Pianya 駢雅 "Correct couplets" is a glossary of bisyllablic words written during the late Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) by Zhu Mouhan 朱謀㙔 (1552-1624), courtesy name Mingfu 明父 or Yuyi 鬱儀, style Haiyue 海岳. Zhu wrote numerous scholarly books, of which a commentary on the Shuijingzhu 水經注 is the most famous.
In bibliographies, the Pianya belongs to the category of books of "lesser learning" (Xiaoxue 小學), often translated as "lexicography". The book was completed in 1587. It imitates the chapters of the classical glossary Erya 爾雅 and basically deals with two types of words. The first are word groups, the second designations of objects, plants and animals.
蔘綏、恒慨、羞繹、漭沆、紛母、洸潒、厖鴻、恢台、莽䍚、聊浪、昧莫、瀾汗、盤礡、敞罔、沆瀁、䆸䆖、酆琅、扈扈、實實,廣大也。 | Huge, broad, colossal, far-flung, overwhelming, shoreless, unfathomable, gigantic, boundless, immense, straggly, abundant, magnificient, extensive, sweeping, capacious, loud sound, ample, spacious, [all this] means "broad and wide". |
巍嶢、陮隗、崝嶸、業峨、贅顤、崝嶮、魁堆、㟪嶉、陗{扌𠩓}、嶢峥、巑岏、埽霓、屹崪、崴嵬、茗邈、𡹭𡸣、岝峉,高也。 | Majestic, lofty, eminent, steep, big-headed, precipitous, "troll's lair", mountain range, slopes, perilous, sharp-pointed, "rainbow sweeper", cliffy, towering, "tea shrubs far away", abrupt, mountainous - [all this] means "high". |
鬱熙、融裔、淋離、镽𨲭、餑䭒、姌嫋、倰儯、䧒隑、僥僺、镺𨱵、悠悠,長也。 | "Long-sounding", "free from inhibition"", steady", "[to end a] long meal", "tall and slender", "a long [journey]", "long [stairs]", "oblong", "lengthy", "remote in time" - [all this] means "long". |
The earliest surviving print is included in Zhang Haipeng's 張海鵬 (1755-1816) series Jieyueshanfang huichao 借月山房彙鈔. Wei Maolin 魏茂林 (b. 1772) wrote a commentary, Pianya xunzuan 駢雅訓纂, and divided the 7 juan of the Pianya into 16. For each entry, Wei added a commentary based on a vast treasury of primary sources, as well as the pronunciation for the characters. A print of this commentary was produced in 1845 by the Youbuwei Studio 有不為齋.