What is it about?
Early Chinese Daybook manuscripts contain an eclectic mix of texts related to choosing an good time to travel, go to the market, buy livestock, or present offerings, for example. These matters were important to the daily lives of low level bureaucrats and officials in roughly 4th to 1st century bce China. This article describes and analyses the use of rhyme in these texts and suggests it is similar to the use of rhyme in prayers and astrological texts from the period. Possibly, this similarity points to a contemporary understanding of the power and efficacy of rhymed language in helping the user take control over complex issues in life.
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Why is it important?
The use of rhyme in early manuscripts is often not studied beyond verse and song, but given its prevalence it was clearly very important to people using the Daybooks and other technical texts. This article attempts to explain why rhyme was so important to these users and what insights this may give us in early Chinese ideas on language, decision making, fate, and the affairs of daily life.
Perspectives
There is something magical about language, from abracadabra to eeny meeny miny moe, the rhythm and rhyme of language makes us feel as if we're working magic on the world around us. The power of these rhymes to travel through time and still strike a note in modern readers is spellbinding to me.
Rens Krijgsman
Tsinghua University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages in the Daybook Manuscripts, Bamboo and Silk, September 2021, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/24689246-00402013.
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