Ancient Texts Dictionary, Volume 7

Author: Li Pu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-12-01
Features: The Shuowen Jiezi Gulin (Comprehensive Dictionary of Ancient Characters) is the largest-scale specialized reference book on ancient character compilation and interpretation in China to date. It "collects ten thousand volumes into one, gathers all opinions into one," compiling a large-scale reference book that encompasses the forms and research achievements of ancient characters to date. The interpreted 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 Spring and Autumn/Warring States stone, etc.) and transmitted ancient characters (including Small Seal Script from Shuowen Jiezi, variant scripts, ancient scripts, Zou script, rare characters, ancient scripts from San Ti Shi Jing, ancient scripts from Han Jian, and ancient scripts from Guwen Si Sheng Yun, etc.). It nearly includes all categories of ancient characters. There are about ten thousand character entries, with a total of approximately ten million words of interpreted materials, representing the culmination of a century of research achievements in ancient character interpretation. Its publication will provide an indispensable reference book with substantial evidence for the study of Chinese characters, the compilation of large-scale dictionaries, the collation of ancient classics, and related social sciences.
In terms of our publishing work, the publication of Gulin has been a challenge for our publishing house and editorial team. 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 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 approximately ten million words. It is currently the largest-scale, most comprehensive, and most complete ancient character compilation and interpretation dictionary with broad applications. The scope of the materials includes research monographs, individual papers, and annotations on character compilation and interpretation. Any authentic and reliable interpretations of ancient characters are included. It particularly emphasizes the collection of new materials and achievements since the publication of Ding Fubao's Shuowen Jiezi Gulin in the 1920s. Unlike specialized reference books that focus on a single 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 a dozen large cardboard boxes, divided into thousands of data bags. Each time we send out materials, we use small vans to transport them back and forth. Therefore, this is not only an extremely demanding intellectual effort for our editors but also a test of their professional knowledge and skills. It is also an extremely physically demanding task, which we jokingly call a physical endurance test.
From the perspective of work procedures, we broke the original process requiring the original 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 progress of the manuscripts.
II. Significant Human Resources Input. As a large-scale cultural heritage project, Gulin requires much 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 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 could not handle it. Therefore, we mobilized experienced and specialized editorial teams, organized dedicated proofreading personnel, and involved them in the editorial committee's work in advance to familiarize themselves with the content and procedures, ensuring joint participation and completion.
III. High Difficulty. The original manuscripts contain a large number of ancient characters and handwritten scripts, some of which are not ideal 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 book, it involves the uniformity of the entire book's format and style. However, it is impossible to determine all these details at the beginning. During the editing and proofreading process, we must continuously identify and solve problems, making adjustments and improvements. Sometimes, a small change in the later content or format requires us to go back and revise all related content from the beginning. All of this requires not only professional knowledge from our 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 to ensure the quality of the book. The goal was to reflect Shanghai's academic standards in the content and publishing standards in the 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 has thousands of character entry bags of original manuscripts and proofs, constantly circulating between the editorial committee, the publishing house, and the computer company. Given the large scale and tight deadlines, any minor error could delay the entire publication process. Editorial, proofreading, and publishing staff have devoted themselves entirely to the work. For proofreading alone, there have been eight rounds, and it is certainly much more labor-intensive than proofreading other manuscripts, even when dealing with the same one million words.
V. New Technology. Traditional reference books 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 applied modern technology with Jieshen Computer Company, adopting computer-generated character typesetting and establishing a batch of ancient character computer fonts. This is the first time in China that ancient characters have been computer-processed, filling the gap in this field.
This batch of ancient character fonts has not only played a significant role in the typesetting of Gulin but also provided strong support and guarantees for the future publication and printing of other similar works.
This book is a large-scale professional reference book on ancient character interpretation, encompassing the achievements of the past century in eight categories of ancient character interpretation, compiling a hundred schools into one, and gathering ten thousand volumes into one. It has strong professionalism and authority.