Xiandai Hanyu Cidian
Xiandai Hanyu Cidian, also known 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 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, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2012 and 2016.
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
New entries in the 6th edition
| Type of entries | Examples in Chinese | Respective Pronunciation | Remarks | Respective English Translation |
| Economic | 产业链, 环比, 负资产, 第一桶金, 民营企业, 非公有制经济, 文化产业 | 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 | 医疗保险, 医改, 民调, 首问制, 调峰, 限行, 摇号, 调节税 | yīliáo bǎoxiǎn, yīgǎi, míndiào, shǒuwènzhì, tiáofēng, xiànxíng, yáohào, tiáojiéshuì | health insurance, healthcare reform, opinion poll, first asked responsibility system, peak regulation, driving restriction, lottery, regulatory tax | |
| Daily life | 产权证, 房贷, 群租, 二手房, 廉租房, 两限房, 动车, 屏蔽门, 高铁, 轨道交通, 车贷, 车险, 代驾, 酒驾, 醉驾 | 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, drunk driving | |
| New lifestyle | 拼车, 拼购, 团购, 网购, 网聊, 瘦身, 塑身, 茶叙, 自驾游, 自助游, 背包客 | 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 | 播客, 博客, 博文, 跟帖, 超媒体, 电子书, 电子政务, 内联网, 物联网, 网评, 网瘾, 微博, 云计算 | 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: 居民消费价格指数, 工业生产者出厂价格指数, 细颗粒物, 电子不停车收费, 海峡两岸经济合作框架协议, 自由贸易协定 | CPI, PPI, PM2.5, ETC, ECFA, FTA |
| Loanwords from English | 晒, 博客, 微博, 丁克, 粉丝, 嘉年华, 桑拿, 舍宾, 斯诺克, 脱口秀 | shài, bókè, wēibó, dīngkè, fěnsī, jiāniánhuá, sāngná, shěbīn, sīnuòkè, tuōkǒuxiù | 微博 < 微 + abbr. of 博客, 粉丝 < "fans" | share, blog, microblog, DINK, fan, carnival, sauna, :ru:Шейпинг |shaping, snooker, talk show |
| Loanwords from Japanese | 刺身, 定食, 寿司, 天妇罗, 榻榻米, 通勤, 手帐, 数独 | cìshēn, dìngshí, shòusī, tiānfùluō, tàtàmǐ, tōngqín, shǒuzhàng, shùdú | Original forms and readings :,,,,,,, | sashimi, teishoku, sushi, tempura, tatami, commute, diary/appointment book, sudoku |
| Terms from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau | 八卦, 搞掂, 狗仔队, 无厘头, 手信, 饮茶 | bāguà, gǎodiān, gǒuzǎiduì, wúlítóu, shǒuxìn, yǐnchá | gossip, fixed/handled, paparazzi, funky, souvenir, yum cha | |
| Terms from Taiwan | 软体, 硬体, 网路, 数位, 太空人, 幽浮, 捷运, 呛声, 力挺, 糗, 出糗, 拜票, 谢票, 站台 | 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. 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 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 Tóngzhì 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 Communist Party of China, 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. 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.