The Xiao Erya (; "Little [Er]ya") was an early Chinese dictionary that supplements the Erya. It was supposedly compiled in the early Han dynasty by Kong Fu ( 264?–208 BCE), a descendant of Confucius. However, the received Xiao Erya text was included in a Confucianist collection of debates, the Kongcongzi (; K'ung-ts'ung-tzu; "The Kong Family Master's Anthology"), which contains fabrications that its first editor Wang Su (, 195–256 CE) added to win his arguments with Zheng Xuan (, 127–200 CE). The Qing dynasty scholar Hu Chenggong (, 1776–1832), who wrote the Xiao Erya yizheng ( "Exegesis and Proof for the Xiao Erya"), accepted Kong Fu as the author. Liu concludes the Xiao Erya reliably dates from the Western Han dynasty and suggests its compiler was from the southern state of Chu.
The Xiao Erya has 374 entries, far less than the Erya with 2091. It simplifies the Erya'''s 19 semantically-based chapter divisions into 13, and entitles them with guang (廣 "expanding") instead of shi (釋 "explaining").
Section Chinese Pinyin Translation Erya Chapter 01 Guǎnggǔ Expanding Old Words 01 02 Guǎngyán Expanding Words 02 03 Guǎngxùn Expanding Instructions 03 04 Guǎngyì Expanding Righteousness 04 05 Guǎngmíng Expanding Names X 06 Guǎngfú Expanding Clothing 06 07 Guǎngqì Expanding Utensils 06 08 Guǎngwù Expanding Things 13, 14 09 Guǎngniǎo Expanding Birds 17 10 Guǎngshòu Expanding Beasts 18, 19 11 Guǎngdù Expanding Length X 12 Guǎngliàng Expanding Volume X 13 Guǎnghéng Expanding Weight X
In comparison with the Erya chapter arrangement, Xiao Erya sections 1–3 (defining abstract words) are identical. Despite the different title with yi ("righteousness") instead of qin ("relatives"), both Section 4 and Chapter 4 ("Explaining Relatives") define kinship terms. Sections 6 and 7 divide Chapter 6 ("Explaining Utensils"). Xiao Erya Section 8 combines Chapters 13 ("Explaining Plants") and 14 ("Explaining Trees"); 9 mirrors 17; and Section 10 combines 18 ("Explaining Beasts") and 19 ("Explaining Domestic Animals"). Xiao Erya sections 5 (funeral terms) and 11–13 (units of measurement) are not included in the Erya.
See alsoShimingGuangyaPiya''
References Ariel, Yoav, tr. K’ung-ts’ung-tzu: The K’ung Family Master’s Anthology: A Study and Translation of Chapters 1–10, 12–14. Princeton Library of Asian Translations. Princeton, 1989. Liu Hong-Yan 刘鸿雁. 2005. "Xiao Erya buzheng" 《小尔雅》补证 [Supplementary Proof for the Xiao Erya]. Journal of University (Social Science Edition) 延安大學學報(社會科學版) 27.6:110–112. (in Chinese). Ariel, Yoav, tr. K’ung-ts’ung-tzu: A Study & Translation of Chapters 15–23 with a Reconstruction of the Hsiao Erh-ya Dictionary. Sinica Leidensia 35. New York City: E.J.Brill, 1995.
External links Xiao Erya Complete text in Chinese Kongcongzi 孔叢子 "The Kong Family Master's Anthology", ChinaKnowledge