Ancient Texts Dictionary. Volume 10

Author: Li Pu, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The Shuowen Jiezi Gulin (Dictionary of Ancient Characters) is the largest and most comprehensive specialized reference work on ancient character glosses in China to date. It "collects ten thousand volumes into one and compiles all opinions into one," compiling large-scale tools that gather the forms and research achievements of ancient characters to date. The glossed materials cover eight types of unearthed ancient characters (including oracle bone script, bronze script, Warring States and Qin-Han seal script, Warring States coin script, pottery script, Warring States and Qin-Han bamboo slips script, silk script, stone inscriptions, and Warring States and Spring-Autumn stone alliance documents), as well as transmitted ancient characters (including Shuowen Jiezi seal script, variant scripts, ancient scripts, Zou script, rare characters, San Ti Shi Jing ancient scripts, Han Jian ancient scripts, and Guwen Si Sheng Yun ancient scripts). It nearly encompasses all categories of ancient characters. There are approximately ten thousand character entries, with a total of about ten million words of glossed materials, making it a culmination of a century of research achievements in ancient character interpretation. Its publication will provide an indispensable reference work with substantial evidence for the study of Chinese characters, the compilation of large-scale dictionaries, the organization of ancient classics, and related social sciences.
In terms of our publishing work, the publication of Gulin has presented a challenge to our publishing house and editorial staff. Because Gulin has the characteristics of large-scale compilation and high technical difficulty, it has also raised higher and more stringent requirements for our publishing work.
I. Large Scale. The entire book is divided into 14 volumes according to Shuowen Jiezi, plus two additional volumes not included in Shuowen Jiezi, totaling 16 volumes. We have roughly divided it into 10 volumes, with a total of ten million words, making it the largest, most comprehensive, and most complete ancient character glossary reference work to date, with wide applications. The scope of the materials includes research monographs, individual papers, and annotations on character compilation and interpretation, collecting all genuine and reliable achievements in ancient character interpretation. It particularly emphasizes the inclusion of new materials and achievements obtained in the more than half-century since the publication of Ding Fubao's Shuowen Jiezi Gulin in the 1920s. Unlike specialized reference works that focus solely on a particular category of characters, such as Zhou Fagao's Bronze Script Gulin in Hong Kong, Li Xiaojing's Oracle Bone Script Collection and Interpretation in Taiwan, and Yu Shengyou's Oracle Bone Script Gulin in Jilin, Gulin is the largest ancient character book published after Shuowen Jiezi Gulin.
Even for the volumes already published, the original manuscripts alone fill more than ten large cardboard boxes, divided into thousands of data bags. Each time we send out manuscripts, we use small vans to transport them back and forth. Therefore, this is not only an extremely demanding mental effort for our editors but also a test of their professional knowledge and skills. It is also an extremely physically demanding task, and we jokingly say it is also a physical endurance test.
From the perspective of work procedures, we broke the original process requiring manuscripts to be sent from the editorial office to the marketing department and then to the publishing department. We established a dedicated publishing coordination team to oversee the entire publishing process, ensuring the smooth flow and timely completion of the manuscripts.
II. Significant Human Resources Investment. As a large-scale cultural heritage project, Gulin requires significantly higher quality standards than ordinary publications. From the layout design to the selection of fonts and sizes, even down to the reasonable determination of character spacing and line spacing, and from the paper selection to the repeated revisions of the cover and binding, we have strictly followed the from municipal leaders to treat the publication of Gulin as a landmark cultural project for Shanghai.
Because Gulin involves highly specialized knowledge, ordinary editors and proofreaders cannot handle it. Therefore, we mobilized experienced and specialized editorial staff to organize dedicated proofreading personnel. They actively participated in the editorial committee's work in advance, familiarizing themselves with the content and procedures to jointly contribute to the completion of the project.
III. High Difficulty. The original manuscripts contain a large number of ancient characters and handwritten scripts. Some have poor legibility due to multiple photocopies, making computer processing very challenging. The encoding of ancient characters, the recognition of handwritten cursive scripts, and the conversion between traditional and simplified characters are also prone to errors, significantly increasing the difficulty of editing and proofreading.
What makes it even more complicated is that, as a large-scale reference work, it involves the uniformity of the entire book's style and format. Achieving this cannot be fully determined at the beginning. It requires continuous adjustments and improvements during the editorial review and editing process. Sometimes, it truly involves a domino effect—minor changes to the content or style in later sections may require revising all related content in the earlier sections. All of this requires not only professional knowledge from editors and proofreaders but also a strong sense of dedication and responsibility. Our editorial and publishing staff have remained patient and meticulous to ensure that Gulin becomes a masterpiece.
On the other hand, in terms of craftsmanship, we have also overcome difficulties and strived for excellence. As a publishing house, we invested a significant amount of initial funds, and throughout the later stages of publication, we insisted on using the best paper and craftsmanship. However, due to existing production technology limitations, after the first batch of volumes was published, the covers curled in the air-conditioned room due to excessive thickness. We immediately organized personnel to actively communicate with the factory, conduct detailed research, and redesign the production process—all with the goal of producing a high-quality book that reflects Shanghai's academic standards in content and publishing standards in form.
IV. Complex Procedures. Due to the above characteristics of the book, its publishing process is different from ordinary publications and is particularly complex. Each volume requires thousands of character entry bags of manuscripts and proofs, constantly circulating between the editorial committee, the publishing house, and the computer company. Adding to the scale and tight deadlines, the heavy workload leaves no room for even the slightest error. If one character entry bag is incorrect, it will inevitably affect the entire book's publication schedule. Editorial, proofreading, and publishing staff have devoted themselves entirely to the work. For proofreading alone, there have been eight rounds, and reviewing one million words of content for Gulin is undoubtedly much more demanding than reviewing other manuscripts.
V. New Technology. Traditional reference works on ancient character interpretation were compiled using manual copying, pasting, and photocopying methods, resulting in slow production cycles and difficulties for readers in identification. This time, to reflect the high standards of Shanghai's landmark cultural project, the spirit of the times, and Shanghai's publishing level, and to ensure printing quality, we abandoned the traditional manual methods that had been followed for many years. We actively developed and utilized modern technological achievements with Jieshen Computer Company, adopting computer-generated character typesetting and establishing a batch of ancient character computer fonts. This marks the first time in China that ancient characters have been computer-processed, filling the in this field. These ancient character fonts have not only played a significant role in the typesetting of Gulin but also provided strong support and guarantees for the publication and printing of other similar works in the future.
This book is a large-scale professional reference work on ancient character interpretation, encompassing the achievements of the past century in eight categories of ancient character interpretation. It gathers the wisdom of many into one and compiles ten thousand volumes into one, possessing strong professionalism and authority.