歷代沿革表, 'The Topography of the Nation in the successive Dynasties.' Another Work by the same author, and of the same date as the preceding.
The Dictionaries chiefly consulted have been:--
The well-known Shwo Wan (說文解字), by Hsu Shan, styled Shu-chung ( 許慎, 字叔重), published in A.D. 100; with the supplement (繫傳) by Hsu Ch'ieh (徐鍇), of the southern Tang dynasty. The characters are arranged in the Shwo Wan under 540 keys or radicals, as they are unfortunately termed.
The Liu Shu Ku (六書故), by Tai T'ung, styled Chung-ta (戴侗, 字仲達), of our thirteenth century. The characters are arranged in it, somewhat after the fashion of the R Ya (p. 2), under six general divisions, which again are subdivided, according to the affinity of subjects, into various categories.
The Tsze Hui (字彙), which appeared in the Wan-li (萬歷) reign of the Ming dynasty (1573-1619). The 540 radicals of the Shwo Wan were reduced in this to 214, at which number they have since continued.
The K'ang-hsi Tsze Tien (康熙字典), or Kang-hsi Dictionary, prepared by order of the great K'ang-hsi emperor in 1716. This
is the most common and complete of all Chinese dictionaries for common use.
The I Wan Pi Lan (蓺文備覽), 'A Complete Exhibition of all the Authorized Characters,' published in 1787; 'furnishing,' says Dr. Williams, 'good definitions of all the common characters, whose ancient forms are explained.'
The Pei Wan Yun Fu (佩文韻府), generally known among foreigners as 'The Kang-hsi Thesaurus.' It was undertaken by an imperial order, and published in 1711, being probably, as Wylie says, 'the most extensive work of a lexicographical character ever produced.' It does for the phraseology of Chinese literature all, and more than all, that the Kang-hsi dictionary does for the individual characters. The arrangement of the characters is according to their tones and final sounds. My copy of it, with a supplement published about ten years later, is in forty-five large volumes, with much more letter-press in it than the edition of the Dynastic Histories mentioned on p. 133.