yǎ

By Guo Jiao & Zou Xinsheng

Many Chinese characters are polysemic. The character 雅 (yǎ) is a typical example. This character has a history of more than 3000 years since its origin in Oracle Bone Script appeared in the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), the first dynasty with written records in China’s history. It was first coined by the ancient Chinese people from their daily life in listening to the sound of crow.

From the perspective of its structure, 雅 is a phonogram composed of two parts: the left part 牙 (yá; tooth) which is directly related to pronunciation,enunciation, and speech. The right part 隹 (zhuī; awl), refers to a kind of bird with a short tail like an awl. When used as an adjective, it possesses the meaning of “morally regulated,gentle, brightly colored,gorgeous, glamorous in drinking,and being tasteful.” However,when used as a noun, it has the meaning of “crow, friendship, a musical instrument, and a special demand of manner.”

It is well documented that language is a mirror, which can best reflect social paradigms,historical connotations,and cultural progression.Naturally, as the smallest, most independent and meaningful linguistic unit of language,a word can truly record the synchronic and diachronic development of a society. For example, the English word “nice”meant “foolish” in Shakespeare’s time but now takes on a positive sense. The same story happens in the Chinese character 雅. We are marveled by the miracle of the lexis, which can transform雅 (crow) into a noble meaning.It obviously owes a lot to the compilers of 《詩經》(The Book of Songs), the first collection of ancient Chinese poems. The book falls into three categories,namely, 風 (fēng), 雅 (yǎ), and 頌(sòng). Fēng covers the genre of folk songs in the Zhou Dynasty(1046-256 BC). Yǎ refers to the music of the imperial court entitled 大雅 (dàyǎ) and 小雅(xiǎoyǎ). Sòng is the music of the ancestral temple of the ruling class. Another book named 《爾雅》 (Erya), the earliest Chinese dictionary, defines 雅 as “proper,correct, refined, or elegant.”

Since then, the character 雅has become a hot topic among the linguists of the world. 雅步擢纖腰 (yǎ bù zhuó xiān yāo), a line from one of Lu Yun’s poems in the Western Jin Dynasty (266-316), described a maid who was good-looking and gorgeous when she walked with elegant steps and a slim waist. Su Shi, a great poet in the Song Dynasty(960-1279), lamented a good friendship by saying 雅志莫相違 (yǎ zhì mò xiāng wéi, “Good ambition shall go hand in hand with a shared future”). More interestingly, the ancient people praised one’s drinking ability by saying 雅量 (yǎliàng, glamorous drinker) partly because 雅 was once referred to as a wine vessel.Later people also use 雅量 to praise one’s tolerance towards others’ ill manner.

In the contemporary world, 雅seems to be free from vulgarity and enjoys a decent position in the Chinese language. Such words as 雅正 (yǎzhèng), 文雅 (wényǎ), 雅致 (yǎzhì), 儒雅 (rúyǎ), 典雅 (diǎnyǎ), 高雅 (gāoyǎ), and 博雅 (bóyǎ)frequently appear in daily media.In addition, a sparkle of good images as stylish, fine, beautiful,sophisticated, delicate, artistic,handsome, fashionable, refined,cultivated, chic, luxurious,exquisite, nice, discerning,graceful, polished, sumptuous,genteel, tasteful, urbane, courtly,ingenious, appropriate, clever,and neat are closely related to the character 雅.

No wonder the great translator Yan Fu in the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) employed雅 to summarize his famous translation theories: namely,信 (xìn, faithfulness), 達 (dá,expressiveness), and 雅 (yǎ,elegance). We are also grateful for one education philosophy named 博雅教育 (bóyǎ jiàoyù,liberal education) John Henry Newman clearly stated, “The purpose of a liberal arts education is to open the mind, to correct it, to refine it, to enable it to know, and to digest, master,rule, and use its knowledge,to give it power over its own faculties, application, flexibility,method, critical exactness,sagacity, resource, address, and eloquent expression.”

So in 2020, the Year of the Rat,may all of our readers speak 雅言 (yǎ yán, good words), pursue雅志 (yǎ zhì, great ambition),behave 雅行 (yǎ xíng, to be gentle), and enjoy 雅致的人生(yǎzhì de rénshēng, an elegant life).