Hanyu Da Zidian

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The Hanyu Da Zidian (Chinese: 漢語大字典/汉语大字典; pinyin: Hànyǔ dà zìdiǎn; literally "Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary") 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 (Li and Zhao 1990) documents the lexicographical complexities for this full-scale Chinese dictionary. Besides the weighty 5,790-page first edition, there are 3-volume (1995) and pocket (1999) editions.

The Hanyu Da Zidian includes 54,678 head entries for characters. They give historical logographic forms such as oracle bone script, bronzeware script, and seal script. Pronunciation is glossed for Old Chinese (rime group), Middle Chinese (fanqie spelling), and Standard Mandarin (pinyin). The chronologically numbered definitions cite early Chinese dictionaries (esp. the Shuowen Jiezi) and texts. Internal collating is by a novel 200 radical system, arranged by stroke count. Volume 8 has appendices, including rime tables for Old and Middle Chinese, variant characters, indexes, and addenda.

The Hanyu Da Zidian has become the international standard reference for Chinese characters; for example, the Unihan Database and the Wiktionary cite (volume/page/entry) references.

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Hanyu da zidian weiyuanhui 漢語大字典委員會, eds. 1986-1989. Hanyu da zidian 漢語大字典 ("Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary"). 8 vols. Wuhan: Hubei cishu chubanshe and Sichuan cishu chubanshe. ISBN 7-5403-0030-2. 1995. Corrected ed., 3 vols.
Hanyu da zidian weiyuanhui 漢語大字典委員會, eds. 1999. Hanyu da zidian xiuzhenben 漢語大字典袖珍本 ("Pocket Edition Hanyu da zidian"). Wuhan: Hubei cishu chubanshe and Sichuan cishu chubanshe.
Li Gefei 李格非 and Zhao Chenduo 赵振铎, eds. 1990. Hanyu da zidian lunwenji 漢語大字典論文集 ("Collected Essays on the Hanyu da zidian"). ISBN 7-5403-0028-0