{ "id": "epr60xdf97", "slug": "miao-kui", "title": "Miao Kui", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.china", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.china" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.china.qing-late", "label": "Late Qing (1796 to 1912)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.china.qing-late" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.china.qing-late.scholars-writers-and-works", "label": "Scholars, writers, and works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.china.qing-late.scholars-writers-and-works" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t1800.society.history.asia.china.qing-late", "label": "China · 1800 to 1945: Late Qing (1796 to 1912)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1800.society.history.asia.china.qing-late", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1800", "label": "China · 1800 to 1945", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1800" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1800.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1800.society" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1800.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1800.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1800.society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1800.society.history.asia" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1800.society.history.asia.china", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1800.society.history.asia.china" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1800.society.history.asia.china.qing-late", "label": "Late Qing (1796 to 1912)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1800.society.history.asia.china.qing-late" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Miao Kui (苗夔, 1783 to 1857) was a Qing dynasty classical scholar from Suning, known for his work on Old Chinese phonology and the Shuowen Jiezi.", "snippet": "Miao Kui (苗夔, 1783 to 1857) was a Qing dynasty classical scholar from Suning, known for his work on Old Chinese phonology and the Shuowen Jiezi.", "node": "society.history.asia.china.qing-late.scholars-writers-and-works", "markdown": "# Miao Kui\n\n**Miao Kui** (苗夔, 1783 to 1857) was a [Qing dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/qing-dynasty) classical scholar of Suning (肃宁), known for his work on [Old Chinese](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-chinese) phonology and the sound system of the *Shuowen Jiezi*. According to the *Draft History of Qing*, his courtesy name (字) was 仙簏, though the China Biographical Database also records the variants 先簏, 先路, and 先麓, and an earlier used name, 苗学植.[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0082379) The *Qing Shi Gao* places him in the 儒林传, the chapter for scholars, alongside Long Qirui (龙启瑞), Pang Dakun (庞大堃), Chen Li (陈立), Chen Huan (陈奂), and Jin E (金鹗).[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) • [3](https://www.cp.com.cn/book/d0b4ecd7-2.html)\n\n| Fact | Detail |\n| --- | --- |\n| Name | 苗夔 (Miao Kui), courtesy name 仙簏; earlier name 苗学植[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) • [1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0082379) |\n| Origin | Suning, in the Qing dynasty[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) |\n| Dates | 1783 to 1857; died aged 75[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0082379) |\n| Examination status | 优贡生 of 道光十一年 (道光十一年, 1831)[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) |\n| Principal works | *Shuowen Shengding* (说文声订, 2 juan), *Shuowen Shengdu Biao* (说文声读表, 7 juan), *Mao Shi Yunding* (毛诗均订, 10 juan)[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) |\n| Phonological system | A seven-part arrangement of the old rhyme categories[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) |\n| Family | Son Miao Yupu (苗玉璞)[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0082379) |\n\n## Origins and early training\n\nThe biography in 《清史稿》卷四百八十二 states that Miao Kui was a native of Suning and that from childhood he was drawn to the study of the six categories of [Chinese characters](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinese-characters) and their forms and sounds (六书形声之学). Reading Xu Shuzhong (许叔重)'s *Shuowen Jiezi*, he seemed to understand it as if from a former life; when he later obtained [Gu Yanwu](https://www.edgepedia.org/gu-yanwu) (顾炎武)'s *Yinxue Wushu* (音学五书), the five books on historical phonology, his admiration deepened, and he declared, \"I will keep to this for my whole life.\"[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482)\n\nIn 1831 (道光十一年) he was named an 优贡生. [Wang Niansun](https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-niansun) (王念孙) of Gaoyou (高邮) and his son showed him courtesy, and from this his reputation and standing rose steadily.[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) • [4](https://www.shidianguji.com/book/QS1961GFYJY/chapter/1lwjqnk3sjme2)\n\n## Works\n\nMiao Kui held that [Xu Shen](https://www.edgepedia.org/xu-shen)'s surviving book had been arbitrarily deleted or padded by later hands, and he corrected more than 800 characters of the *Shuowen*, producing the *Shuowen Shengding* in two juan.[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482)\n\nOn phonology, he judged that Gu Yanwu's ten-part old rhyme table had the broad framework right but was too fine, and that the rhyme groups 戈 and 麻, having absorbed later western sounds, should not stand as separate parts. He therefore merged 耕, 清, 青, 蒸, and 登 into 东 and 冬, and merged 戈 and 麻 into 支 and 齐, fixing seven parts that encompassed the rhymes of the classics. In this scheme characters were ordered by sound and rhymes by part, giving the *Shuowen Shengdu Biao* in seven juan.[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482)\n\nHis third major work treated the *Mao Shi* (毛诗), the Mao recension of the *Book of Songs*. Since the Han commentators, most scholars had followed meaning and doctrine rather than sound; Miao Kui specialized in the study of phonetic series (谐声), used the three other Han recensions, the 齐, 鲁, and 韩 versions, to check the Mao text, and interwove the sound-readings from Xu Shen's work, drawing on [Qi Shi](https://www.edgepedia.org/qi-shi) (戚氏) of Taiping (太平) and An Shi (安氏) of Wuxi (无锡). The result was the *Mao Shi Yunding* in ten juan.[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482)\n\n## Death and assessment\n\nMiao Kui died in the fifth month of the ding-si year of the Xianfeng era (咸丰丁巳), aged 75; the CBDB dates his death to 1857 and his birth to 1783.[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) • [1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0082379) The standard history's assessment is implicit in its placement: it groups him with the phonologists and classicists of the 儒林三传 and praises his mastery of 谐声, the study of characters that share a phonetic element. One point of variation is his courtesy name: the *Qing Shi Gao* reads 仙簏, while CBDB and some reference pages give 先麓 or 先路 among his courtesy names; the record's form is 仙簏, with the others recorded as variants.[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482) • [1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0082379) • [5](https://www.ihns.ac.cn/njgsz/zcbm/lytsg/zydh/sjkdh/zwdj/202310/t20231030_6910649.html)\n\n## References\n\n1. China Biographical Database (CBDB), person 82379, 苗夔. https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0082379\n2. 《清史稿》卷四百八十二 (儒林传, biography of 苗夔), Wikisource transcription. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/清史稿/卷482\n3. 《清史稿儒林传校读记》, 商务印书馆. https://www.cp.com.cn/book/d0b4ecd7-2.html\n4. 苗夔, 《清史稿》全文及译文, 识典古籍. https://www.shidianguji.com/book/QS1961GFYJY/chapter/1lwjqnk3sjme2\n5. 人物传记资料库（史语所）人名权威档介绍, 科学史所. https://www.ihns.ac.cn/njgsz/zcbm/lytsg/zydh/sjkdh/zwdj/202310/t20231030_6910649.html\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › China › Late Qing (1796 to 1912) › Scholars, writers, and works*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/miao-kui", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/miao-kui.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Miao Kui\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/miao-kui. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Miao Kui](https://www.edgepedia.org/miao-kui)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/miao-kui](https://www.edgepedia.org/miao-kui). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Miao Kui\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/miao-kui. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Miao Kui was a Qing dynasty classical scholar from Suning, known for his work on Old Chinese phonology and the Shuowen Jiezi." }