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Guangyun

Chinese rime dictionary compiled during the Song dynasty

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ2189818
Source-derived summary

The Guangyun (Kuang-yun; traditional Chinese: 廣韻; simplified Chinese: 广韵; pinyin: Guǎngyùn; Wade–Giles: Kuang3-yün4; lit. 'Broad Rhymes') is a Chinese rhyme dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the patronage of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Its full name was Dà Sòng chóngxiū guǎngyùn (大宋重修廣韻, literally "Great Song revised and expanded rhymes"). Chen Pengnian (陳彭年, 961–1017) and Qiu Yong (邱雍) were the chief editors.

The dictionary is a revision and expansion of the influential Qieyun rhyme dictionary of 601, and was itself later revised as the Jiyun. Pingshui Yun system, the standard for poetry rhyming after the Song Dynasty, is also based on Guangyun. Until the discovery of an almost complete early 8th century edition of the Qieyun in 1947, the Guangyun was the most accurate available account of the Qieyun phonology, and was heavily used in early work on the reconstruction of Middle Chinese. It is still used as a major source.

The Guangyun has a similar hierarchical organization to the Qieyun:

The dictionary is split into four tones in five volumes, two for the Middle Chinese level tone (平聲) and one each for the three oblique tones, rising (上聲), departing (去聲) and entering (入聲).

Each tone is split into rhymes, with a total of 206 final rhymes, increased from 193 in the Qieyun.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Guangyun” as chinese rime dictionary compiled during the Song dynasty. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Guangyun, Chinese and rime.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1007, 1008, 1017, 1947—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Guangyun, Chinese and rime providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Guangyun”, the useful work is to connect “chinese rime dictionary compiled during the Song dynasty” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2189818. VIAF identifies the subject as 181446426. The Library of Congress control number is n81125768. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1007, 1008, 1017 and 1947.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Guangyun”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Guangyun primary sources, Guangyun archive and Guangyun research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Guangyun”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Guangyun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.