Zhongyuan Yinyun
1324 rime book by Zhou Deqing
Zhongyuan Yinyun (simplified Chinese: 中原音韵; traditional Chinese: 中原音韻; pinyin: Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn), literally meaning "Rhymes of the central plain", is a rime book from the Yuan dynasty compiled by Zhou Deqing (周德清) in 1324. An important work for the study of historical Chinese phonology, it testifies many phonological changes from Middle Chinese to Old Mandarin, such as the reduction and disappearance of final stop consonants and the reorganization of the Middle Chinese tones. Though often termed a "rime dictionary", the work does not provide meanings for its entries.
Background
Zhongyuan Yinyun continued the tradition of Qieyun and other rime books. However, due to the phonological changes that took place from the Sui dynasty to the Yuan dynasty, the information needed to be updated in accordance with the then phonological system.
From the middle of the 13th century to the end of the 14th century, Beiqu (北曲, Northern Verse) underwent quick development. The author of Sanqu, Zhou Deqing, delved into the research on Beiqu, discovering that it created many problems by not adhering to the rules of classical poetic composition. He thought that in order to better develop Beiqu, one would need to make a definite standard, especially in respect to language. According to his own experience, he was able to propose a set of rules for composing and reciting Běiqǔ, which came to be known as Zhongyuan Yinyun.
Structure
In the earlier rime books, characters are first grouped by tone, then by rime.
The public source identifies “Zhongyuan Yinyun” as 1324 rime book by Zhou Deqing. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Zhongyuan, Yinyun and rime.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2670736. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1324.
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This entry incorporates text from “Zhongyuan Yinyun” 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.