Yupian (Gyokuhen), Volume 27, First Half

A Chinese Dictionary Lost in China, Kept in Japan

The Yupian (Gyokuhen), Volume 27, First Half (玉篇巻第廿七〈前半〉) is the first half of volume 27 of the Chinese dictionary Yupian, a Tang manuscript owned by Kozanji in Umegahata Toganoo-cho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, which in 1952 was designated a National Treasure.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records one handscroll owned by Kozanji.

Kozanji gives its dimensions as 27.2 centimetres high and 915.0 centimetres long, in ink on paper.

The Dictionary

According to Kozanji, the Yupian is the representative dictionary of ancient China, compiled by Gu Yewang of the Liang dynasty and completed in 543 in thirty volumes. Arranged by radicals, it gives the sound and meaning of each character, with rich quotations from earlier works.

Its manuscripts were lost early in China and survive only in Japan. Seven volumes remain, mostly fragments; only volumes 22 and 27 survive complete from beginning to end.

What to Look For

Kozanji notes that its manuscript is the first half of volume 27, the table of radicals and 270 characters of the silk radical, and together with the second half held by Ishiyamadera, also a National Treasure, preserves the whole volume. The text was probably copied in China in the seventh or eighth century.

Kozanji describes it as a foundational work of learning whose influence on Japanese scholarship is immeasurable.

Visiting the Yupian (Gyokuhen), Volume 27, First Half

The manuscript is owned by Kozanji and is not always on display; check the temple's announcements.