Kangxi dictionary
Encyclopedia
The Kangxi Dictionary was the standard Chinese dictionary
during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Kangxi Emperor
of the Manchu Qing Dynasty
ordered its compilation in 1710. The creator innovated greatly by reusing and confirming the new Zihui
system of 596 radicals, since then known as 596 Kangxi radicals, and was eventually published in 1716. The dictionary is named after the Emperor's era name.
The dictionary contains more than 47,000 characters (including obscure, variant, rare, and archaic characters) but less than a quarter of these characters are now in common use.
dictionaries: the 1615 Zihui
( "Character Collection") by Mei Yingzuo , and the 1627 Zhengzitong
( "Correct Character Mastery") by Zhang Zilie . Since the imperial edict required that the Kangxi Dictionary be compiled within five years, a number of errors were inevitable. The Daoguang Emperor
established a review board and their 1831 Zidian kaozheng ( "Character Dictionary Textual Research") corrected 2,588 mistakes, mostly in quotations and citations. (Teng and Biggerstaff 1971:130)
The supplemented dictionary contains 47,035 character entries, plus 1,995 graphic variants
, giving a total of 49,030 different characters. They are grouped under the 596 radicals
and arranged by the number of additional strokes in the character. Although these 596 radicals were first used in the Zihui
, due to the popularity of the Kangxi Dictionary they are known as Kangxi radicals and remain in modern usage as a method to categorize traditional Chinese character
s.
The character entries give variants (if any), pronunciations in traditional fanqie
spelling and in modern reading of a homophone
, different meanings, and quotations from Chinese books and lexicons. The dictionary also contains rime table
s with characters ordered under syllable rime
classes, tones, and initial syllable onsets.
The Kangxi Dictionary is available in many forms, from old Qing Dynasty editions in block printing, to reprints in traditional Chinese bookbinding
, to modern revised editions with essays in Western-style hardcover
, to the digitized Internet
version.
The Kangxi Dictionary is one of the Chinese dictionaries used by the Ideographic Rapporteur Group
for the Unicode
standard.
Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for Chinese, and this article will introduce some of the most important...
during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Kangxi Emperor
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...
of the Manchu Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
ordered its compilation in 1710. The creator innovated greatly by reusing and confirming the new Zihui
Zihui
The Zìhuì is a Chinese dictionary, edited by Mei Yingzuo during the late Ming Dynasty and published in 1615, the forty-third year of the Ming Wanli Emperor. The work is divided into 14 fascicles and contains a total of 33,179 Chinese characters. It was the first dictionary to introduce the...
system of 596 radicals, since then known as 596 Kangxi radicals, and was eventually published in 1716. The dictionary is named after the Emperor's era name.
The dictionary contains more than 47,000 characters (including obscure, variant, rare, and archaic characters) but less than a quarter of these characters are now in common use.
Compilation
The Kangxi Dictionary editors, including Zhang Yushu and Chen Tingjing , partly based it on two Ming DynastyMing Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
dictionaries: the 1615 Zihui
Zihui
The Zìhuì is a Chinese dictionary, edited by Mei Yingzuo during the late Ming Dynasty and published in 1615, the forty-third year of the Ming Wanli Emperor. The work is divided into 14 fascicles and contains a total of 33,179 Chinese characters. It was the first dictionary to introduce the...
( "Character Collection") by Mei Yingzuo , and the 1627 Zhengzitong
Zhengzitong
The Zhengzitong was a 17th century Chinese dictionary. The Ming Dynasty scholar Zhang Zilie originally published it in 1627 as a supplement to the 1615 Zihui dictionary of Chinese characters, and called it the Zihui bian...
( "Correct Character Mastery") by Zhang Zilie . Since the imperial edict required that the Kangxi Dictionary be compiled within five years, a number of errors were inevitable. The Daoguang Emperor
Daoguang Emperor
The Daoguang Emperor was the eighth emperor of the Manchurian Qing dynasty and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1820 to 1850.-Early years:...
established a review board and their 1831 Zidian kaozheng ( "Character Dictionary Textual Research") corrected 2,588 mistakes, mostly in quotations and citations. (Teng and Biggerstaff 1971:130)
The supplemented dictionary contains 47,035 character entries, plus 1,995 graphic variants
Variant Chinese character
Variant Chinese characters are Chinese characters that are homophones and synonyms. Almost all variants are allographs in most circumstances, such as casual handwriting...
, giving a total of 49,030 different characters. They are grouped under the 596 radicals
Radical (Chinese character)
A Chinese radical is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose...
and arranged by the number of additional strokes in the character. Although these 596 radicals were first used in the Zihui
Zihui
The Zìhuì is a Chinese dictionary, edited by Mei Yingzuo during the late Ming Dynasty and published in 1615, the forty-third year of the Ming Wanli Emperor. The work is divided into 14 fascicles and contains a total of 33,179 Chinese characters. It was the first dictionary to introduce the...
, due to the popularity of the Kangxi Dictionary they are known as Kangxi radicals and remain in modern usage as a method to categorize traditional Chinese character
Traditional Chinese character
Traditional Chinese characters refers to Chinese characters in any character set which does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. It most commonly refers to characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong, or in the Kangxi...
s.
The character entries give variants (if any), pronunciations in traditional fanqie
Fanqiè
In Chinese phonology, fanqie is a method to indicate the pronunciation of a character by using two other characters.-The Origin:...
spelling and in modern reading of a homophone
Homophone
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
, different meanings, and quotations from Chinese books and lexicons. The dictionary also contains rime table
Rime table
A rime table or rhyme table is a syllable chart of the Chinese language, a significant advance on the fǎnqiè analysis used in earlier rime dictionaries...
s with characters ordered under syllable rime
Syllable rime
In the study of phonology in linguistics, the rime or rhyme of a syllable consists of a nucleus and an optional coda. It is the part of the syllable used in poetic rhyme, and the part that is lengthened or stressed when a person elongates or stresses a word in speech.The rime is usually the...
classes, tones, and initial syllable onsets.
The Kangxi Dictionary is available in many forms, from old Qing Dynasty editions in block printing, to reprints in traditional Chinese bookbinding
Traditional Chinese bookbinding
Traditional Chinese bookbinding refers to the method of bookbinding that the Chinese have used in recent centuries, before converting to the modern codex form.It is also called stitched binding...
, to modern revised editions with essays in Western-style hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
, to the digitized Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
version.
The Kangxi Dictionary is one of the Chinese dictionaries used by the Ideographic Rapporteur Group
Ideographic Rapporteur Group
The Ideographic Rapporteur Group advises the Unicode Consortium and the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 on Han character additions to the repertoire of the Unicode and ISO/IEC 10646-1 character set standards, and on Han unification...
for the Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
standard.
Structure of the Kangxi dictionary
- Preface by Kangxi EmperorKangxi EmperorThe Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...
: pp. 1–6 - Notes on the use of the dictionary : pp. 7–12
- Indication of pronunciation of characters : pp. 13–40
- Comprehensive table of contents by radicals : pp. 41–49
- Facilitated consulting contents : pp. 50–71
- The dictionary proper : pp. 75–1631
- Main text : pp. 75–1538
- Addendum contents : pp. 1539–1544
- Addendum text : pp. 1545–1576
- Appendix contents (No–source–characters) : pp. 1577–1583
- Appendix text : pp. 1585–1631
- Postscript : pp. 1633–1635
- Textual research : pp. 1637–1683
See also
- Dai Kan-Wa jitenDai Kan-Wa jitenThe is a Japanese dictionary of kanji compiled by Morohashi Tetsuji. Remarkable for its comprehensiveness and size, Morohashi's dictionary contains over 50,000 character entries and 530,000 compound words...
- Han-Han Dae SajeonHan-Han Dae SajeonHan-Han Dae Sajeon is the generic term for Korean hanja-to-hangul dictionaries. There are several such dictionaries from different publishers. The most comprehensive one, published by Dankook University Publishing, contains 53,667 Chinese characters and 420,269 compound words...
- Hanyu Da ZidianHanyu Da ZidianThe Hanyu Da Zidian is one of the best available reference works on Chinese characters. A group of more than 400 editors and lexicographers began compilation in 1979, and it was published in eight volumes from 1986 to 1989. A separate volume of essays documents the lexicographical complexities...
- List of Kangxi radicals
- Peiwen YunfuPeiwen YunfuThe Peiwen Yunfu is a 1711 Chinese rime dictionary of literary allusions and poetic dictions. Collated by tone and rime, the dictionary serves the composition of poetry....
- Zhonghua Da ZidianZhonghua Da ZidianThe Zhonghua Da Zidian was an unabridged Chinese dictionary of characters published in 1915. The chief editors were Xu Yuan'gao , Lu Feikui , and Ouyang Pucun . It was based upon the 1716 Kangxi Zidian, and is internally organized using the 214 Kangxi radicals...
External links
- Kangxi Zidian (Tongwen Shuju edition), with dictionary lookup – Chinese Text ProjectChinese Text ProjectThe Chinese Text Project is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Digitization Project of Chinese Philosophy Books", showing its focus on books related to Chinese philosophy...
- 康熙字典網上版 Kangxi Dictionary Net Version
- Kangxi zidian 康熙字典, English translation of one definition, on Chinaknowledge.de
- Making Friends with the Kangxi zidian 康熙字典, Occasional paper with translation of Kangxi Emperor's preface 御製康熙字典序
- 汉典 The Chinese Language Dictionary Homepage (in Chinese only)