(1) Chinese-Western

• Bilancia, Philip R. Dictionary of Law and Administration in Communist China. Seattle: University of Washington School of Law, 1967. (Mimeograph). Legal terms in tradition.

• Brunnert, H.S., & V.V. Hagelstrom, Present Day Political Organization of China. Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, 1912. Reprint Taibei: Cheng wen, 1971.

• Couvreur, S. J. Dictionaire classique de la langue chinoise. Second Edition, 1911.

• Current Chinese Communist Newspaper Terms and Sayings. Berkeley: Center for Chinese Studies, 1971.

• DeFrancis, John, ed. The ABC Chinese-English Dictionary. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996. Contains, as Appendix 1, "Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography, by the Commission for Pinyin Orthography, State Language Commission, PRC." The document is in English. Among the many interesting features of this new dictionary is the arrangement of entries. Basically, arrangement is by pinyin spelling of whole terms rather than by spelling of syllables. Thus lingwai [ling wai] precedes linzhong [lin zhong] because g comes before z. For terms having the same sequence of letters, such as shishi, arrangement is by tone of the first syllable: first-neutral, first-first, first-second, first-third, first-fourth; second-neutral, second-first, and so on.

• Dobson, W.A.C.H. A Dictionary of the Chinese Particles, with a prolegomenon in which the problems of the particles are considered and they are classified by their grammatical functions Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974. Reprint Taibei, 1976.

• Fenn, Courtenay Hughes. The Five Thousand Dictionary. Beijing: 1940. (Revised American Edition) Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1944. Good for romanization.

• Giles, Herbert A. A Chinese-English Dictionary. Second edition. Shanghai: 1912. Good for 19th-century documents.

• Guo Zhengzhong 郭 正 忠. Zhongguo quan heng du liang san zhi shi si shi ji 中 國 權 衡 度 量 三 至 十 四 世 紀 (Chinese Weights and Measures: fourth to 14th centuries). Beijing: She hui ke xue, 1993.

• Huang Yen-kai. A Dictionary of Chinese Idiomatic Phrases. Hong Kong: Eton Press, 1967. Identifies sources of 成 語.

• Instituts Ricci (Paris-Taibei). Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise. Paris and Taibei: Instituts Ricci, 2001. This extremely useful dictionary includes 6 volumes with over 13,500 entries and over 300,000 compounds, plus an additional volume of reference material.

• Joint Publications Research Service (No. 20, 904). Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Communist Chinese Usage. (Second Edition) Washington: U. S. Department of Commerce, 1965. Based a on German-Chinese dictionary.

• Karlgren, Bernhard. Grammata Serica Recensa. Stockholm: The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, 1957.

• Lin Yutang. Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1972. Good for pronunciation; poor for PRC materials. Separate Wade-Giles index also available from Chinese University of Hong Kong. More accurate then Mathew's (see below), distinguishes modern from classical usages, and gives best English equivalent for Chinese phrases.

• Mathews, Robert Henry. A Chinese-English Dictionary. Compiled for the China Inland Mission. Shanghai: 1931. (Revised American Edition) Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1944. Phonetic Renderings are at times confusing; meanings are often just specific instances. Popular, but not recommended.

• Mayers, William Frederick. The Chinese Government. Third edition. Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, 1897. Reprint Taibei: Cheng wen, 1966. Ch'ing dynasty.

• Modern Chinese-English Technical and General Dictionary. 3 vols. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963. Not well organized.

• Petillon, Corentin. Allusions litteraires. Varietes sinologiques No. 8. Shanghai: Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique, 1895.

• Qiu Guangming 丘光明. Zhongguo li dai du liang heng kao 中 國 歷 代 度 量 衡 考 (Study of historical weights and measures in China through the dynasties). Beijing: Ke xue, 1992. Another standard and comprehensive study of historical weights and measures.

• Schuessler, Axel. A Dictionary of Early Zhou Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987

• Sun, E-tu Zen. Ch'ing Administrative Terms. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961.

• U.S. War Department. Chinese Military Dictionary: Chinese-English, English-Chinese. Washington, 1944.

• Williams, Wells. A Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language. Tong Zhou: 1912. Large number of individual characters with a wide range of meanings.

• Wong, Sybil. Dictionary of Chinese Communist Agricultural Terminology. Hong Kong: Union Research Institute, 1968.

• Wu Chengluo. Zhongguo du liang heng shi 中 國 度 量 衡 史 (History of Chinese metrology). Shanghai: Shang wu, 1937. Second printing. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1957. For Chinese weights and measures, see , 1937: Wu gives detailed tables with citations for every type of measure.

(2) Chinese and Japanese Words and Phrases

• Ci hai 辭 海. Revised edition by Ci hai bian ji wei yuan hui. Hong Kong: Zhonghua shu ju, 1989.

• Ci yuan 辭 源. Revised edition by Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Henan i yuan xiu ding zu, and Shang wu yin shu guan bian ji bu. Beijing: Shang wu yin shu guan, 1979-1984.

• Ding Fubao 丁 福 保, compiler. Shuo wen jie zi gu lin 說 文 解 字 詁 林. Shanghai: Yu wen shu ju, 1930.

• Duan Yucai 段 玉 裁. Shuo wen jie zi zhu 說 文 解 字 注. : Yi wen yin shu guan, 1970.

• Fu Dingyi 符 定 一, compiler. Lian mian zi dian 聯 綿 字 典.S Beijing: Jing hua yin shu ju, 1943.

• Guo yu ci dian 國 語 辭 典. Compiled by the Zhongguo ci dian bian zuan chu 中 國 辭 典 編 纂 處. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1948. Originally published in 1943 in 8 volumes. Frequently reprinted. Now available in abbreviated single volume called Han yu ci dian 漢 語 辭 典 and by other names.

• He Cho 何 焯, et al, compilers. Pian zi lei bian 駢 字 類 編. Completed in 1726.

• Hoshi Ayao 星 斌 夫, compiler. Chugoku shakai keizaishi goi 中 國 社 會 經 濟 史 語 彙. Kindai Chugoku kenkyu senta, 1966. Social and economic terms.

• Hu Yingyuan 胡 應 元 . Zhongguo shi xue ci hui 中 國 史 學 辭 彙 (Chinese-English Dictionary of Chinese Historical Terminology). Taibei : Hua xiang yuan chu ban she, 1992.

• Kangxi zi dian 康 熙 字 典. Compiled under imperial auspices by Zhang Yushu 張 玉 書, Chen Tingjing 陳 廷 敬 et al. Completed 1716.

• Kondo Moku 近 藤 疼, compiler. Chugoku gakugei daijiten 中 國 學 藝 大 辭 典. Tokyo: Motomoto sha, 1959.

• Kuraishi Takeshiro, compiler. 石 武 四 -?Iwanami Chugokugo jiten 岩 波 中 國 語 辭 典. Iwanami Shoten, 1963. Modern literary terms.

• Lu Danan 陸 澹 安, compiler. Xiao shuo ci yu hui shi 小 說 辭 語 匯 釋 . Shanghai: Zhonghua shu ju, 1964. Classical novels and fiction.

• Morohashi Tetsuji 諸 橋 轍 次 , compiler. Dai kanwa jiten 大 漢 和 辭 典 . 13 vols. Tokyo: Taishokan shoten, 1955-60. New edition, published in 1984-1986.

• Pei Xuehai 裴 學 海. Gu shu xu zi ji shi 古 書 虛 字 集 釋. Taibei: Guang wen shu ju, 1962.

• Song Yuan yu yan ci dian 宋 元 語 言 辭 典 (Song-Yuan dictionary of language). Shanghai, 1985.

• Wang Yunwu 王 雲 五 , compiler. Wang Yunwu da ci dian 王 雲 五 大 辭 典. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1956.

• Wu Lianming 吳 廉 銘. Zhonghua cheng yu ci dian 中 華 成 語 詞 典. Shanghai: Zhonghua shu ju, 1949.

• Xiang Guangzhong 向 光 忠, compiler. Zhonghua cheng yu da ci dian 中 華 成 語 大 詞 典 . Changchun: Jilin wen shi chu ban she, 1986.

• Xin Yi 辛 夷 , & Cheng Zhiwei 成 志 偉, compilers. Zhonghua dian gu da ci dian 中 華 典 故 大 詞 典. Beijing: Yanshan chu ban she, 1991.

• Zhang Yushu 張 玉 書, et al., compilers. Pei wen yun fu 佩 文 韻 府. 7 vols. Published in 1711. Reprinted by Shanghai shang wu yin shu guan. Works consulting for classical allusions.

• Zhang Zilie 張 自 烈, compiler. Zheng zi tong 正 字 通 . Useful for 4-corners codes of Chinese characters in an index organized by total stroke number.

• Zheng Jingyi 鄭 競 毅, & Peng Shi 彭 時, compilers. Fa lu da ci shu 法 律 大 辭 書. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1936. Old legal terms.

• Zhong wen da ci dian 中 文 大 辭 典 (The Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Chinese Language). Compiled by the Zhong wen da ci dian bian zuan wei yuan hui 中 文 大 辭 典 編 纂 委 員 會 . Taibei: Zhongguo wen hua yan jou suo, 1962-70. About 40 volumes; the most comprehensive dictionary in Chinese.

• Zhongguo cong shu zong lu 中 國 叢 書 綜 錄. Look under Collectanea.

• Zhuang Weisi (Wallace Johnson), compiler. Pian zi lei bian yin de 駢 字 類 編 引 得. Taibei: Zong jing xiao si ku shu ju, 1966.

(3) Rhyming Dictionaries

• Guang yun 廣 韻. Originally compiled in A. D. 601 by Lu Fayan 陸 法 言 under the title Tang yun 唐 韻. Revised and enlarged under imperial auspices in 1011 by Chen Pengnian 陳 彭 年, Qiu Yong 邱 雍 and others, and published under the present title. Si bu bei yao 四 部 備 要 , v. 344-348.

• Ji yun 集 韻. Compiled under imperial auspices by Ding Du 丁 度 and others in 1037 and possibly completed by Sima Guang 司 馬 光 in 1067. Si bu bei yao 四 部 備 要 , v. 349-358.

• Lu Yuanjun, compiler. Shi ci chu yun zong jian 詩 詞 曲 韻 總 檢. Taibei: Zheng zhong shu ju, 1968.

(4) Special Subjects: Chinese Science & Medicine, Buddhism, etc.

• For recent dictionaries of specialized terminology, see James Cole, Updating Wilkinson: An Annotated Bibliography of Reference Works on Imperial China Published Since 1973. N.Y., 1991.

• Medical and natural sciences

  • Chen Xihe 陳 西 河. Zhong yi ming ci ci dian 中 醫 名 詞 辭 典. Taibei: Wu zhou chu ban she, 1974.

  • Du Yaquan 杜 亞 泉 et al., compilers. Zhi wu xue da ci dian 植 物 學 大 辭 典. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1938.

  • Ou Ming 歐 明. Han ying Zhong yi ci dian 漢 英 中 醫 辭 典. Hong Kong: San lian shu ju, 1988.

  • Read, Bernard E. Chinese Materia Medica. Beijing: Peking Natural History Bulletin, 1931-1941.

  • ---- and C. Pak. Minerals and Stones. Beijing: Peking Natural History Bulletin, 1936.

  • ----. Chinese Medicinal Plants. Beijing: Peking Natural History Bulletin, 1936.

  • Xie Guan 謝 觀 . Zhongguo yi xue da ci dian 中 國 醫 學 大 辭 典. Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 1927. Now out of date. The Zhong yi da ci dian below is a much better reference source.

  • Yu Yunxiu 余 雲 岫. Gu dai ji bing ming hou shu yi 古 代 疾 病 名 候 疏 義. Beijing: Ren min chu ban she, 1953.

  • Yuan Yixiang 原 一 祥, Han Ying shuang jie Zhong yi da ci dian 漢 英 雙 解 中 醫 大 辭 典 ("Chinese-English Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine"). Beijing: 人 民 衛 生 Press. An important recent arrival. Simplified characters. Arranged in stroke order, with pinyin and English indexes. Includes 8760 items chosen from TCM textbooks and explained in detail in both Chinese and English. By far the most comprehensive Chinese-English medical dictionary, aside from a couple of grossly incompetent ones published in the U.S. Definitions are generally aware of multiple meanings. This book reliably transmits the understanding of the present-day TCM practitioner. It is emphatically not, however, a historical dictionary, and cannot be used uncritically for reading premodern texts.

  • Zhong yi da ci dian 中 醫 大 辭 典 (Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine), compiled by 中 國 中 醫 研 究 院 廣 州 中 醫 學 院 . Published by Ren min wei sheng 人 民 衛 生 Press, 1995. Now the best reference book of its kind.

• Buddhist terms

  • Ding Fubao 丁 福 保 , compiler. Fo xue da ci dian 佛 學 大 辭 典 . Shanghai: Shanghai yi xue shu ju, 1921.

  • Fo guang da ci dian 佛 光 大 辭 典. Taibei: Fo guang chu banbshe 佛 光 出 版 社, 1989. Reprint Beijing: Shu mu wen xian chu ban she, 1993.

  • Mochizuki Shinko 望 月 信 亨. Bukkyo daijiten 佛 教 大 辭 典. Tokyo: Bukkyo Daijiten Hakkojo, 1932-1964.

  • Oda Tokuno. Bukkyo daijiten 佛 教 大 辭 典. Tokyo: Okura shoten, 1920.

  • Soothill, William E., & Lewis Hodous. A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1937.

  • Zengaku daijiten 禪 學 大 辭 典. Compiled by Komazawa University. Tokyo: Taishukan shoten, 1987.

• Immortals, Mythology, Symbols

  • Dai Yuanchang 戴 源 長. Xian xue ci dian 仙 學 辭 典. Taibei: Zhu zhe zi kan, 1962.

  • Eberhard, Wolfram. A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought. Translated by G.L. Campbell. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988..

  • Werner, E. T. C. A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology. Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, 1932.

  • Williams, C. A. S. Encyclopedia of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives. New York: The Julian Press, 1960.

• Education, Thought, History

  • Chen Kaochun, ed. Zhongguo gu dai jun shi wen hua da ci dian 中 國 古 代 軍 事 文 化 大 辭 典 . Beijing: Chang cheng chu ban she, 1992.

  • Hihara Toshikuni 日 原 利 國 , ed. Chugoku siso jiten 中 國 思 想 辭 典. Tokyo: Kenbun shuppan 研 文 出 版 , 1984

  • Hu Yinyuan 胡 應 元 , ed. Zhongguo shi xue ci hui 中 國 史 學 辭 彙 (Chinese-English dictionary of Chinese historical terminology). 2 vols. Taibei: Hua xiang yuan, 1992.

  • Li Chengzhong, ed. Jiao yu ci dian 教 育 辭 典. Harbin: Heilongjiang ji shu chu ban she, 1989.

  • Tai Yi 戴 逸, ed. Er shi si shi da ci dian 二 十 四 史 大 辭 典. Jilin: Ren min chu ban she, 1992.

  • Zhao Yongji 趙永紀 et al., Qing dai xue shu ci dian 清代學術辭典 (Dictionary of Qing dynasty scholarship). Beijing: Xue yuan chu ban she, 2004.

  • Zhongguo wen hua shi da ci dian 中 國 文 化 史 大 詞 典 . Compiled by Shanghai shi fan da xue gu ji zheng li yan jiu suo. Taibei: Yuan liu, 1989.

• Literature and Music

  • Liu Chengfu 劉 誠 甫, compiler. Yin yue ci dian 音 樂 辭 典. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1935.

  • Mayers, William F. The Chinese Readers Manual. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1874.

  • Tang Song ci jian shang ci dian 唐 宋 詞 鑒 賞 辭 典. Nanjing: Jiangsu gu ji chu ban she, 1986.

  • Yang Bojun 楊 伯 峻 . Chun qiu Zuo zhuan ci dian 春 秋 左 傳 詞 典. Beijing: Xin hua shu dian, 1985.

• Japanese Names

  • Riben xing ming ci dian 日 本 姓 名 詞 典 . Beijing: Shang wu yin shu guan, 1979.

  • O'Neill, P.G. Japanese Names: A Comprehensive Index by characters and Readings. New York: Weatherhill 1972

• Specialized character dictionaries

  • Jian hua zi zong biao jian zi 簡 化 字 總 表 檢 字. Honkong: San lian shu dian Xianggang fen dian, 1972.

  • Shu dao liu ti da zi dian 書 道 六 體 大 字 典. For calligraphy forms.

  • Wang, Yankun 王 彥 坤 , Li dai bi hui zi hui dian 歷 代 避 諱 字 匯 典 . Di 1 ban 第 一 版。Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou gu ji chu ban she, 1997. For taboo characters 避 諱.

(5) Encyclopedias

• Beijing tu shu guan cang Zhongguo li dai shi ke ta ben hui bian 北 京 圖 書 館 藏 中 國 歷 代 石 刻 拓 本 彙 編. Henan: Zhengzhou, 1990.

• Beijing tu shu guan gu ji zhen ben cong kan 北 京 圖 書 館 古 籍 珍 本 叢 刊. Beijing: Xin hua shu dian, 1988-.

• Gao Cheng 高 承 (11th century), compiler. Shi wu ji yuan 事 物 紀 源. In Cong shu ji cheng 叢 書 集 成, v. 1209-1212.

• Giles, Lionel. An Alphabetical Index to the Chinese Encyclopedia. London: British Museum, 1911.

• Jiang Tingxi 蔣 廷 錫, et al., compilers. Gu jin tu shu ji cheng 古 今 圖 書 集 成. Presented to the emperor in 1725. Photolithographic reproduction, Shanghai: Zhonghua shu ju, 1934.

• Tai ping yu lan 太 平 御 覽. Compiled under imperial auspices by Li Fang 李 昉(925-96) and others. Completed in 983. Photolithographic reproduction, Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1935. See also index in Harvard-Yenching Institute Sinological Index Series, volume 23.

• Wang Qi 王 圻, compiler. San cai tu hui 三 才 圖 會 (Pictorial Encyclopedias). 155 vols. Published in 1609.

• Wang Yinglin 王 應 麟 (13th century), compiler. Yu hai 玉 海. 1806 ed.

• Yang Jialuo 楊 家 駱, compiler. Zhongguo wen xue bai ke quan shu 中 國 文 學 百 科 全 書. Nanjing: Zhongguo ci dian guan, 1936 and 1937.

• Zhai Hao 翟 灝, compiler. Tong su bian 通 俗 編. Latest dated pref. 1751. In Cong shu ji cheng 叢 書 集 成 , v. 1222-1223.

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