Yùdìng Kāngxī zìdiǎn 御定康熙字典
Imperially-Fixed Kāngxī Compendium of Standard Characters by 張玉書 (Zhāng Yùshū) and 陳廷敬 (Chén Tíngjìng), with 28 compilers, yùdìng (imperially fixed) by the Shèngzǔ Rénhuángdì in Kāngxī 55 (1716)
About the work
The largest character dictionary in pre-modern Chinese history: 47,043 graphs (~40% being graphic variants and dead graphs), in 12 集 (sets) — one for each branch of the duo-decimal calendrical cycle, each jí further sub-divided into upper / middle / lower zǐjuàn — totalling 36 juàn. Imperially commissioned in Kāngxī 49 (1710); presented Kāngxī 55 / 閏3 (1716). Uses the 214-radical scheme of Méi Yīngzuò’s Zìhuì 字彙 (1615), as adopted by Zhāng Zìliè’s Zhèngzìtōng 正字通 (late Míng / 1680), with characters within each radical sequenced by residual stroke-count.
Tiyao
Composed by imperial order in Kāngxī 55 (1716); imperially fixed by the Shèngzǔ Rénhuángdì. The ancient xiǎoxué works that survive to today: only the Shuōwén and the Yùpiān are oldest; but the Shuōwén uses zhuànzhòu throughout and is hard to use; the Yùpiān lacks character-sequence and is hard to consult; the Lèipiān and other works are kept only by enthusiasts of antiquity and are not in general use. What is in general use is Méi Yīngzuò’s Zìhuì and Zhāng Zìliè’s Zhèngzìtōng — but the Zìhuì is loose and erroneous, the Zhèngzìtōng especially garbled; neither is reliable. In Kāngxī 49, by imperial command, Dàxuéshì Chén Tíngjìng et al. were ordered to delete superfluities, fill omissions, resolve ambiguities, and correct corruptions — and to compile this book — keeping the two jiā old-headings: with the twelve calendrical branches forming twelve jí; each jí sub-divided into three zǐjuàn; 119 bù in all; with prefatory zǒngmù, jiǎnzì, biànsì, děngyùn, each one juàn; and concluding bǔyí and bèikǎo, each one juàn. Radical-sequence by stroke-count from few to many; within each radical likewise. Under each graph: first the Tángyùn, Guǎngyùn, Jíyùn, Yùnhuì, Zhèngyùn readings (the Tángyùn long lost — the citations come through Xú Xuàn’s 徐鉉 Shuōwén jiànjiào, i.e., it is the Tángyùn reading); next the gloss; next any alternate readings or meanings; next ancient sound; with citation throughout, leaving no claim un-grounded. Where there is critical commentary, it is appended to the gloss. Each graph notes its ancient form (after the Shuōwén model); converts to lì-script per the Jíyùn example; gathers chóngwén, alternate / vulgar / corrupt forms (after the Gānlù zìshū KR1j0023 example), with all such variants grouped at the end of the gloss; cross-references through piānpáng across bù (after the Fùgǔbiān KR1j0031 example); cross-listings (after the Guǎngyùn example). Newly-added graphs are placed at the rear of each stroke-count list (the Shuōwén xīnfù and Lǐbù yùnlüè xùjiàng example). The bǔyí in 1 juàn gathers slightly recondite graphs; the bèikǎo in 1 juàn gathers graphs that cannot be put to current use — so that ancient texts are fully covered and pedant-rejected forms (Sūn Xiū’s self-coined graphs, Wáng Qǐ’s unidentified graphs, Fù Yì’s nírén 埿人, Duàn Chéngshì’s 〓-graph) are not silently dropped to give the jiàorú a charge of exclusion; appended as an outer-fascicle. The imperial preface says: “for ancient-and-current form-distinctions and regional pronunciation differences, the bù arrangement is so clear that one opening of the volume reveals all — no meaning is undocumented, no sound un-prepared.” Truly the liùshū deep-water and the qīyīn yardstick. (Translated from Sìkù tíyào at Zinbun 0087401.html.)
Abstract
The Kāngxī zìdiǎn is the largest and most influential pre-modern Chinese character dictionary, and the standard reference of Chinese lexicography from 1716 to the early twentieth century. 47,043 graphs in 12 jí (one per duo-decimal calendar branch), 36 juàn, 119 bù (the 214-bù scheme of Méi Yīngzuò’s Zìhuì, with consolidations); cross-cited from the Tángyùn, Guǎngyùn, Jíyùn, Yùnhuì, Zhèngyùn; chóngwén under the head graph; cross-references and a bǔyí + bèikǎo outer fascicle. The chief editors were Zhāng Yùshū 張玉書 (1642–1711, posthumous title Wénzhēn) and Chén Tíngjìng 陳廷敬 (1639–1712), but both died early in the editing — their unusual title Zǒngyuèguān 總閱官 (rather than the standard Zǒngcái 總裁) reflects this. Twenty-eight zuǎnxiūguān 纂修官 (compilers), almost all Hànlín academicians, did the bulk of the work over five years. Wáng Niànsūn (1832), Wáng Lì (1988), and the Japanese scholar Watanabe Ichirō (1885) corrected ~5,000+ errors collectively; the standard modern punctuated edition (Hànyǔ dàcídiǎn / Shanghai guji 1996, 2002) incorporates the Wáng Niànsūn corrections. Wilkinson §6.2.1.5 surveys the dictionary at length. The work was reprinted in 1914 as Zhōnghuá zìdiǎn 中華字典 (post-imperial title-change), prompting Zhōnghuá shūjú in 1915 to issue Zhōnghuá dàzìdiǎn 中華大字典 — establishing the dàzìdiǎn / dàcídiǎn convention in subsequent Chinese lexicography. Date notBefore = notAfter = Kāngxī 55 / 1716, the year of presentation.
Translations and research
- Bottéro, Françoise. 1996. Sémantisme et classification dans l’écriture chinoise: Les systèmes de classement des caractères par clés du Shuowen Jiezi au Kangxi Zidian. Paris: Collège de France. — Substantial discussion of the dictionary’s structure.
- Watanabe Ichirō (Watanabe On 渡部一郎/溫). 1885. Kāngxī zì-diǎn kǎo-yì. Tokyo. — 1,930 variant readings and 4,000 corrections.
- Wáng Lì 王力. 1988. Kāngxī zì-diǎn yīn-dú dìng-wù 康熙字典音讀訂誤. Beijing: Zhonghua. — Modern correction of ~5,200 mistaken pronunciations.
- Kāngxī zìdiǎn biāo-diǎn (zhěnglǐ-běn) 康煕字典標點(整理本). Hànyǔ dà-cídiǎn, 2002. — Standard modern punctuated edition with pinyin index.
- Endymion Wilkinson. 2022. Chinese History: A New Manual, §6.2.1.5 (extensive treatment).
Other points of interest
The Kāngxī zìdiǎn is the source of the (now traditional) “Kāngxī radical” set of 214 radicals — a reduction of the Shuōwén’s 540, mediated by the Zìhuì and Zhèngzìtōng. The Wáng Xīhóu 王錫侯 case (1777) — in which Wáng was executed for daring to publish a list of corrections to the Kāngxī zìdiǎn — is a notable Qián-lóng-era literary inquisition, marking the limit of permissible philological criticism of imperial works.