Shenglei

Shenglei
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese聲類
Simplified Chinese声类
Literal meaningsound categories
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShēnglèi
Wade–GilesSheng-lei
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingSeng1 leoi6
Southern Min
Hokkien POJSiaⁿlui
Middle Chinese
Middle ChineseSyenglwij
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)[l̥]eŋ[r]u[t]-s
Korean name
Hangul聲類
Hanja성류
Transcriptions
McCune–ReischauerSŏngryu
Japanese name
Kanji声類
Hiraganaせいるい
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnSeirui

The Shenglei was the first Chinese rime dictionary, compiled c. 230 CE by Li Deng (李登), a lexicographer from the state of Cao Wei (220–266). Earlier dictionaries were organized either by semantic fields (e.g. the c. 3rd-century BCE Erya) or by character radicals (e.g., the Shuowen Jiezi published in 121 CE). The last copies of the Shenglei were lost around the 13th century, and it is known only from earlier descriptions and quotations, which say it was in ten volumes and listed 11520 Chinese characters, with entries categorized by linguistic tone in terms of the 'five tones' (五聲; wǔshēng) of the pentatonic scale from Chinese musicology and wuxing ('five phases') theory.