The Xiao Erya was an early Chinese dictionary

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...

 that supplements 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....

. It was supposedly compiled in the early Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

 by Kong Fu (孔鮒 264?-208 BCE), a descendent of Confucius

Confucius

Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....

. However, the received Xiao Erya text was included in a Confucianist collection of debates, the Kongcongzi (孔叢子; K'ung-ts'ung-tzu; "The Kong Family Master's Anthology"), which contains fabrications that its first editor Wang Su

Wang Su

Wang Su was the son of the Cao Wei official Wang Lang during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. When Guanqiu Jian started a rebellion in Shouchun, Wang advised Sima Shi to lower the rebels' morale by treating their families with respect...

 (王肅, 195-256 CE) added to win his arguments with Zheng Xuan

Zheng Xuan

Zheng Xuan , courtesy name Kangcheng , was an influential Chinese commentator and Confucian scholar of the Han Dynasty. He was born in modern Weifang, Shandong, and was a student of Ma Rong.-See also:*Three Kingdoms...

 (鄭玄, 127-200CE). The 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....

 scholar Hu Chenggong (胡承珙, 1776–1832), who wrote the Xiao Erya yizheng (小爾雅義證 "Exegesis and Proof for the Xiao Erya"), accepted Kong Fu as the author. Liu (2005) concludes the Xiao Erya reliably dates from the Western Han Dynasty and suggests its compiler was from the southern state of Chu

Chu (state)

The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...

.

The Xiao Erya has 374 entries, far less than the Erya with 2091. It simplifies the Eryas 19 semantically-based chapter divisions into 13, and entitles them with guang (廣 "expanding") instead of shi (釋 "explaining").

Section	Chinese	Pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...	Translation	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....  Chapter
01	廣詁	Guanggu	Expanding Old Words	01
02	廣言	Guangyan	Expanding Words	02
03	廣訓	Guangxun	Expanding Instructions	03
04	廣義	Guangyi	Expanding Righteousness	04
05	廣名	Guangming	Expanding Names	X
06	廣服	Guangfu	Expanding Clothing	06
07	廣器	Guangqi	Expanding Utensils	06
08	廣物	Guangwu	Expanding Things	13, 14
09	廣鳥	Guangniao	Expanding Birds	17
10	廣獸	Guangshou	Expanding Beasts	18, 19
11	廣度	Guangdu	Expanding Length	X
12	廣量	Guangliang	Expanding Volume	X
13	廣衡	Guangheng	Expanding Weight	X

In comparison with the Erya chapter arrangement, Xiao Erya sections 1-3 (defining abstract words) are identical. Despite the different title with yi ("righteousness") instead of qin ("relatives"), both Section 4 and Chapter 4 ("Explaining Relatives") define kinship terms. Sections 6 and 7 divide Chapter 6 ("Explaining Utensils"). Xiao Erya Section 8 combines Chapters 13 ("Explaining Plants") and 14 ("Explaining Trees"); 9 mirrors 17; and Section 10 combines 18 ("Explaining Beasts") and 19 ("Explaining Domestic Animals"). Xiao Erya sections 5 (funeral terms) and 11-13 (units of measurement) are not included in the Erya.

External links

• Xiao Erya Complete text in Chinese
• Kongcongzi 孔叢子 "The Kong Family Master's Anthology", ChinaKnowledge