釋奠

Chinese

		to release; to offer	to lay; to present ceremonially
trad. (釋奠)		釋	奠
simp. (释奠)		释	奠

Etymology

Traditionally glossed (e.g. by Zheng Xuan) as 釋菜奠幣 (to make a ritually clean offering of vegetables and ceremoniously lay the treasures of silk), it was specified in the Book of Rites as part of a ritual honouring the 先師, ancient instructors (of war).

反，釋奠于學，以訊馘告。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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反，释奠于学，以讯馘告。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

Fǎn, shìdiàn yú xué, yǐ xùn guó gào. [Pinyin]

When the forces return, (they make) the offerings of vegetables and silk at the school (to the ancient instructors of war), and announce (the news of victory) by presenting the captives and the severed ears of the slain.

The association of the school and education with war was once common in proto-feudal China (see Yang, 1965). The term was later used chiefly in the Confucian context as a ceremony honouring Confucius and other sages, without the warlike association.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shìdiàn

  (Zhuyin): ㄕˋ ㄉㄧㄢˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shìdiàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄕˋ ㄉㄧㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shìhdiàn
    • Wade–Giles: shih⁴-tien⁴
    • Yale: shr̀-dyàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyhdiann
    • Palladius: шидянь (šidjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ ti̯ɛn⁵¹/

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• Middle Chinese: syek denH

Rime
Character	釋	奠
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	書 (26)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	昔 (123)	先 (85)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	IV
Fanqie	施隻切	堂練切
Baxter	syek	denH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɕiᴇk̚/	/denH/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕiɛk̚/	/denH/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕiæk̚/	/dɛnH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕiajk̚/	/dɛnH/
Li Rong	/ɕiɛk̚/	/denH/
Wang Li	/ɕĭɛk̚/	/dienH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɕi̯ɛk̚/	/dʱienH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shi	diàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sik1	din6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥Ak  N-tˤe[n]-s|m-tˤe[n]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*hljaɡ  diːŋs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	釋	奠	奠
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shì	diàn	diàn
Middle Chinese	‹ syek ›	‹ denH ›	‹ denH ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥Ak/	/*N-tˁe[n]-s/	/*m-tˁe[n]-s/
English	release; dissolve	be fixed (v.i.)	set forth (v.t.)
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	釋	奠
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	15134	2351
Phonetic component	睪	奠
Rime group	鐸	眞
Rime subdivision	0	2
Corresponding MC rime	釋	電
Old Chinese	/*hljaɡ/	/*diːŋs/

Noun

釋奠

1. (history) ritual offering honouring ancient instructors
2. (Confucianism) ceremony honouring Confucius and Confucian sages in schools

   • 今釋奠有伯魚而無子思。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     今释奠有伯鱼而无子思。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 13th century, various editors, A Collection of Conversations of Master Zhu (《朱子語類》)

     Jīn shìdiàn yǒu Bóyú ér wú Zǐsī. [Pinyin]

     These days in the rites of shidian offerings were made to Boyu but not to Zisi.