Proverb Dictionary

Author: Wen Duanzheng (Editor-in-Chief) / Written by Wen Shuyan et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-07-01
Features: A language reference book tailor-made for students' college entrance and high school entrance exams, once best-selling across the country with a total sales of 1,200,000 copies. In terms of content, the old version has been optimized according to the new teaching requirements, emphasizing innovation, origin, cultivation, and practicality. In terms of form, the latest layout with double-color printing is adopted to achieve solemnity, elegance, liveliness, and novelty. Entries. This book includes nearly 2,500 entries, including main entries and subentries. Main entries are annotated with explanations and usage examples; subentries are marked with "also as" after the main entries, generally without explanations, examples, or separate entries. Typography. The fonts used in this book are based on the "Total List of Simplified Characters" compiled by the National Language and Character Work Committee and the "List for the Standardization of Variant Characters" jointly issued by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China and the Committee of Language Reform. Pronunciation. Obscure characters in the entries are annotated with Pinyin. Polyphonic characters and those prone to mispronunciation are highlighted with Pinyin for clarification. Definitions. First, the characters and words are explained, then the literal or original meaning of proverbs is elaborated, followed by the extended and metaphorical meanings. If there are allusions, they are briefly explained. Examples. Each entry is accompanied by usage examples. If there are two or more meanings, one example is provided for each meaning. The examples are generally annotated with sources. Examples from newspapers and magazines are marked with "Newspaper" or "Magazine." Some excessively long examples are slightly abridged. Arrangement. Entries are arranged in the order of Pinyin. If the initial letters of entries are the same, they are ordered by tone. If the initial letters are identical, they are arranged by stroke order (horizontal, vertical, dot, hook, and fold). If both the pronunciation and form of the initial letter are the same, the second letter is used for ordering, and so on. Index. An "Index of Initial Strokes of Entries" is appended at the end of the dictionary for reference.