尚書

Chinese

		to assist, assisting to administer, administrative to exceed, exceeding	book(s) document(s) edict(s) imperial steward
trad. (尚書)		尚	書
simp. (尚书)		尚	书

Etymology

The position was established under the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty as a clerk responsible for drafting and editing imperial decrees. Under the Wu Emperor of the Han Dynasty, the position's status was elevated to something like a chief of staff handling all aspects of imperial governance, initially to undercut the power of the imperial chancellors and censors. With the establishment of the Imperial Secretariat around the position under the later Han, it came to be used as an appositive for positions within the bureau.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shàngshū, chángshū, Shàngshū

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄤˋ ㄕㄨ, ㄔㄤˊ ㄕㄨ, ㄕㄤˋ ㄕㄨ
Cantonese (Jyutping): soeng⁶ syu¹
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): siūⁿ-su / siōng-su

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shàngshū
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄤˋ ㄕㄨ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shàngshu
  - Wade–Giles: shang⁴-shu¹
  - Yale: shàng-shū
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shanqshu
  - Palladius: шаншу (šanšu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɑŋ⁵¹ ʂu⁵⁵/
  - Homophones:
    ^edit
    ^edit
    上書 / 上书
    上疏
    尚書 / 尚书
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chángshū
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄤˊ ㄕㄨ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chángshu
  - Wade–Giles: chʻang²-shu¹
  - Yale: cháng-shū
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: charngshu
  - Palladius: чаншу (čanšu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ ʂu⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Shàngshū
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄤˋ ㄕㄨ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Shàngshu
  - Wade–Giles: Shang⁴-shu¹
  - Yale: Shàng-shū
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Shanqshu
  - Palladius: Шаншу (Šanšu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɑŋ⁵¹ ʂu⁵⁵/
  - Homophones:
    ^edit
    ^edit
    上書 / 上书
    上疏
    尚書 / 尚书
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: soeng⁶ syu¹
  - Yale: seuhng syū
  - Cantonese Pinyin: soeng⁶ sy¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: sêng⁶ xu¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sœːŋ²² syː⁵⁵/
  - Homophones:
    ^edit
    ^edit
    上書 / 上书
    尚書 / 尚书
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siūⁿ-su
  - Tâi-lô: siūnn-su
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sviuxsw
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /siũ³³⁻²¹ su⁴⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei): /siũ³³⁻¹¹ su⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siōng-su
  - Tâi-lô: siōng-su
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sioxngsw
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei): /siɔŋ³³⁻¹¹ su⁴⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɔŋ³³⁻²¹ su⁴⁴/

Middle Chinese: dzyang|dzyangH syo

Rime
Character	尚	尚	書
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	常 (25)	常 (25)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	陽 (105)	陽 (105)	魚 (22)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III
Fanqie	市羊切	時亮切	傷魚切
Baxter	dzyang	dzyangH	syo
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡ʑɨɐŋ/	/d͡ʑɨɐŋ^H/	/ɕɨʌ/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡ʑiɐŋ/	/d͡ʑiɐŋ^H/	/ɕiɔ/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡ʑiɑŋ/	/d͡ʑiɑŋ^H/	/ɕiɔ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡ʑɨaŋ/	/d͡ʑɨaŋ^H/	/ɕɨə̆/
Li Rong	/ʑiaŋ/	/ʑiaŋ^H/	/ɕiɔ/
Wang Li	/ʑĭaŋ/	/ʑĭaŋ^H/	/ɕĭo/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʑi̯aŋ/	/ʑi̯aŋ^H/	/ɕi̯wo/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	cháng	shàng	shū
Expected Cantonese Reflex	soeng⁴	soeng⁶	syu¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[d]aŋ-s s-ta/

(Zhengzhang): /*djaŋ|djaŋs hlja/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	尚	尚	書
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shàng	shàng	shū
Middle Chinese	‹ dzyang^H ›	‹ dzyang^H ›	‹ syo ›
Old Chinese	/*[d]aŋ-s/	/*[d]aŋ-s/	/*s-ta/
English	upwards	still, yet	write
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	尚	尚	書
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
No.	11156	11161	17013
Phonetic component	尚	尚	者
Rime group	陽	陽	魚
Rime subdivision	0	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	常	尚	書
Old Chinese	/*djaŋ/	/*djaŋs/	/*hlja/
Notes	說文從向聲，金文不似，疑堂或常初文

Noun

尚書

(historical) secretary to the emperor, chief scribe (3rd–2nd century BC)
(historical) imperial chief of staff (2nd century BC to 1st century)

Derived terms

尚書令 / 尚书令 (shàngshūlìng)
尚書省 / 尚书省 (Shàngshūshěng)
尚書郎 / 尚书郎 (shàngshūláng)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (尚書):

→ Vietnamese: thượng thư (尚書)

Proper noun

尚書

synonym of 書經 / 书经 (Shūjīng), Classic of History

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (尚書):

→ Japanese: 尚(しょう)書(しょ) (Shōsho)
→ Korean: 상서(尙書) (Sangseo)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
尚	書
しょう Grade: S	しょ Grade: 2
kan'on

Alternative spelling
尙書 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Middle Chinese 尚書

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) しょーしょ [shòóshó] (Heiban – [0])
IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːɕo̞]

Proper noun

尚(しょう)書(しょ) • (Shōsho)

synonym of 書経 (Shokyō)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
尚	書

Proper noun

尚書

chữ Hán form of thượng thư

Chinese

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Proper noun

Descendants

Japanese

Etymology

Pronunciation

Proper noun

See also

Vietnamese

Proper noun