The is the first Japanese dictionary containing native kun'yomi "Japanese readings" of Chinese characters. The title is also written 新選字鏡 with the graphic variant sen (選 "choose; select; elect") for sen (撰 "compile; compose; edit").

The Heian Period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 Buddhist monk Shōjū (昌住) completed the Shinsen jikyō during the Shōtai

Shotai

was a after Kanpyō and before Engi. This period spanned the years from April 898 through July 901. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:* January 26, 898 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events...

 era (898-901 CE). The preface explains that his motivation for compiling a Japanese dictionary was the inconvenience of looking up Chinese characters in the Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 dictionary by Xuan Ying (玄應), the Yiqie jing yinyi (一切經音義 "Pronunciation and Meaning in the Tripitaka

Tripiṭaka

' is a traditional term used by various Buddhist sects to describe their various canons of scriptures. As the name suggests, a traditionally contains three "baskets" of teachings: a , a and an .-The three categories:Tripitaka is the three main categories of texts that make up the...

"). The preface credits two other Chinese dictionaries: the (ca. 543 CE) Yupian

Yupian

The Yupian is a circa 543 CE Chinese dictionary edited by Gu Yewang during the Liang Dynasty. It arranges 12,158 character entries under 542 radicals, which differ somewhat from the original 540 in the Shuowen Jiezi...

, which enters 12,158 characters under a system of 542 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...

 (bùshǒu 部首), and the (601 CE) Qieyun

Qieyun

The Qieyun is a Chinese rime dictionary, published in 601 CE during the Sui Dynasty. The title Qieyun literally means "cutting rimes" referring to the traditional Chinese fănqiè system of spelling, and is thus translatable as "Spelling Rimes."Lù Făyán was the chief editor...

rime dictionary

Rime dictionary

thumb|upright=1.0|A page from Shiyun Hebi , a rime dictionary of the [[Qing Dynasty]]A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genres requiring rhymes. A rime dictionary focuses on pronunciation and collates...

, which enters 16,917 characters categorized by tones

Tone (linguistics)

Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...

 and 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...

s. Don C. Bailey says:

In general, the Shinsen jikyō resembles the [Yupian], but Shōjū specifically states in the preface that he acquired a copy of this work only in 892 after he had completed his first draft, and that he thereafter used it as supplementary material. Whether or not the format of the [Yupian] was imitated, a dictionary or dictionaries of the same type must have served as a model. (1960:4)

Shōjū's model balances two traditional methods of collating Chinese dictionaries: semantic organization like the Erya

Erya

The Erya is the oldest extant Chinese dictionary or Chinese encyclopedia. Bernhard Karlgren concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from" the 3rd century BC....

and logographic radicals like the Shuowen Jiezi

Shuowen Jiezi

The Shuōwén Jiězì was an early 2nd century CE Chinese dictionary from the Han Dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary , it was still the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give the rationale behind them , as well as the first to use the...

. He introduces a novel Japanese system of 160 radicals (bu 部) that exhibit semantic organization. For example, the first seven are Heaven (天), Sun (日), Moon (月), Meat (肉, a graphic variant of 月), Rain (雨), Air (気), and Wind (風). The Shinsen jikyō not only reduced the number of radical headings, but also logically arranged them by meanings. Compare the earlier Japanese dictionary Tenrei Banshō Meigi

Tenrei Bansho Meigi

The is the oldest extant Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters. The title is also written 篆隷万象名義 with the modern graphic variant ban for ban ....

that uses 534 radicals adapted from the original 540 in the Shuowen Jiezi.

The received edition Shinsen jikyō dictionary contains 21,300 character entries in 12 fascicles (kan 卷). Each head entry gives the Chinese character, Chinese pronunciations (with either a homonym

Homonym

In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings...

 or fanqie

Fanqiè

In Chinese phonology, fanqie is a method to indicate the pronunciation of a character by using two other characters.-The Origin:...

spelling), definitions, and Japanese equivalents (Wakun 和訓). This dictionary notes over 3,700 Japanese pronunciations (Okimori 1996:156), and cites early texts, for instance, the circa 822 CE Buddhist Nihon Ryōiki

Nihon Ryoiki

is an early Heian period setsuwa collection. Written by Kyōkai between 787 and 824, it is Japan's oldest collection of Buddhist setsuwa. It is three volumes in length.-Title:...

(日本霊異記 "Accounts of Miracles in Japan"). The Shinsen jikyō is the first Japanese dictionary to include kokuji "national characters" invented in Japan (see Commons 1996). The modern Mojikyo

Mojikyo

is a set of computer software and fonts for enhanced logogram word-processing. , it collected 126,560/142,228 characters . Among them, 101,936/128,573 characters belong to the extended CJKV family...

computer font software includes character data from the ancient Shinsen Jikyō and Jikyōshū.