List of Chinese dictionaries

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Notable Chinese dictionaries , past and present, include:

TitleYearNotes
ABC Chinese-English Dictionary 1996First Chinese dictionary collated in single-sort alphabetical order of pinyin, John DeFrancis
A Chinese-English Dictionary 1892 Herbert Allen Giles' bestselling dictionary, 2nd ed. 1912
A Dictionary of the Chinese Language 1815–1823First Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionary, Robert Morrison
A Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language 1874First Chinese-English dictionary to include regional pronunciations, Samuel Wells Williams
Cangjiepian -0220 (Qin) Small Seal Script orthographic primer, Li Si's language reform
CEDICT 1997–presentPaul Denisowski's text file project modeled on Japanese EDICT dictionary
CFDICT2010–presentDavid Houstin's text file project modeled on English CEDICT dictionary
Chinese and English Dictionary 1842 Walter Henry Medhurst
Cihai 1938 ... 2009 (ROC, PRC)Popular modern general-purpose encyclopedic dictionary, 6 editions
Ciyuan 1915...1984 (ROC, PRC)First major 20th-century encyclopedic dictionary, 3 editions and 3 supplements
Concise Dictionary of Spoken Chinese 1947 Yuen Ren Chao's and Yang Lien-sheng's first Chinese dictionary for spoken language
Dai Kan-Wa Jiten 1955–1960, 2000 (Japan) Tetsuji Morohashi's Chinese-Japanese character dictionary, 50,305 entries
Erya -0250 (Warring States)Oldest extant Chinese dictionary, semantic field collation, one of the Thirteen Classics
Fangyan -0015 (Han) Yang Xiong, first dictionary of Chinese regional varieties
Le Grand Ricci (or Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise)2001 - DVD 20107 volume Chinese-French dictionary, 13,500 characters and about 300,000 entries of terms and expressions.
Ganlu Zishu 0750 (Tang)First orthography dictionary of the regular script
Grammata Serica Recensa 1957 (Sweden) Bernhard Karlgren's groundbreaking Old and Middle Chinese-English dictionary
Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects 2002 (PRC)Compendium of dictionaries for 42 local varieties of Chinese
Guangya 0230 (Cao Wei) Zhang Yi's supplement to the Erya
Guangyun 1008 (Song)Rime dictionary expansion of Qieyun , source for reconstruction of Middle Chinese
Han-Han Dae Sajeon 2008 (South Korea) Korean hanja-to-hangul dictionary, 53,667 character entries
Hanyu Da Cidian 1986–1993 (PRC)Highly respected modern word/phase dictionary, diachronically collated, over 23,000 character entries
Hanyu Da Zidian 1986–1989, 2010 (PRC)Highly respected modern character dictionary, 60,370 entries
Jijiupian -0040 (Han)Oldest extant orthographic primer, rhymed lines
Jingdian Shiwen 0580 (Tang) Lu Deming's exegetical dictionary for Chinese classic texts
Jiyun 1037 (Song)Rime dictionary expansion of the Guangyun , 53,525 head characters
Kangxi Dictionary 1716 (Qing) Kangxi era character dictionary, 47,000 entries, see also List of 214 Kangxi radicals
Leipian 1066 (Song) Sima Guang's expansion of the Yupian , 31,319 character entries, 544 radicals
Longkan Shoujian 0997 (Liao)Buddhist dictionary of pronunciations and meanings, 26,000 characters, radical and phonetic indexes
Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary 1931 Robert Henry Mathews, 2nd ed. 1943
Menggu Ziyun 1308 (Yuan)Only example of 'Phags-pa script-Chinese dictionary, 813 entries
Pearl in the Palm 1048 (Western Xia)First Chinese-Tangut language bilingual dictionary
Peiwen Yunfu 1711 (Qing)Rime dictionary of literary phrases, 10,257 entries arranged by 106 rimes
Pentaglot Dictionary 1794 (Qing)8,671 Manchu entries translated into Tibetan, Mongolian, Chagatai, and Chinese
Piya 1125 (Song) Erya supplement of plant and animal names
Qi Lin Bayin 1650 (Qing)Rime dictionary of Fuzhou dialect
Qieyun 0601 (Sui)Rime dictionary of Classical Chinese, fanqie pronunciation glosses, 2,158 character entries
Qiyin lüe 1161 (Song)Rime dictionary resembling Yunjing
Shenglei 0230 (Cao Wei)First Chinese rime dictionary, lost work, partially reconstructed
Shiben -0250 (Warring States)First Chinese encyclopedic dictionary of origins
Shiming 0200 (Han)Expansion of Erya , 1,502 entries, linguistically important Han-era pronunciation glosses
Shizhoupian -0800 (Zhou)First recorded Chinese dictionary, Great Seal script, lost work
Shuowen Jiezi 0121 (Han)First character dictionary collated by graphic radicals, 9,353 entries, see also List of 540 Shuowen Jiezi radicals
Tangyun 0732 (Tang)Rime dictionary revision of Qieyun , lost work
The Five Thousand Dictionary 1926 (ROC) Courtenay Hughes Fenn's dictionary of 5,000 commonly used characters
Xiandai Hanyu Cidian 1978 ... 2012 (PRC)Authoritative general-purpose dictionary, 6 editions, 69,000 entries
Xiao Erya -0150 (Han)"Little Erya " supplement, 374 entries
Xinhua Zidian 1957...2004 (PRC)Best-selling Chinese dictionary, world's most popular reference work, 11 editions, 3,300 character entries, 189-radical system
Yiqiejing Yinyi (Huilin) 0807 (Tang)Expansion of Yiqiejing yinyi (Xuanying) , 31,000 word entries, 100 chapters
Yiqiejing Yinyi (Xuanying) 0649 (Tang)Oldest surviving Chinese "pronunciation and meaning" dictionary of Buddhist technical terminology, 25 chapters, archetype for Chinese bilingual dictionaries
Yunhai jingyuan 0780 (Tang)First rime dictionary collated phonetically instead of graphically, lost work
Yunjing 1161, 1203 (Song)Oldest extant rime tables, arranged by four tones of Middle Chinese and 23 types of articulation
Yupian 0543 (Liang)Character dictionary with 12,158 character entries, 542-radical system, fanqie glosses
Zhengzitong 1627 (Ming)Supplement to the Zihui character dictionary, 33,000 entries
Zhongguo Renming Dacidian 1921 (ROC)Leading biographical dictionary in China
Zhonghua Da Zidian 1915 (ROC)Updated expansion of Kangxi Dictionary , 48,000 entries
Zhonghua Zihai 1994 (PRC)Currently the largest character dictionary, 85,568 entries
Zhongwen Da Cidian 1962–1968Chinese revised version of Japanese Dai Kan-Wa Jiten , 49,905 character entries
Zhongyuan Yinyun 1324 (Yuan)Rime table, 5,866 characters collated by 19 rime groups, important for historical Chinese phonology
Zihui 1615 (Ming)First character dictionary to use the 214-radical system adopted by many later works
Zilin 0350 (Jin)Character dictionary with 12,824 entries, 540-radical system, lost work, partially reconstructed
Zitong 1254 (Southern Song)Dictionary of orthography, compares seal, clerical, and regular script characters
Ziyuan 0340 (Eastern Jin)Character dictionary attributed to Ge Hong, lost work excepting fragments

See also

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