Re: 'Tefu-tefu' read as 'Choo-choo'

aesthete8@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote: 
A Cantonese speaker told me that if you read poems from Tang dynasty in
Cantonese, a rhyme pattern can be heard.

Is that true?

True and false. Cantonese has preserved all (most?) of the final consonants in syllables. But Chinese poetry is meant to rhyme anyway. (Conjecture: rhyming poetry only occurs in languages where rhyming is hard.) On the other hand...

Also doesn't the Japanese ON-YOMI sound closer to Cantonese, than to
Mandarin?

Cantonese vowels are in many places messed up compared to Mandarin. But since Japanese on-yomi reflects a much earlier stage of Chinese - the presence of final consonants makes a comparison with Cantonese easier than Mandarin.

To avoid broad generalisations, here is some solid data:
(Japanese in Kunrei, Mandarin in Pinyin, Cantonese in Yale, tone indicated with 1 to 5 = low to high)
一 J. iti, M. yi (55), C. yat (53)
二 J. ni, M. er (51), C. yi (22)
三 J. san, M. san (55), C. saam (55)
四 J. si, M. si (51), C. sei (33)
五 J. go, M. wu (214), C. ng (13)
六 J. roku, M. liu (51), C. luk (22)
七 J. siti, M. qi (55), C. chat (53)
八 J. hati, M. ba (55), C. baat (33) * J. hati < O.J. pati
九 J. kyu:, M. jiu (214), C. gau (35)
十 J. zyu:, M. shi (35), C. sap (22) * J. zyu: < O.J. zipu

Make your own conclusions.
.