Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 4, 2026

Piya

The Piya was a Chinese dictionary compiled by Song Dynasty scholar Lu Dian. He wrote this Erya supplement along with his Erya Xinyi commentary. Although the Piya preface written by his son Lu Zai (陸宰/陆宰) is dated 1125, the dictionary was written earlier; estimates around the Yuanfeng era, and Joseph Needham says around 1096.

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The Piya (Chinese: 埤雅; pinyin: Píyǎ; Wade–Giles: P'i-ya; "Increased [Er]ya") was a Chinese dictionary compiled by Song Dynasty scholar Lu Dian (陸佃/陆佃, 1042–1102). He wrote this Erya supplement along with his Erya Xinyi (爾雅新義 "New Exegesis of the Erya") commentary. Although the Piya preface written by his son Lu Zai (陸宰/陆宰) is dated 1125, the dictionary was written earlier;1 estimates around the Yuanfeng era (元豐, 1078–1085), and Joseph Needham says around 1096.2

Lu Dian arranged the Piya into 8 semantically based chapters that closely correspond with the last Erya chapters 13–19. The only exceptions are Chapter 5 ("Explaining Horses") that is contained in Erya 19 ("Explaining Domestic Animals") and Chapter 8 ("Explaining Heaven") that anomalously corresponds with the first part of the Erya.

Chapter Chinese Pinyin Translation Erya Chapter
1 釋魚 Shiyu Explaining Fishes 16
2 釋獸 Shishou Explaining Beasts 18
3 釋鳥 Shiniao Explaining Birds 17
4 釋蟲 Shichong Explaining Insects 15
5 釋馬 Shima Explaining Horses (19)
6 釋木 Shimu Explaining Trees 14
7 釋草 Shicao Explaining Plants 13
8 釋天 Shitian Explaining Heaven 8

The preface explains Lu's motives for defining flora and fauna terminology. Since Song officials changed the basis for the Imperial examination from mastering poetry to jingyi (經義/经义 "expounding on a classical quotation"), literati no longer studied the lyrical names for plants and animals.

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Liu, Yeqiu 刘叶秋 (1963). Zhongguo gudai de zidian 中国古代的字典 [Dictionaries of Ancient China] (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju. p. 87.
  2. Needham, Joseph, Lu Gwei-djen, and Huang Hsing-Tsung (1986). Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 6 Biology and Biological Technology, Part 1 Botany. Cambridge University Press. p. 192.
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