Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (), also known as A Dictionary of Current Chinesefrom Simplified Chinese Preface: "}" which translated in the English Preface reads: "{...}The Commercial Press's Chinese dictionaries such as A Dictionary of Current Chinese{...}" or Contemporary Chinese Dictionary, is an important one-volume dictionary of Standard Mandarin Chinese published by the Commercial Press, now into its 7th (2016) edition. It was originally edited by Lü Shuxiang and Ding Shengshu as a reference work on modern Standard Mandarin Chinese. Compilation started in 1958 and trial editions were issued in 1960 and 1965, with a number of copies printed in 1973 for internal circulation and comments, but due to the Cultural Revolution the final draft was not completed until the end of 1977, and the first formal edition was not published until December 1978. It was the first People's Republic of China dictionary to be arranged according to Hanyu Pinyin, the phonetic standard for Standard Mandarin Chinese, with explanatory notes in simplified Chinese. The subsequent second through seventh editions were respectively published in 1983 (Reorganized Edition- now seen as the '2nd edition'), 1996 (Revised Edition- now seen as the '3rd edition'), 2002 (2002 Supplemental Edition- now seen as the '4th edition'), 2005 (5th edition), 2012 (6th edition) and 2016 (7th edition).

In 1994, A Dictionary of Current Chinese won China's First National Book Award. The seventh edition contains about 70,000 entries including characters, words and expressions, idiomatic phrases and idioms. The dictionary is also available in digital format on CD-ROMs and Traditional Chinese digital versions.

Xiandai Hanyu Cidian was consulted in the writing of The First Series of Standardized Forms of Words with Non-standardized Variant Forms.

Editions EditionRelease dateNumber of entriesISBNTrial Printing Edition ()1960 - Trial Edition ()1965 - Reprinting of 1965 Trial Edition ()1977 17017·91(1st)197856,000Reorganization () (2nd)198356,000Revised () (3rd)199660,000Traditional Characters Version, Edition 1 ()July 20012002 Supplement () (4th)200261,000 Chinese-English Bilingual Edition 2002 5th26 July 200565,0006th1 June 201269,0007th1 September 201670,000

New entries in the 6th edition 3,000 New Entries Added to the Most Popular Chinese Dictionary Type of entries Examples in Chinese (S) Respective Pronunciation (in Pinyin) Remarks Respective English Translation Economic chǎnyèliàn, huánbǐ, fùzīchǎn, dìyītǒngjīn, mínyíng qǐyè, fēigōngyǒuzhì jīngjì, wénhuà chǎnyè supply chain, compared with the last same statistical period, negative equity, first pot of gold, private enterprise, non-common ownership sector, cultural industry Social management yīliáo bǎoxiǎn, yīgǎi, míndiào, shǒuwènzhì, tiáofēng, xiànxíng, yáohào, tiáojiéshuì health insurance, healthcare reform, opinion poll, first asked responsibility system, peak regulation, driving restriction, (licence plate) lottery, regulatory tax Daily life chǎnquánzhèng, fángdài, qúnzū, èrshǒufáng, liánzūfáng, liǎngxiànfáng, dòngchē, píngbìmén, gāotiě, guǐdào jiāotōng, chēdài, chēxiǎn, dàijià, jiǔjià, zuìjià property right certificate, home loan, group-oriented leasing, second-hand home, low-rent housing, apartment with double limitations, multiple unit/power car, platform screen door, high-speed rail, rail transport, car loan, car insurance, designated driving, drunk driving (0.02%<BAC<0.08%), drunk driving (BAC>0.08%) New lifestyle pīnchē, pīngòu, tuángòu, wǎnggòu, wǎngliáo, shòushēn, sùshēn, cháxù, zìjiàyóu, zìzhùyóu, bēibāokè carpooling, shop-pooling, group buying, online shopping, online chatting, slimming, body shaping, tea gathering, self-drive tour, DIY travel, backpacker IT and Internet bōkè, bókè, bówén, gēntiě, chāoméitǐ, diànzǐshū, diànzǐ zhèngwù, nèiliánwǎng, wùliánwǎng, wǎngpíng, wǎngyǐn, wēibó, yúnjìsuàn podcast, blog, blog post, follow-up thread, hypermedia, e-book, e-government, Intranet, Internet of Things, online comment, Internet addiction, microblog, cloud computing Starting with letters CPI, PPI, PM2.5, ETC, ECFA, FTA Read according to English pronunciation Native terms: , CPI, PPI, PM2.5, ETC, ECFA, FTA (Free-trade Agreement) Loanwords from English shài, bókè, wēibó, dīngkè, fěnsī, jiāniánhuá, sāngná, shěbīn, sīnuòkè, tuōkǒuxiù < (micro-) + abbr. of , < "fans" share (to tell to another), blog, microblog, DINK, fan, carnival, sauna, , snooker, talk show Loanwords from Japanese cìshēn, dìngshí, shòusī, tiānfùluō, tàtàmǐ, tōngqín, shǒuzhàng, shùdú Original forms and readings (in Japanese): , , , , , , , sashimi, teishoku (set meal), sushi, tempura, tatami, commute, diary/appointment book, sudoku Terms from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau (or ), bāguà, gǎodiān (or gǎodìng), gǒuzǎiduì, wúlítóu, shǒuxìn, yǐnchá gossip, fixed/handled, paparazzi, funky, souvenir, yum cha Terms from Taiwan ruǎntǐ, yìngtǐ, wǎnglù, shùwèi, tàikōngrén, yōufú, jiéyùn, qiàngshēng, lìtǐng, qiǔ, chūqiǔ, bàipiào, xièpiào, zhàntái software, hardware, network, digital, astronaut, UFO, rapid transit, provoke, in support of, embarrassing, make a fool of oneself, Canvass for votes, thank for votes, show up and support

Traditional Chinese edition

A traditional Chinese edition was published in 2001 by the Commercial Press (Hong Kong). It contains about 60,000 entries, with all entries labeled with Zhuyin alongside Hanyu Pinyin.

Controversies Xiandai Hanyu Cidian had given discriminatory explanations to certain words and phrases. An example was the word "homosexuality" (). From the first edition in the 1970s (the entry in that edition is - literally 'same-sex love') to the fifth edition in 2005 of Xiandai Hanyu Cidian, the definition of the term had been "determined" as "a type of psychological perversion". In the 2012 6th edition & 2016 7th edition, the term was redefined as "sexual behaviour between persons of the same sex".

In the sixth edition, even though it contains a large number of new vocabulary, the word ("comrade") which is an informal term for "a homosexual person", was not included in the dictionary. This could be because the term is often construed as a sarcastic reference to the Chinese Communist Party, according to Sociology Professor of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The original term is a common form of political address in China, e.g. Comrade Hu Jintao, Comrade Wen Jiabao.

Some detractors complained that "Entries starting with the Western alphabet" section in the 6th edition allegedly violated the regulation - "Chinese language publications shall comply with the norms and standards of the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese language" in laws such as the and Publication Control Regulations of the State Council (State Council Act No. 594). The act of using English vocabulary in the main body of a Chinese dictionary, and using English to substitute for Chinese characters, according to these detractors, will cause the greatest damage to the Chinese characters since the romanization of Chinese, and will have a long-term negative impact on the language.

The publisher, the Commercial Press, replied that the section is meant just for easy references when looking up the dictionary. The Commercial Press says that according to a rule stated in a 2010 document by the State Council Office Secretariat, alphabetical entries recorded in Chinese dictionaries written by state authorities did not have corresponding Chinese translations. Hence, it is absolutely fine to include them in dictionaries.

See also Dai Kan-Wa Jiten Han-Han Dae Sajeon Hanyu Da Zidian Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian Zhongwen Da Cidian Xinhua Dictionary

Notes

References Citations

Sources

Fifty years - A Dictionary of Current Chinese (). .

External links Official website