- Li Ruzhen
Li Ruzhen ( _zh. 李汝珍) (c.1763 - 1830),
courtesy name : Songshi (松石), was a Chinese novelist and phonologist of theQing Dynasty . A native ofBeijing , he is the author of the novel "Jing Hua Yuan" (鏡花緣), or "Flowers in the Mirror". He also wrote "Lishi Yinjian" (李氏音鑑), a work of Chinese phonology, and complied "Shou Zi Pu" (受子譜), a valuablekifu of Go.The "Jing Hua Yuan" is a novel of fantasy and erudition in 100 chapters. In the first half of the novel, the protagonist, like Gulliver, travels to strange lands, reminiscent of what are mentioned in "
Shan Hai Jing ". The second half of the novel is a display of Li's erudition, and reads more like an encyclopedia than a novel.The "Lishi Yinjian", in the line of the
rime table tradition, comprises syllable charts which are both innovative and confusing. Like Li's novel, it is a work of erudition, quoting from more than 400 works. It is valuable for its recording of the phonological system of the then Beijing dialect.References
*He Jiuying 何九盈 (1995). "Zhongguo gudai yuyanxue shi" (中囯古代语言学史 "A history of ancient Chinese linguistics"). Guangzhou: Guangdong jiaoyu chubanshe.
*Zhu Meishu 朱眉叔 (1992). "Li Ruzhen yu" Jing hua yuan (李汝珍與鏡花緣 "Li Ruzhen and "Flowers in the Mirror"). Shenyang: Liaoning jiaoyu chubanshe.
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