Concise Dictionary of Allusions

Author: Yang Renzhi / Zhou Xingjian (editors)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This dictionary primarily selects common allusions (event allusions) from poems and texts, historical stories, myths, legends, and fables, catering to readers with a medium level of education. It contains approximately 1,500 entries. The compilation of this dictionary mainly relies on the content recorded in ancient texts, providing concise summaries of story plots. To preserve the original meaning of the classical texts, the dictionary adopts the original quotations from the source materials, translating obscure terms into modern colloquial language. Additionally, it explains the origins of the allusions and provides annotations. For lexical entries, the dictionary traces the evolution of the words, supplemented with relevant examples. Many of the allusions in this dictionary originate from the feudal society, and some entries reflect strong feudal ideologies, such as loyalty to the ruler, filial piety, superstitious beliefs, as well as praise for the ruling class and vilification of peasants. Considering the nature of the dictionary, these feudal sentiments are not critically reviewed individually. Readers are advised to use the dictionary with awareness. Each entry in the dictionary is accompanied by Pinyin romanization, and the entire book is arranged in Pinyin order. For easy reference, an index of Pinyin word heads is provided at the beginning, along with a four-digit code index for all entries.