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.
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 中國社會經濟史語匯. Kindai Chugoku kenkyu senta, 1966. Social and economic terms.
Hu Yingyuan 胡應元 . Zhongguo shi xue ci hui 中國史學辭匯 (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.
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.
Han-Han tae sajŏn 漢韓大辭典 (Great Chinese-Korean dictionary; Seoul: Tan'guk Taehakkyo ch'ulp'anbu, 1999-2008; sixteen volumes):
Similar to the Dai Kan-Wa jiten 大漢和辞典 (Great Chinese-Japanese dictionary) in its presentation of definitions and citing of sources;
the preface (vol. 1, p. 2) to the dictionary explicitly relates the Han-Han tae sajŏn with Morohashi's 諸橋 dictionary.
The Han-Han tae sajŏn does not cite any Korean sources, and is no more useful for research on the Chosŏn than are other general dictionaries of Classical Chinese.
Han'guk hanchaŏ sajŏn 韓國漢字語辭典 (Dictionary of Korean classical Chinese; Seoul: Tan'guk Taehakkyo ch'ulp'anbu, 1992-1996; four volumes):
Explicitly a dictionary of Classical Chinese as it was used in Korea, citing only Korean sources as basis for its definitions.
The dictionary's vernacular Korean explanations are more elaborate than those in the Han-Han tae sajŏn 漢韓大辭典,
and its practice in citing sources is as rigorous as that found in Morohashi or its Korean counterpart Han-Han tae sajŏn.
Han'guk hanchaŏ sajŏn is arguably the best dictionary for specifically Korean classical Chinese terms, although it is not comprehensive.
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 云 五 , compiler. Wang Yunwu da ci dian 王云五大辭典.
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.
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.
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.
Tessenow, Hermann, and Paul U. Unschuld. A Dictionary of the Huang Di nei jing su wen. (Huang Di nei jing su wen Project.). Includes searchable CD-ROM. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008.
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 余云岫. 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.
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.
Hu Yinyuan 胡應元 , ed. Zhongguo shi xue ci hui 中國史學辭匯
(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 ?????, Li dai bi hui zi hui dian ???????. Di 1 ban ?1??Zhengzhou Shi ???: Zhongzhou gu ji chu ban she ???????, 1997. For taboo characters ??.
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匯編. 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.