Title | Year | Notes |
A Dictionary of the Chinese Language | 1815-1823 | First Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionary, Robert Morrison |
Adsotrans | 2001-present | CEDICT's Natural language processing translation dictionary project |
Cangjiepian | -0220 (Qin) | Small Seal Script orthographic primer, Li Si's language reform |
CEDICT | 1997-present | Paul Denisowski's text file project modeled on Japanese EDICT dictionary |
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 |
Dai Kan-Wa Jiten | 1955-1960, 2000 (Japan) | Tetsuji Morohashi's Chinese-Japanese character dictionary, over 50,000 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 2010 | 7 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 |
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 |
Thesaurus Linguae Sericae | 1988-present | Christoph Harbsmeier's collaborative dictionary project for conceptual schemes in Chinese |
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 Zidian, 48,000 entries |
Zhonghua Zihai | 1994 (PRC) | Currently the largest character dictionary, 85,568 entries |
Zhongwen Da Cidian | 1962-1968 | Chinese 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 |