Yunfu qunyu 韻府群玉

Yunfu qunyu 韻府群玉 "The many jades from the rhymes treasury" is an encyclopaedia compiled during the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368) by Yin Shifu 陰時夫 (personal name Yin Youyu 陰幼遇, also called Yin Jingxuan 陰勁弦; Shifu was his courtesy name) and commented by his brother Yin Zhongfu 陰中夫 (also called Yin Fuchun 陰復春). The two brothers were advised by their father, Yin Yingmeng 陰應夢 (1224-1314).

The 20-juan-long book imitates the structure of Yan Zhenqing's 顏真卿 (709-785) now lost encyclopaedia Yunhai jingyuan 韻海鏡源 from the Tang period 唐 (618-907) which arranged the topics according to phonology (106 rhymes, see pingshui rhymes 平水), and not, as usual, by theme. The themes are, nevertheless, identical to those used in other encyclopaedias, from astronomy and geography to human affairs, administration, literature and objects, to animals and plants. The preface is dated 1307.

During the late 17th century, the female scholar Xie Ying 謝瑛 revised the surviving editions of the Yunfu qunyu and republished this revised version, known as Cengshan Yunyu dingben 增刪韻玉定本. The book was criticised as a mediocre collection, but it is practically the only surviving book with this kind of phonetical arrangement and, therefore, earns attention. It influenced later compilations, like the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) encyclopaedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典, or the Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) book Peiwen yunfu 佩文韻府.

There is a print by Master Liu 劉氏 from the Jiajing reign-period 嘉靖 (1522-1566), and the print of Xie Ying from the Kangxi reign-period 康熙 (1662-1722). The Yunfu qunyu is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書. In 1991, the Shanghai Guji Press 上海古籍出版社 published a modern edition.

There is a supplement to the Yunfu qunyu written by the Ming-period scholar Bao Yu 包瑜, the Yunfu xubian 韻府續編, in 40 (or 38) juan. It is rated as very mediocre, with a bad print.