabs, Wanguana, and Wajiji, who had
crowded around to see the new comer.
“The hours of that afternoon passed most pleasantly—few
afternoons of my life more so. It seemed to me as if I had met an
old, old friend. There was a friendly or good-natured abandon about
Livingstone which was not lost on me. As host, welcoming one who
spoke his language, he did his duties with a spirit and style I have
never seen elsewhere. He had not much to offer, to be sure, but
what he had was mine and his. The wan features which I had
thought shocked me at first meeting, the heavy step which told of
age and hard travel, the gray beard and stooping shoulders belied
the man. Underneath that aged and well spent exterior lay an
endless fund of high spirits, which now and then broke out in peals
of hearty laughter—the rugged frame enclosed a very young and
exuberant soul. The meal—I am not sure but what we ate three
meals that afternoon—was seasoned with innumerable jokes and
pleasant anecdotes, interesting hunting stories, of which his friends
Webb, Oswell, Vardon, and Cumming (Gordon Cumming) were
always the chief actors. ‘You have brought me new life,’ he said
several times, so that I was not sure but that there was some little
hysteria in this joviality and abundant animal spirits, but as I found it
continued during several weeks I am now disposed to think it
natural.
“Another thing which specially attracted my attention was his
wonderfully retentive memory. When we remember the thirty years
and more he has spent in Africa, deprived of books, we may well
think it an uncommon memory that can recite whole poems of
Burns, Byron, Tennyson, and Longfellow. Even the poets Whittier
and Lowell were far better known to him than me. He knew an
endless number of facts and names of persons connected with
America much better than I, though it was my peculiar province as a
journalist to have known them.
“Dr. Livingstone is a truly pious man—a man deeply imbued with
real religious instincts. The study of the man would not be complete
if we did not take the religious side of his character into
consideration. His religion, any more than his business, is not of the
theoretical kind—simply contenting itself with avowing its peculiar
creed and ignoring all other religions as wrong or weak. It is of the
true, practical kind, never losing a chance to manifest itself in a
quiet, practical way—never demonstrative or loud. It is always at
work, if not in deed, by shining example. It is not aggressive, which
sometimes is troublesome and often impertinent. In him religion
exhibits its loveliest features. It governs his conduct towards his
servants, towards the natives and towards the bigoted Mussulmans
—all who come in contact with him. Without religion Livingstone,
with his ardent temperament, his enthusiastic nature, his high spirit
and courage, might have been an uncompanionable man and a hard
master. Religion has tamed all these characteristics; nay, if he was
ever possessed of them, they have been thoroughly eradicated.
Whatever was crude or wilful religion has refined, and made him, to
speak the earnest, sober truth, the most agreeable of companions
and indulgent of masters. Every Sunday morning he gathers his little
flock around him and has prayers read, in the tone recommended by
Archbishop Whatley—viz, natural, unaffected, and sincere. Following
them he delivers a short address in the Kisawahiti language about
what he has been reading from the Bible to them, which is listened
to with great attention.
“When I first met the Doctor I asked him if he did not feel a desire
to visit his country and take a little rest. He had then been absent
about six years, and the answer he gave me freely shows what kind
of man he is. Said he:—
“‘I would like very much to go home and see my children once
again, but I cannot bring my heart to abandon the task I have
undertaken when it is so nearly completed. It only requires six or
seven months more to trace the true source that I have discovered
with Petherick’s branch of the White Nile, or with the Albert Nyanza
of Sir Samuel Baker. Why should I go before my task is ended, to
have to come back again to do what I can very well do now?’ ‘And
why,’ I asked, ‘did you come so far back without finishing the short
task which you say you have yet to do?’ ‘Simply because I was
forced; my men would not budge a step forward. They mutinied and
formed a secret resolution that if I still insisted on going on to raise
a disturbance in the country, and after they had effected it to
abandon me, in which case I should be killed. It was dangerous to
go any farther. I had explored six hundred miles of the watershed,
had traced all the principal streams which discharged their waters
into the central line of drainage, and when about starting to explore
the last one hundred miles the hearts of my people failed, and they
set about frustrating me in every possible way. Now, having returned
seven hundred miles to get a new supply of stores and another
escort, I find myself destitute of even the means to live but for a few
weeks, and sick in mind and body.’
“Again, about a week after I had arrived in Ujiji, I asked
Livingstone if he had examined the northern head of the Tanganyika.
He answered immediately he had not, and then asked if people
expected he had.
“‘I did try before setting out for Manyema,’ he said, ‘to engage
canoes and proceed northward, but I soon saw that the people were
all confederating to fleece me as they had Burton, and had I gone
under such circumstances I should not have been able to proceed to
Manyema to explore the central line of drainage, and of course the
most important line—far more important than the line of the
Tanganyika; for whatever connection there may be between the
Tanganyika and the Albert the true sources of the Nile are those
emptying into the central line of drainage. In my own mind I have
not the least doubt that the Rusizi River flows from this lake into the
Albert. For three months steadily I observed a current setting
northward. I verified it by means of water plants. When Speke gives
the altitude of the Tanganyika at only 1,880 feet above the sea I
imagine he must have fallen into the error by frequently writing the
Anno Domini, and thus made a slip of the pen; for the altitude is
over two thousand eight hundred feet by boiling point, though I
make it a little over three thousand feet by barometers. Thus you
see that there are no very great natural difficulties on the score of
altitude, and nothing to prevent the reasonable supposition that
there may be a water connection by means of the Rusizi or some
other river between the two lakes. Besides, the Arabs here are
divided in their statements. Some swear that the river goes out of
the Tanganyika, others that it flows into the Tanganyika.’
“Dr. Livingstone left the island of Zanzibar in March, 1866. On the
7th of the following month he departed from Mikindini Bay for the
interior, with an expedition consisting of twelve Sepoys from
Bombay, nine men from Johanna, of the Comoro Isles seven
liberated slaves and two Zambesi men (taking them as an
experiment), six camels, three buffaloes, two mules and three
donkeys. He thus had thirty men, twelve of whom—viz., the Sepoys
—were to act as guards for the expedition. They were mostly armed
with the Enfield rifles presented to the Doctor by the Bombay
Government. The baggage of the expedition consisted of ten bales
of cloth and two bags of beads, which were to serve as currency by
which they would be enabled to purchase the necessaries of life in
the countries the Doctor intended to visit. Besides the cumbrous
moneys they carried several boxes of instruments, such as
chronometers, air thermometers, sextant and artificial horizon, boxes
containing clothes, medicines, and personal necessaries.
“The expedition travelled up the left bank of the Rovuma River, a
route as full of difficulties as any that could be chosen. For miles
Livingstone and his party had to cut their way with their axes
through the dense and most impenetrable jungles which lined the
river’s banks. The road was a mere footpath, leading in the almost
erratic fashion, in and through the dense vegetation, seeking the
easiest outlet from it without any regard to the course it ran. The
pagazis were able to proceed easily enough, but the camels, on
account of their enormous height, could not advance a step without
the axes of the party first clearing the way. These tools of foresters
were almost always required, but the advance of the expedition was
often retarded by the unwillingness of the Sepoys and Johanna men
to work. Soon after the departure of the expedition from the coast
the murmurings and complaints of these men began, and upon
every occasion and at every opportunity they evinced a decided
hostility to an advance.
“The Doctor and his little party arrived on the 18th day of July,
1866, at a village belonging to a chief of the Mahiyaw, situated eight
days’ march south of the Rovuma and overlooking the watershed of
the Lake Nyassa. The territory lying between the Rovuma river and
this Mahiyaw chieftain was an uninhabited wilderness, during the
transit of which Livingstone and the expedition suffered considerably
from hunger and desertion of men.
“Early in August, 1866, the Doctor came to Mponda’s country, a
chief who dwelt near the Lake Nyassa. On the road thither two of
the liberated slaves deserted him. Here, also, Wakotani (not
Wikotani) a protege of the Doctor, insisted upon his discharge,
alleging as an excuse, which the Doctor subsequently found to be
untrue, that he had found his brother.”
Hence the explorer proceeded to the heel of Lake Nyassa where
there is a village of a Babisa chief. The chief was ill, and Doctor
Livingstone remained there for some time to give him medical aid. It
was here that he was deserted by his Johanna men, the chief of
whom, Ali Moosa (or Musa), pretended to give credence to a
mournful story of plunder perpetrated upon a certain half-caste Arab
who had been along the western shore of the lake. Though the
explorer gave no faith to the Arab story, he determined not to go
among the Ma-zitu, reported so hostile, and proceeded in a
southwestern course for a considerable distance. The
correspondent’s letter goes on to say:
“As soon as he turned his face westward Musa and the Johanna
men ran away in a body. The Doctor says, in commenting upon
Musa’s conduct, that he felt strongly tempted to shoot Musa and
another ringleader, but was nevertheless glad that he did not soil his
hands with their vile blood. A day or two afterwards another of his
men—Simon Price by name—came to the Doctor with the same tale
about the Ma-Zitu, but, compelled by the scant number of his people
to repress all such tendencies to desertion and faint-heartedness,
the Doctor ‘shut him up’ at once and forbade him to utter the name
of the Ma-Zitu any more. Had the natives not assisted him he must
have despaired of ever being able to penetrate the wild and
unexplored interior which he was now about to tread.
“‘Fortunately,’ as the Doctor says with unction, ‘I was in a country
now, after leaving the shores of the Nyassa, where the feet of the
slave trader had not trodden. It was a new and virgin land, and of
course, as I have always found it in such cases, the natives were
really good and hospitable, and for very small portions of cloth my
baggage was conveyed from village to village by them.’ In many
other ways the traveller in his extremity was kindly treated by the
undefiled and unspoiled natives. On leaving this hospitable region in
the early part of December, 1866, the Doctor entered a country
where the Mazitu had exercised their customary spoliating
propensities. The land was swept clean of all provisions and cattle,
and the people had emigrated to other countries beyond the bounds
of these ferocious plunderers. Again the expedition was besieged by
famine, and was reduced to great extremity. To satisfy the pinching
hunger it suffered it had recourse to the wild fruits which some parts
of the country furnished. At intervals the condition of the hard-
pressed band was made worse by the heartless desertion of some of
its members, who more than once departed with the Doctor’s
personal kit—changes of clothes and linen, etc. With more or less
misfortunes constantly dogging his footsteps, he traversed in safety
the countries of the Babisa, Bobemba, Barungu, Baulungu, and
Londa.
“In the country of Londa lives the famous Cazembe—made known
to Europeans first by Dr. Lacerda, the Portuguese traveller. Cazembe
is a most intelligent prince; is a tall, stalwart man, who wears a
peculiar kind of dress, made of crimson print, in the form of a
prodigious kilt. The mode of arranging it is most ludicrous. All the
folds of this enormous kilt are massed in front, which causes him to
look as if the peculiarities of the human body were reversed in his
case. The abdominal parts are thus covered with a balloon-like
expansion of cloth, while the lumbar region, which is by us jealously
clothed, with him is only half draped by a narrow curtain which by
no means suffices to obscure its naturally fine proportions. In this
state dress King Cazembe received Dr. Livingstone, surrounded by
his chiefs and body guards. A chief, who had been deputed by the
King and elders to find out all about the white man, then stood up
before the assembly, and in a loud voice gave the result of the
inquiry he had instituted. He had heard the white man had come to
look for waters, for rivers and seas. Though he did not understand
what the white man could want with such things, he had no doubt
that the object was good. Then Cazembe asked what the Doctor
proposed doing and where he thought of going. The Doctor replied
that he had thought of going south, as he had heard of lakes and
rivers being in that direction. Cazembe asked: ‘What can you want to
go there for? The water is close here. There is plenty of large water
in this neighborhood.’ Before breaking up the assembly Cazembe
gave orders to let the white man go where he would through his
country undisturbed and unmolested. He was the first Englishman
he had seen, he said, and he liked him.
“Shortly after his introduction to the King the Queen entered the
large house surrounded by a body guard of Amazons armed with
spears. She was a fine, tall, handsome young woman, and evidently
thought she was about to make a great impression upon the rustic
white man, for she had clothed herself after a most royal fashion,
and was armed with a ponderous spear. But her appearance, so
different from what the Doctor had imagined, caused him to laugh,
which entirely spoiled the effect intended, for the laugh of the
Doctor was so contagious that she herself was the first who
imitated, and the Amazons, courtier-like, followed suit. Much
disconcerted by this, the Queen ran back, followed by her obedient
damsels—a retreat most undignified and unqueenlike compared to
her majestic advent into the Doctor’s presence.
“Soon after his arrival in the country of Londa, or Lunda, and
before he had entered the district of Cazembe, he had crossed a
river called the Chambezi, which was quite an important stream. The
similarity of the name with that large and noble river south, which
will be forever connected with his name, misled Livingstone at that
time, and he accordingly did not pay it the attention it deserved,
believing that the Chambezi was but the head-waters of the
Zambezi, and consequently had no bearing or connection with the
sources of the river of Egypt, of which he was in search. His fault
was in relying too implicitly upon the correctness of Portuguese
information. This error cost him many months of tedious labor and
travel. But these travels and tedious labors of his in Londa and the
adjacent countries have established beyond doubt, first, that the
Chambezi is a totally distinct river from the Zambezi of the
Portuguese, and secondly, that the Chambezi, starting from about
latitude eleven degrees south, is none other than the most southerly
feeder of the great Nile, thus giving this famous river a length of
over two thousand six hundred miles of direct latitude, making it
second to the Mississippi, the longest river in the world. The real and
true name of the Zambezi is Dombazi. When Lacuda and his
Portuguese successors came to Cazembe, crossed the Chambezi and
heard its name, they very naturally set it down as ‘our own Zambezi,’
and without further inquiry sketched it as running in that direction.
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebooknice.com