Folk Adage in the Literati Notes of Tang Dynasty

Abstract

Written in classical Chinese but enriched with vernacular expressions, slangs, dialectic expressions, loan words and so on, the Tang literati notes (biji 笔记) forms a rich and valuable corpus for studying the lexis of the Tang dynasty (618-907) and middle ancient Chinese. This paper, with the use of literary works and dictionaries as references, gives a lexical elaboration and analysis on certain folk adages (suyu 俗 语) used in the representative Tang literati notes, such as Feng Yan 封演’s Feng Shi Wen Jian Ji 封氏闻见记, Li Kuangyi 李匡乂’sZi Xia Ji 资暇集, Duan Chengshi 段成式’s You Yang Za Zu 酉阳杂俎and SuE 苏鹗’s Su Shi Yan Yi 苏氏演义. Nowadays there are still differences in stating the definition, components and characteristics of folk adage. In this paper, discussion is focused on those popular sayings quoted together with the word ‘su’ (俗) , such as ‘suyu’ (俗语), ‘su yue’ (俗曰), ‘su yun’ (俗云), and ‘su yan’ (俗言). Firstly, with reference to the examples founded in Tang notes, the paper examines and clarifies the characteristics of folk adage including its form and meaning, and then comments on the definition and coverage of folk adage with a comparative analysis on proverb (yanyu 谚语). With related to the meaning of folk adage, a sociocultural review on the reflection of common ideas and beliefs of the people of Tang and pre-Tang periods is also made.Secondly, examples are also taken to show their functions and significance in lexicography, which include serving as the first textual evidences, supplementing entries and explanations, advancing textual evidences, and supplementing textual evidences in dictionary entries. Lastly, the paper concludes with the contribution of such lingual material to the compilation and revision of dictionaries and to the study of the variation of folk adage.