The ''Zhonghua Da Zidian'' () is an unabridged

Chinese dictionary There are two types of dictionaries regularly used in the Chinese language: list individual Chinese characters, and list words and phrases. Because tens of thousands of characters have been used in written Chinese, Chinese lexicographers have d ...

of characters, originally published in 1915 by the

Zhonghua Book Company Zhonghua Book Company (), formerly spelled Chunghwa or Chung-hua Shu-chü, and sometimes translated as Zhonghua Publishing House, are Chinese publishing houses that focuses on the humanities, especially classical Chinese works. Currently it ha ...

in Shanghai. The chief editors were ,

Lufei Kui Lufei Kui (, 17 September 1886 – 9 July 1941) was a Chinese educator, essayist, linguist, and publisher. His courtesy name was Bohong (, ). He founded the influential publisher Zhonghua Book Company, and was an early advocate for simplified Ch ...

, and Ouyang Pucun (歐陽溥存/欧阳溥存). It was based upon the 1716 ''

Kangxi Dictionary The ''Kangxi Dictionary'' () is a Chinese dictionary published in 1716 during the High Qing, considered from the time of its publishing until the early 20th century to be the most authoritative reference for written Chinese characters. Wanting ...

'', and is internally organized using the 214

Kangxi radicals The ''Kangxi'' radicals (), also known as ''Zihui'' radicals, are a set of 214 radicals that were collated in the 18th-century '' Kangxi Dictionary'' to aid categorization of Chinese characters. They are primarily sorted by stroke count. They ...

. The 1915 publication contains more than 48,000 entries for individual characters, including many invented in the two centuries since the ''Kangxi Dictionary'', making it the largest character dictionary of its time. Each character entry includes the ''

fanqie ''Fanqie'' ( zh, t= 反切, p=fǎnqiè, l=reverse cut) is a method in traditional Chinese lexicography to indicate the pronunciation of a monosyllabic character by using two other characters, one with the same initial consonant as the desired ...

'' spelling from the ''

Jiyun The ''Jiyun'' (''Chi-yun''; ) is a Chinese rime dictionary published in 1037 during the Song dynasty. The chief editor Ding Du (丁度) and others expanded and revised the ''Guangyun''. It is possible, according to Teng and Biggerstaff (1971:147 ...

'', the modern pronunciation given with a common

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...

, different meanings, classical quotations, and two-character compounds using the character. One strength of the ''Zhonghua'' dictionary is its clear presentation of definitions. Separate definitions are numbered, instead of being run together in a column as was the case with earlier Chinese dictionaries, which is helpful to users because some characters have as many as 40 separate definitions. Although Teng and Biggerstaff acknowledged that the ''Zhonghua Da Zidian'' "is very comprehensive and is very carefully compiled," they noted three defects. The index, which is arranged by number of strokes, can be inconvenient (e.g., 2189 characters are listed under 9 strokes). The margins do not have characters to help locate entries under a radical. The two-character phrases may be listed under either component.

Publications

''Zhonghua Da Zidian'' by Zhonghua Book Company (Beijing)

*1st edition (17018-81): A condensed reprint based on the 1935 edition. 2 volumes. :*1st impression (1978-10) :*4th Beijing impression (1985-01)

''Zhonghua Da Zidian'' by Shanghai Chunghwa Book Company

*1st edition (1915)

''Zhonghua Da Zidian'' by Chung Hwa Book Company, Limited

*1st edition (1960) *6th edition (1983-09) *7th edition (中華大字典) () (2015-11-01): 2 volumes.

''Zhonghua Da Zidian'' by The Commercial Press International Co., Ltd.

*1st? edition: Includes 57,470 head letters. :*Regular print (中华大字典/Zhonghua Da Zidian) (): 1 edition, 2 impressions. 1 volume. ::*Edition 1, ?th impression (2015-03-??) :*Condensed print (中华大字典缩印本/Zhonghua Da Zidian) (): 1 edition, 1 impressions. 1 volume. ::*Edition 1, 1st impression (2015-06-??)

References

External links

*Chung Hwa Book Company, Limited page
Chinese

Taiwan 7th edition
*The Commercial Press International Co., Ltd. page
ZHDJDZHDJD condensed print''Zhonghua da zidian''
(scanned copy) at the Internet Archive {{Dictionaries of Chinese Chinese dictionaries 1915 non-fiction books 1983 non-fiction books 2015 non-fiction books