A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 4 China)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9004325131 ISBN 13: 9789004325135

Publisher: BRILL, 2017

A Student’s Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese is the long-desired Chinese – English reference work for all those reading texts dating from the Warring States period through the Tang dynasty, and beyond. Comprising 8,000+ characters, arranged alphabetically by Pinyin, with an index by “radical” and stroke- count , and various appendices, including one with reign-eras and exact accession dates of emperors according to both Chinese and Western calendars.

About the Author:

Paul W. Kroll, Ph.D. (1976), University of Michigan, is Professor of Chinese at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has published widely on medieval Chinese literature and cultural history.

Review:

"This is the new standard in a Chinese-English dictionary of classical Chinese, far better than than the older dictionaries that students have too long used. It is a "student's dictionary" that scholars and teachers will find necessary as well. Professor Kroll's long experience, combined with meticulous research and an exceptional precision in the English lexicon, offers a range of definitions, both primary and extended, that give the user a sense of what the word means and how it can be used. The inclusion of the Middle Chinese pronunciation is an immense convenience, immediately showing the student which characters are merely graphic variations for extended usages in a particular frame of reference. His precision in terms of material culture and the natural world is no less welcome." - Stephen Owen, Harvard University
"This volume is a signal contribution to the field that reflects a truly herculean effort on the part of Professor Kroll and his colleagues. Each entry elucidates finely grained distinctions in meaning, with an especially impressive attention to nuances in the English language that is crucial to making these differences clear. For students of classical and medieval Chinese this dictionary will be indispensable, but even seasoned scholars will find its comprehensive and precise analyses of tremendous value." - Pauline Yu, President, American Council of Learned Societies
"This dictionary is both helpful and unusual: besides the more common meanings for each entry, it provides the reader with a rich panoply of expressions from the realms of religion (Buddhism, Daoism), medicine and materia medica, as well as cosmology and many other fields. Extremely useful for every student of traditional China, indispensable for the study of early and medieval China." - Michael Lackner, Professor of Sinology, University of Erlangen, Germany
"This reference work was worth the wait. It will be consulted by seasoned China scholars as well as beginning learners. The definitions of over 8000 primary characters are exact, elegantly concise, and yet complete. [...] This dictionary will revolutionize Chinese language learning. A massive achievement, it will be a tool that no serious student of Chinese language (Classical, Medieval, or even Modern) should do without." - Ronald Egan, Stanford University