SOURCE: Malmqvist, Goran. “A Note on a Lyrical Poem by Li Qingzhao (1084-1151).” Archív orientální 2, no. 59 (1991): 190-93.

In the following excerpt, Malmqvist offers a metrical analysis of Li Ch'ing-chao's lyrical poem ”Shengsheng man.”

The phonology of the literary koine of the Chinese language at the time of Li Qingzhao must fall somewhere in between that of Ancient Chinese and Old Mandarin, but was probably closer to the latter stage. Our knowledge of Old Mandarin is based on Zhou Deqing's Zhongyuan yinyun (1324), which work reflects the phonological properties of dramatic airs (qu) of the mid 13^th century. The following transliteration of the poem into Old Mandarin, in which the rimes are italicized, follows Hugh Stimson, The Jongyuan Inyunn, a Guide to Old Mandarin Pronunciation.

          1. sim sim miek miek           2. ldng ldng ts'ing ts'ing           3. ts'i ts'i ts'am ts'am ts'iek ts'iek           4. tşa nuon xuan xon şi xdu           5. tsui nan...