The is the first

Japanese dictionary have a history that began over 1300 years ago when Japanese Buddhist priests, who wanted to understand Chinese sutras, adapted Chinese character dictionaries. Present-day Japanese lexicographers are exploring computerized editing and electronic di ...

containing native ''

kun'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequent ...

'' "Japanese readings" of

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

. The title is also written 新選字鏡 with the graphic variant ''sen'' ( 選 "choose; select; elect") for ''sen'' ( 撰 "compile; compose; edit"). The

Heian Period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

Buddhist monk Shōjū (昌住) completed the ''Shinsen Jikyō'' during the Shōtai era (898-901 CE). The preface explains that his motivation for compiling a Japanese dictionary was the inconvenience of looking up Chinese characters in the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

dictionary by Xuan Ying (玄應), the '' Yiqiejing yinyi'' ("Pronunciation and Meaning in the '' Tripitaka''"). The preface credits two other

Chinese dictionaries Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Han dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for the Chinese language, and this article discusses some of ...

: the (ca. 543 CE) ''

Yupian The ''Yupian'' (; "Jade Chapters") is a c. 543 Chinese dictionary edited by Gu Yewang ( 顧野王; Ku Yeh-wang; 519–581) during the Liang dynasty. It arranges 12,158 character entries under 542 radicals, which differ somewhat from the original ...

'', which enters 12,158 characters under a system of 542 radicals (''bùshǒu'' 部首), and the (601 CE) ''

Qieyun The ''Qieyun'' () is a Chinese language, Chinese rhyme dictionary, published in 601 during the Sui dynasty. The book was a guide to proper reading of classical texts, using the ''fanqie'' method to indicate the pronunciation of Chinese characters ...

rime dictionary A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book () is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary that collates Chinese character, characters by tone (linguistics), tone and rhyme, instead of by radical (Chinese character), radical. The most import ...

, which enters 16,917 characters categorized by tones and

syllable rime A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

s. Don C. Bailey says:

In general, the ''Shinsen Jikyō'' resembles the 'Yupian'' but Shōjū specifically states in the preface that he acquired a copy of this work only in 892 after he had completed his first draft, and that he thereafter used it as supplementary material. Whether or not the format of the 'Yupian''was imitated, a dictionary or dictionaries of the same type must have served as a model.

Shōjū's model balances two traditional methods of collating

: semantic organization like the ''

Erya The ''Erya'' or ''Erh-ya'' is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. Bernhard Karlgren (1931:49) concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC." Title Chinese scholars interpret the first title chara ...

'' and logographic radicals like the ''

Shuowen Jiezi ''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the '' Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give ...

''. He introduces a novel Japanese system of 160 radicals (''bu'' 部) that exhibit semantic organization. For example, the first seven are Heaven (天), Sun (日), Moon (月), Meat (肉, a graphic variant of 月), Rain (雨), Air (气), and Wind (風). The ''Shinsen Jikyō'' not only reduced the number of radical headings, but also logically arranged them by meanings. Compare the earlier Japanese dictionary ''

Tenrei Banshō Meigi The is the oldest extant Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters. The title is also written 篆隷万象名義 with the modern graphic variant ''ban'' (万 "10,000; myriad") for ''ban'' (萬 "10,000; myriad"). The prominent Heian Period monk a ...

'' that uses 534 radicals adapted from the original 540 in the ''Shuowen Jiezi''. The received edition ''Shinsen Jikyō'' dictionary contains 21,300 character entries in 12 fascicles (''kan'' 卷). Each head entry gives the Chinese character, Chinese pronunciations (with either a

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones (equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definition, ...

or ''

fanqie ''Fanqie'' ( zh, t= 反切, p=fǎnqiè) is a method in traditional Chinese lexicography to indicate the pronunciation of a monosyllabic character by using two other characters, one with the same initial consonant as the desired syllable and one w ...

'' spelling), definitions, and Japanese equivalents (''Wakun'' 和訓). This dictionary notes over 3,700 Japanese pronunciations, and cites early texts, for instance, the circa 822 CE Buddhist ''

Nihon Ryōiki The is an early Heian period setsuwa collection. Written by Kyōkai between 787 and 824, it is Japan's oldest collection of Buddhist setsuwa. It is three volumes in length. Title Commonly abbreviated as ''Nihon Ryōiki'', which means "Record of ...

'' (日本霊異記 "Accounts of Miracles in Japan"). The ''Shinsen Jikyō'' is the first Japanese dictionary to include ''

kokuji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequent ...

'' "national characters" invented in Japan. The modern Mojikyo computer font software includes character data from the ancient ''Shinsen Jikyō'' and ''Jikyōshū''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinsen Jikyo 9th-century books 10th-century books Japanese dictionaries Late Old Japanese texts Heian-period books