View source for Liding

{{Short description|Transcription of ancient Chinese script in clerical or regular scripts}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Multiple image
| total_width = 288
| image1 = 春-seal.svg
| caption1 = [[Small seal script]] given in the ''[[Shuowen Jiezi]]'' ({{circa|100&nbsp;AD}})
| image2 = 萅-regular.svg
| caption2 = Modern [[Ming_(typefaces)|Ming]]-style [[regular script]] typeface
| footer = Comparison of historical forms for {{nwr|{{lang|zh|春}} 'spring'}}
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| title = ''Liding''
| t = 隸定
| s = 隶定
| p = lìdìng
| j = dai6 ding6
| l = clerical fixing
| altname = ''Lixie''
| t2 = 隸寫
| s2 = 隶写
| p2 = lìxiě
| j2 = dai6 se2
| l2 = writing in clerical script
}}
{{Table Hanzi}}
'''''Liding''''', sometimes referred to as  '''''lixie''''', is the practice of rewriting ancient [[Chinese character]] forms in [[clerical script|clerical]] or [[regular script]]. ''Liding'' is often used in Chinese [[Textual scholarship|textual studies]].
== Terminology ==
During the [[Han dynasty]] (202&nbsp;BC{{snd}}220&nbsp;AD), the [[clerical script]] reached its matured form, in which Chinese characters became largely rectilinear and readily segmented into [[Stroke (CJK character)|strokes]]. The script in current use, the [[regular script]], inherited this feature. By comparison, the scripts prior to the maturity of the clerical script, including various scripts from the time period spanning the [[Shang dynasty]], the [[Zhou dynasty]], the [[Warring States period|Warring States era]] and the [[Qin dynasty]], employed more sinuous lines, less stable shapes, and more ambiguous stroke segments.<ref name=":1" />
This distinct difference in style, combined with the fact that the graphic structures of the characters have changed significantly over time, creates difficulty for character recognition and form analysis. ''Liding'' refers to the attempt to regularize the ancient scripts in clerical and post-clerical writing, so as to aid recognition of not only the characters themselves but their individual components. In ''An Outline of Grammatology'', Chinese paleographer [[Qiu Xigui]] defines ''liding'' as "the transcription of ancient script forms into clerical-style forms while preserving the shapes of the former".<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Qiu|first=Xigui|title=Chinese Writing|publisher=Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California|year=2000|isbn=9781557290717|location=|pages=|language=|translator-last=Norman|translator-first=Jerry|script-title=|trans-title=|translator-last2=Mattos|translator-first2=Gilbert L.}}</ref> The nomenclature ''clerically identified transcription'' is used by Chinese archaeologist [[Xing Wen]], who gives as its definition "...&nbsp;a traditional Chinese palaeographical practice for transcriptions of ancient inscriptions{{nbsp}}... [that] identifies the Clerical Script equivalent of the ancient character".<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Xing|first=Wen|title=Paleographic, Historical, and Intellectual History Approaches to Warring States Manuscripts Written on Bamboo Slips: A Review Article |year=2010|journal=Early China|volume=33/34|pages=233–262|jstor=24392449 |issn=0362-5028}}</ref>
Despite the literal meaning of the name, ''liding'' in modern studies renders the character forms into regular script,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Li |first=Shoukui|author-mask=Li Shoukui (李守奎)|date=2006-12-12|script-title=zh:《曹沬之陳》之隸定與古文字隸定方法初探|trans-title=The ''Liding'' in ''Cao Mei Zhi Chen'', and a Preliminary Study of ''Liding'' Methods of Ancient Scripts|url=http://www.bsm.org.cn/show_article.php?id=482|access-date=2021-11-28|website=武漢大學簡帛研究中心}}</ref> as it is what most modern writings and typefaces are based on. The term ''kaiding'' ({{zhi|t=楷定|l=identify in regular form}})<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Xiong|first1=Jiaquan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1243744916|last2=熊加全|date=2020|isbn=9787101140910|location=Beijing|language=zh|script-title=zh:《玉篇》疑難字考釋與研究|trans-title=The interpretation and research of difficult characters in Yu Pian|oclc=1243744916}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Zhang|first1=Yongquan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1153704687|title=Hanyu Suzi Cong Kao (Xiuding Ben)|last2=張湧泉|date=2020|isbn=978-7-101-13337-0|location=Beijing|language=zh|script-title=zh: 漢語俗字叢考|trans-title=A Comprehensive Study of Folk Variants of Chinese Characters|oclc=1153704687}}</ref> is occasionally used to specifically refer to ''liding'' in the style of regular script, albeit not as often. A character that is the result of ''liding'' of an ancient graph is called a {{'}}''liding'' character' ({{zhi|t=隸定字}}).
=== Broad and narrow ''liding'' ===
''Liding'' traditionally lacks a strictly-defined code of practice. While general definitions are given, Chinese palaeographers tends not to elaborate on methodological details.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Zhang|first1=Xiancheng|author1-mask=Zhang Xiancheng (張顯成);|last2=Li|first2=Zhenzhen|author2-mask=Li Zhenzhen (李真真)|script-title=zh:中西方简帛文献释读方法论比较研究|trans-title=A Comparative Study on the Chinese and Western Methodologies of Text Interpretation of the Silk and Bamboo Slips|journal=Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities|language=zh|year=2009}}</ref>
To qualify the strictness of transcriptions to the original graphs, the general terms ''broad liding''{{'}} ({{zhi|t=寬式隸定}}) and ''narrow liding'' ({{zhi|t=嚴式隸定}}), though they are not precisely defined.<ref name=":4" /> Li Shoukui proposes the distinction between ''liding'' by strokes and ''liding'' by components:
* ''Liding by strokes'' is the strictest form, converting the character to regular style while aiming to preserve every individual stroke in the graph, save that some stylistic details may be ignored. In practice, this method is used sparingly,often to preserve idiosyncrasies in certain graphs, or to transcribe unidentifiable characters. Even in the case of the latter, direct tracing is preferred over ''liding'' in order to avoid erroneous conversions.<ref name=":0" />
* In ''liding  by components'', the structure is preserved per component instead of stroke. More alternations are allowed, such as removing redundant strokes or completing ellipted parts. ''Liding'' by components is the main ''liding'' method, as it displays the composition of the graph in the most accessible manner.<ref name=":0" />
The following table provides some examples of ''liding.''
{| class="wikitable center"
! rowspan="2" scope="col" width="60px" | Seal form
! colspan="2" | ''Liding'' forms
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="max-width:fit-content" | Source
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Details
|-
! scope="col" width="60px"  | Possible
! scope="col" width="120px" | Actual
|-
| scope="row" | [[File:朕-seal.svg|28px|朕-seal]]
| [[File:朕-seal-yanshiliding.svg|28px]]
| {{zhi|c=朕}} {{transl|zh|zhèn}} 'I'
| ''[[Shuowen Jiezi]]''
| rowspan="2" |
* The shape {{zhi|c=灷}} became {{zhi|c=关}} after ''[[libian]]''. Characters that have this component may be transcribed either broadly as {{zhi|c=关}}, or narrowly as {{zhi|c=灷}}. The former transcription prioritizes correspondences between components, while the later prioritizes the original visual structure.
* {{kxr|辵|link=y}} is usually transformed into {{hani|⻌}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=辵|url=https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E8%BE%B5|access-date=2021-11-29|website=漢語多功能字庫 Multi-function Chinese Character Database}}</ref>
* The ''liding'' form demonstrates that the left-side radical of {{zhi|c=朕}} was originally {{kxr|舟}} instead of {{kxr|月}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=朕|url=https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E6%9C%95|access-date=2021-11-29|website=漢語多功能字庫 Multi-function Chinese Character Database}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=送|url=https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E9%80%81|access-date=2021-11-29|website=漢語多功能字庫 Multi-function Chinese Character Database}}</ref>
|-
| scope="row" | [[File:送-seal-.png|28px]]
| {{ubc|[[File:送-seal-liding.svg|28px]]|[[File:Song送.svg|28px]]}}
| style="text-align:left" | {{zhi|c=送}} {{transl|zh|sòng}} 'to see someone off'<ref name=":6" />
| rowspan="3" | [[Guodian Chu Slips]]
|-
| scope="row" | [[File:臤 - 郭.窮.2.png|28px|]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=小學堂字形|url=https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/char?fontcode=55.F2E1|access-date=2021-11-28|website=xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw}}</ref>
| {{ubc|[[File:漢字構造記述(IDS)「⿰臣𪠲」.svg|28px]]|[[File:国際符号化文字集合・ユニコード統合漢字_U+81E4「臤」.svg|28px]]}}<ref name=":0" />
| {{nwr|{{zhi|c=賢}} {{transl|zh|xián}} 'virtuous'}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=臤|url=https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E8%87%A4|access-date=2021-11-28|website=漢語多功能字庫 Multi-function Chinese Character Database}}</ref>
|
* Equivalent to {{zhi|c=臤}}.
* The function of the filled block in the top right corner is unclear.<ref name=":0" />
* The narrower ''liding'' form is transcribed as {{kxr|口}}. Where this uncommon feature is important, it may be necessary to narrowly transcribe the graph.
|-
| scope="row" | [[File:得 - 郭.老甲.28.png|28px]]
| {{ubc|[[File:国際符号化文字集合・ユニコード統合漢字 U+5F97「得」 variant.svg|28px]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=小學堂字形|url=https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/char?fontcode=55.EB48|access-date=2021-11-28|website=xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw}}</ref>
| style="text-align:left" | {{zhi|c=得}} {{transl|zh|dé}} 'to obtain'
|
* The structure of the ''liding'' form consists of {{zhi|c=目}} and {{zhi|c=又}}, making the structure of the original graph clear to modern readers. This graph was a variant of [[File:⿱貝又.svg|20px]] ({{zhi|c=⿱貝又}}), which was the direct predecessor of {{zhi|c=得}} {{transl|zh|dé}} 'to obtain'.<ref>{{Cite web|title=得|url=https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%BE%97|access-date=2021-11-28|website=漢語多功能字庫 Multi-function Chinese Character Database}}</ref>
|-
| scope="row" | [[File:Dake-得.png|28px]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=小學堂字形|url=https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/char?fontcode=31.E97D|access-date=2021-11-29|website=xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw}}</ref>
|[[File:貝手.svg|28px]]
| style="text-align:left" | {{zhi|c=得}} {{transl|zh|dé}} 'to obtain'
| [[Da Ke ding|Da Ke ''ding'']]
|
* Another variant of [[File:⿱貝又.svg|20px]] that consisted of {{zhi|c=貝}} and {{zhi|c=手}}, as the ''liding''-by-component form suggests.
* Compared with [[File:国際符号化文字集合・ユニコード統合漢字 U+5F97「得」 variant.svg|20px]], one can see that two structurally distinct characters may be identified as distinct from one another, although they may still be [[allographs]].
|}
=== Comparison to other methods of transcription ===
Despite the lack of a rigorous definition, ''liding'' is generally considered distinct from the other two methods of transcription:
* The direct {{zhl|t=摹寫|p=móxiě|l=tracing}} of the graph.<ref name=":3" /> Tracing, as its name suggests, is the practice of tracing the original graph with minimal or no alterations. This is done when the transcriber is unable to rewrite the graph in question as a clerical form—for instance when the graph is purely pictorial, or when the transcriber cannot determine a plausible interpretation of the graph's structure.
* The 'interpretative transcription'<ref name=":3" /> or {{zhl|t=釋文|p=shìwén|l=interpretation}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mo |first=Xiaobu |author-mask=Mo Xiaobu (莫小不)|script-title=zh:"隶定古文"及古玺印释文问题|trans-title=On Some Issues in "Writing Ancient Chinese Characters in the Official Script" and Interpreting Ancient Seals|journal=Journal of Zhejiang University|language=zh|doi=10.3785/j.issn.1008-942X.2008.05.006}}</ref> of the graph. While ''liding'' preserves structure to some degree, interpretation only seeks to preserve meaning and completely disregards form. It substitutes the character in question with the corresponding character that is prevailing today to aid the understanding of the material. For example, in the ''Cao Mei Zhi Chen'' ({{zhi|c=曹沬之陳}}) slip, one of the [[Shanghai Museum bamboo slips]], the name [[File:Glyphwiki_𢽍.svg|20px]][[File:Glyphwiki_𥣫.svg|alt=⿰禾蔑|20px]] ({{hani|⿰告攵}} {{hani|⿰禾蔑}}) was transcribed by [[Li Ling (sinologist)|Li Ling]] as {{zhi|c=曹沬}}, the most prevalent forms of the characters in contemporary use. Interpretative transcription is sometimes seen as a kind of broad ''liding''.<ref name=":0" />
=== Difference from ''libian'' ===
{{Further|Libian}}
While ''liding'' refers to the transcription of archaic scripts in modern style, ''[[libian]]'' is the natural evolution from ancient scripts to clerical scripts. As the graphs often underwent drastic structural changes in the process of ''libian'', the ''liding'' of a character could be considerably different from the same character after ''libian''. Taking {{hani|年}} 'year', 'harvest' as an example:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Original and ''liding'' forms of {{langn|zh|年}}
!
! scope="col" | Oracle bone !! scope="col" | Small seal !! scope="col" | Clerical !! scope="col" | Regular
|-
! Evolution
| [[File:年-bronze-shang.svg|26px]] || [[File:年-seal.svg|26px]] || [[File:年-clerical-han.svg|26px]] || {{zhi|c=年}}
|-
! ''Liding'' forms
| {{zhi|c=秂}}<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=年|url=https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%B9%B4|access-date=2021-11-28|website=漢語多功能字庫 Multi-function Chinese Character Database}}</ref>
| {{zhi|c=秊}}
!
!
|-
!Comment
| colspan="4" |
* The [[oracle bone script|oracle bone]] graph [[File:人-oracle.svg|26px]] illustrated a person carrying grain [[File:禾-oracle.svg|26px]] (regular counterpart {{hani|禾}}) on their back—which reflected the original meaning of 'harvest'.<ref name=":5" /> The ''liding'' form {{hani|秂}} reflects this by keeping the relative positions of the components unchanged, but changing the components to their regular counterparts.
* In small seal script, a dot or stroke was added to the middle of the 'person' component. As a result, the bottom component was no longer {{hani|人}}, but instead coincides in shape with [[File:千-seal.svg|26px]] 'thousand' (regular counterpart {{hani|千}}). This change is reflected in the corresponding ''liding'' form, {{hani|秊}}, where {{hani|人}} is swapped out for {{hani|千}}.<ref name=":5" />
* During ''libian'', the structure of the character was drastically altered. The original components were rendered unrecognizable in the process. The contemporaneous regular form {{hani|年}} is different from the ''liding'' forms provided.
|}
== Use ==
=== In palaeography ===
As a means of transcription, ''liding'' is an important part of the study of historical texts. It unearths structural information of the graph that was obscured by the archaic handwriting style, making it more accessible for modern uses. Additionally, the process of ''liding'' involves identifying the clerical counterparts of the various components of a character form, and thus in itself presents an analysis of the composition of the character in question.  In research publications, ''liding'' is extensively used.<ref name=":0" />
''Liding'' is also used for [[Digitization|digitizing]] historical scripts. A number of historical text databases<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lexicon of Pre-Qin Oracle, Bronze Inscriptions and Bamboo Scripts|url=https://inscription.asdc.sinica.edu.tw/c_index.php|access-date=2021-11-30|website=inscription.asdc.sinica.edu.tw}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Digital Archive of the Oracle Bones Rubbing|url=http://rub.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~oracle/|access-date=2021-11-30|website=rub.ihp.sinica.edu.tw}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=青銅器拓片數位典藏 Digital Archive of Bronze Rubbings|url=https://ndweb.iis.sinica.edu.tw/~bronze/index.htm|access-date=2021-11-30|website=ndweb.iis.sinica.edu.tw}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Digital Archive of Han Wooden Slips|url=http://rub.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~woodslip/|access-date=2021-11-30|website=rub.ihp.sinica.edu.tw}}</ref> with transcription provide ''liding'' versions of transcription.
=== In dictionaries ===
Chinese dictionaries have, as a traditional practice, utilized the ''liding'' forms to record ancient variants in dictionaries. The [[Song dynasty]] saw the rise of [[epigraphy]] ({{zh|t=金石學|p=jīnshí xué|l=the study of bronze and stone}}); as a result, a number of [[character dictionaries]] and [[rime dictionaries]] at the time, including ''[[Leipian]]'' and ''[[Jiyun]]'', preserved archaic variants in regular script. After Song, with the waning of traditional Chinese epigraphy, though the practice survived, lexicographers mostly took the archaic forms directly from earlier dictionaries like ''[[Yupian]], Leipian,'' and ''Jiyun.''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Huang|first=Dekuan|author-mask=Huang Dekuan (黃德寬)|script-title=zh:讀《隸定"古文"疏證》|trans-title=After Reading ''Study on Liding "Archaic Script"''|journal=Collected Papers of History Studies|language=zh|issue=2003–2}}</ref>
[[File:禱 - Yupian.png|left|241x241px|thumb|alt=A scanned excerpt from the mentioned dictionary, Yupian. The content of the excerpt is shown in the main text.]]
For example, the image shown is the entry of the character {{lang|zh-Hant|禱}} excerpted from the Song version of ''Yupian''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=大廣益會玉篇一 第44頁 (圖書館) - 中國哲學書電子化計劃|url=https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&res=77353|access-date=2021-11-30|website=ctext.org|language=zh-TW}}</ref> As can be seen, a clerically identified ''zhouwen'' ({{zh|t=籀文|l=the script of ''Shizhou''}}; a type of seal script from late-[[Western Zhou]] as recorded in the dictionary ''[[Shizhoupian]]'') of {{lang|zh-Hant|禱}} is included.
The text in the image is read from top to bottom, right to left (the ''zhouwen liding'' graph is denoted by △ below):
<blockquote>{{Lang|zh-Hant|'''禱'''|size=1.3em}}{{lang|zh-Hant|。丁老切。請也，謝也，求福也。}}{{Lang|zh-Hant|'''△'''|size=1.5em}}{{Lang|zh-Hant|。籀文。}}</blockquote>("{{lang|zh-Hant|禱}}, {{lang|zh-Hant|丁老}} [[Fanqie|qie]], which is to request; to thank; to pray for happiness. △ is the ''zhouwen.''")
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Entry form
!''Zhouwen'' as per ''Shuowen Jiezi''
!''Zhouwen liding''
!Comment
|-
|{{lang|zh-Hant|禱|size=3em}}
|[[File:禱-zhouwen-seal.png|60x60px]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=小學堂字形|url=https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/char?fontcode=27.F118|access-date=2021-11-30|website=xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw}}</ref>
|[[File:禱-zhouwen.svg|45x45px]]
|''dǎo'' 'to pray'
|}
== Unicode encoding ==
Rare forms encountered in ancient scripts are sometimes restricted to a specific period or even to a limited number of historical artefacts, and ''liding'' is a process that often requires fine structural differentiation; it is thus not unusual that character forms required in ''liding'' are uncoded in [[Unicode]]. Specialized fonts sometimes utilize [[Private Use Areas]] to store ''liding'' graphs that see non-one off uses but are uncoded.<ref>{{Cite web|title=中华书局宋体字库介绍及安装说明|url=http://www.ancientbooks.cn/helpcore?font|access-date=2021-11-30|website=www.ancientbooks.cn}}</ref>
A number of ''liding''-specific characters do have their dedicated Unicode code points''.'' Notably, there are 1808 ideographs introduced from the work ''Yinzhou Jinwen Jicheng Yinde'' ({{zh|t=殷周金文集成引得|p=|l=|labels=no}} [Concordance of Shang and Zhou Dynasty Bronze Inscriptions]<ref>{{Cite web|title=BabelStone Blog : Old Hanzi|url=https://www.babelstone.co.uk/Blog/2007/07/old-hanzi.html|access-date=2021-11-30|website=www.babelstone.co.uk}}</ref>), with 365 in [[CJK Unified Ideographs Extension C]], 1410 in [[CJK Unified Ideographs Extension E|Extension E]] and 33 in [[CJK Unified Ideographs Extension F|Extension F]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-08-09|title=Unihan_IRGSources.txt (from Unihan.zip)|url=https://www.unicode.org/Public/UCD/latest/ucd/|access-date=2021-12-01|website=www.unicode.org}}</ref> The majority of them are ''liding'' forms of graphs found in the [[Chinese bronze inscriptions|bronze inscriptions]]. Their <code>kIRG_GSource</code> field values start with <code>GZJW</code>.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=UAX #38: Unicode Han Database (Unihan)|url=https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr38/|access-date=2021-11-30|website=www.unicode.org}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Chinese script style]]