Chinanews client, Beijing, August 12 (Reporter Shangguanyun) Recalling childhood life, do you still remember the "Xinhua Dictionary"? A few days ago, the 12th edition of "Xinhua Dictionary" officially appeared.
On August 11, the newly-listed "Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition) has an added definition of "Like". The QR code at the top of the inner page can be scanned to provide value-added services. Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
The "Xinhua Dictionary" has been revised several times by experts and scholars in various fields in the 70 years since its compilation, and has now printed more than 600 million copies, creating a miracle in the history of human book publishing. Some people recalled that it was a must-have "equipment" when they were in elementary school; others recalled that their parents used the "Xinhua Dictionary" to name themselves...
As time goes by, this dictionary has indeed played an indispensable role in people's cultural life, and it also reflects the changes of the times from a perspective.
Small dictionary, great effect
It seems that "Xinhua Dictionary" is not very big. But it has made great contributions to "literacy".
Time goes back to decades ago. The People's Daily reported that in August 1950, the Xinhua Dictionary Press was established, with Wei Jiangong as its president. With the support of Ye Shengtao, the then Deputy Director of the Publishing Administration, he organized the compilation of the Xinhua Dictionary.
In 1953, after Ye Shengtao's verbatim review, "Xinhua Dictionary" was published by People's Education Publishing House. In 1957, "Xinhua Dictionary" was published by the Commercial Press. Since then, it has been published and distributed by the Commercial Press.
In the early days of the founding of New China, the “literacy” work urgently needed a small practical dictionary. "Xinhua Dictionary" meets this requirement. It uses vernacular interpretations and examples in vernacular, simple and easy to understand, and has made a significant contribution to the "literacy" work.
For some people, the "Xinhua Dictionary" is not just as simple as looking up words, it is even closely related to life.
In articles published by the media in previous years, there was a mention of this: In the 1970s, the editor of "Xinhua Dictionary" received a letter from readers saying that because he did not know how to distinguish between male and female geese, before killing geese, I specifically checked the entry "goose" in "Xinhua Dictionary".
According to the promulgation and implementation of the national language policy and the needs of readers, the "Xinhua Dictionary" also needs to be revised regularly. In August this year, the "Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition) was officially unveiled.
The story behind a dictionary
In fact, the compilation of dictionaries is a subject in itself and requires a lot of energy.
Data map: News from May 16, 2016. Since the first edition was published in 1953 until July last year, the global circulation of "Xinhua Dictionary" reached 567 million copies. Last month, the Guinness World Records Agency announced that "Xinhua Dictionary" won the "Most Popular Dictionary" and "Best Selling Book (Regularly Revised)" two Guinness World Records. Xinhua News Agency reporter Luo Xiaoguang photo Source: Xinhuanet
Take the "Xinhua Dictionary" published in 1953 as an example. The people involved in the compilation work are very serious. Linguistics scientist Wei Jiangong often takes manuscripts home for review.
An article pointed out that the compilation process is a collective responsibility system, each word is written on a small card separately, and the writer writes an entry on the card and stamps it to show responsibility. Then everyone circulated each other, wrote their opinions on the cards, and stamped them.
In this way, after the card is circulated and discussed, the word in the dictionary is summarized and copied out. Later, after repeated revisions and scrutiny word by word by experts, this edition of "Xinhua Dictionary" was published in 1953.
According to a previous report by the Qianjiang Evening News, language and philologist Cao Xianzhuo mentioned that the revision of the Xinhua Dictionary is very strict. For example, when the revision was made in 1998, a new term "baked oil" was added. The revision staff went to the hairdressing salon to ask the teacher for advice twice, and also personally experienced it before setting the definition of "baked oil".
Over the decades, there have been many similar stories. The compilation and revision of "Xinhua Dictionary" first brought together a group of well-known experts and scholars: Ye Shengtao, Wei Jiangong, Shao Quanlin... In the long years, many experts' names have been added to it.
It can be said that to this day, this dictionary, which has been revised many times, has condensed the efforts of many people.
Dictionary reflects the changes of the times
The changes of the times and social changes can also be reflected in this dictionary.
For example, in the 11th revision, the "Xinhua Dictionary" added more than 800 orthographic heads, more than 1,500 traditional characters and more than 500 variants.
"Xinhua Dictionary" (11th edition) large-character book seal, courtesy of the Commercial Press
Some Chinese characters have new changes. For example, a new interpretation of "show" has been added to "show", which mostly refers to publicly revealing (own information) on the Internet, such as "showing salary". Internet "hot words" such as "Fang Slave" and "Educational Background" also appeared.
A lot of words related to national economy and people's livelihood have also been added. For example, in the interpretation of the word "民", "民生" is added, and the group word is "Focus on the people's livelihood"; the word "Harmony" is added in the word "和". In addition, some words that are less frequently used, such as "kerosene", have been deleted.
Specific to the 12th edition of "Xinhua Dictionary", more than 50 special items have been upgraded. The revised content keeps pace with the times and adds more than 100 new words.
Its content is more in line with social needs. For example, appropriate additions of new words, such as "early heart", "like", "QR code", etc.; addition of new meanings and new usages, such as "moe" to increase the meaning: "immature and cute: selling cute", more grounded.
Won two Guinness World Records
For many years, the "Xinhua Dictionary" has been published again and again, helping many people to enter the door of knowledge. It is the first dictionary in New China that uses vernacular for interpretation and examples. It is also the most influential and authoritative small Chinese dictionary to date.
On August 11, the "Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition) sold by Beijing Book Building and the mobile application of the same name launched simultaneously. Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
Some readers mentioned that learning to look up a dictionary is one of the must-teaching content in a Chinese class when you are in school. In the class, almost everyone has one copy of "Xinhua Dictionary", and students who are more particular about it will also wrap a "book cover" for protection.
In 2016, this little dictionary became popular again: The Guinness World Records Agency announced in London that "Xinhua Dictionary" won the "Most Popular Dictionary" and "Best Selling Book (Regularly Revised)" by Guinness. world record.
In an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com, the scholar Zhang Yiwu once commented that "this result is very objective", which shows that Chinese is becoming an increasingly important language tool, and it also reflects the increasing influence of Chinese.
With the arrival of the Internet wave, the influence of "Xinhua Dictionary" has gradually expanded online. The latest version of "Xinhua Dictionary" is the first to realize the simultaneous distribution of application APP and paper books.
Today, it still plays a role in people's cultural life. What are your memories of "Xinhua Dictionary"? (Finish)