The relationship between language and dictionary

Yan' Syao PhD in Philology Applicant, Department of General and Comparative Historical Linguistics, Moscow State University 119991, Russia, g. Moscow, ul.  leninskie Gory, 1 yanxiao123@yandex.ru

The emergence, development and complication of ancient Chinese dictionaries occurred in parallel with the development of the Chinese language.  As a result of the improvement of language skills, the development of vocabulary activity was carried out, which led to the branching of the vocabulary system and the appearance of dictionaries of different types. If we look at the origin of Chinese vocabulary culture, the development of literary education has led to the appearance of such textbooks of children's literacy as "Shi Lai Pian" () and "Tsang Tse Pian"(). The rapid development of commentaries on ancient texts in linguistics has led to the emergence of dictionaries such as "Er Ya". Xiaozhuan's popularity in Qin Shi gave rise to "Shu Wen Ze Zi". In the Wei and Jin dynasties, Caixu replaced Xiao Zhuan, and "Yu Pian" emerged. This relationship between the teaching of hieroglyphs, the evolution of language, the reformation of hieroglyphs and social development runs through the entire history of ancient Chinese dictionaries.

Buddhism was introduced in China at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the monks of Dowedi and Luoyang came to Luoyang and translated the first works of Chinese Buddhist classics, such as The Forty-Two Chapters (). During the 664 years, from the tenth year of the reign of Emperor Yongping of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the eighteenth year of the reign of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty, a total of 2,278 interpretations of Mahayana, Hinayana and Sanzang Shengjiao were translated. These Buddhist dictionaries have become an integral part of Chinese literature, and ancient Chinese Buddhist dictionaries are derived from translations of classical Buddhist texts written in Sanskrit. For example, "Pronunciation in Tripitaka"("?""), compiled by Tao Gui, a monk from the Northern Qi Dynasty, "Pronunciation in Tripitaka" is compiled by Tang Xuanyin. These dictionaries not only promoted Buddhist teachings, but also enriched the context of Chinese literature and research. Translations of Buddhist texts and corresponding dictionaries of Buddhism led to the emergence of ancient bilingual dictionaries and contributed to the development of ancient Chinese dictionaries. Thanks to the ancient Buddhist dictionaries, the necessary conditions were created for the dissemination of Buddhist teachings and the standardization of the Buddhist language. This two-way relationship has existed for almost half a century in the history of Chinese dictionaries.

The dictionary is one of the academic symbols of the era. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, a new vocabulary form appeared – a dictionary of rhymes. As the translation of Buddhist classics has advanced significantly, the invention of fangjie in linguistics and the distinction of the four tones led to the creation of books with rhymes. According to documentary evidence, the earliest rhyme dictionaries in China were "Sheng Lei" (), compiled by Li Deng, a Wei man of the Three Kingdoms period, and "Collection of Rhymes" (), compiled by Leo Jing of the Jin Dynasty. Based on the dictionaries of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, Lu Faian of the Sui Dynasty compiled the most important dictionary of rhymes "Tse Yun", which became a model of lexicographic art.

The unification of the Tang Dynasty put an end to the situation of the separate development of the teaching style between the South and the North, which had been observed since the Han and Wei dynasties. The classical science of Confucian teaching is the knowledge of the interpretation of Confucian classics. Under the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, feudal moral norms declined, and metaphysics flourished. Since the Han Dynasty, the position of dominant Confucianism has been shaken. The Tang Dynasty culturally inherited the main national policy of the Sui Dynasty of simultaneously three religions and Confucianism as the basis. According to the system of state examinations of the Tang Dynasty, the works of the Confucian canon were not only a school textbook, but also the main content of state examinations. Yan Shigu and others were ordered to edit the "Five Classical Works" (), "Classical Explanation" () by Lu Deming and "Five Classical Works of Justice" () by Kong Yingda, which were compiled. Among them, the "Five Canons of Justice" () serve as a symbol of the unification of the classics. The formation of the classical science of Confucian teaching marks the formation of a dictionary for the interpretation of Confucianism, and also proves that the emergence of science led to the interpretation of an academic book, that is, to the creation of a dictionary.

Since Wu Zetian's time in the Tang Dynasty, people have started to study Siddham because of the popularity of esoteric Buddhism. Siddham is one of the forms of writing that was used to write Sanskrit. Inspired by the Sanskrit phonetic method, Han scholars finally concluded Chinese initial consonant sounds and created 30 initial consonant sounds. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the monk Shouwen arranged 30 initials according to their pronunciation positions, which were divided into five types: labial, lingual, dental, anterolabial and laryngeal. The birth of Chinese initials associated with the style of dictionary compilation laid the scientific foundation for phonetic notation, macrostructure construction and standardization of styles in later dictionaries.

New areas for scientific research are emerging in the language, new types of dictionaries and directions of lexicographic activity are also emerging. For example, after the appearance of comments on classical texts, a dictionary of commenting on classical texts appeared.  In addition, the penetration of new ideas into the academic environment has led to the creation of new dictionaries. For example, along with the spread of Buddhism, Buddhist dictionaries and a dictionary of rhymes appeared, the spread of Confucianism provoked the emergence of Confucian dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries arose with the introduction of Sanskrit and English. Dictionaries are always created following the emergence of new ideas, new directions and new problematic issues in linguistics. Conversely, through dictionaries we can also see the result of certain scientific reflections, achievements in various branches of linguistics and various controversial research issues. Thus, linguistic and other scientific ideas contribute to the creation of dictionaries, and dictionaries, in turn, reflect the level of linguistic development and achievements of academic thought.

The development of academic science contributes to the development of dictionaries, which also express the direction and content of academic development. The same is true for dictionaries of special terms. The emergence of a certain discipline contributes to the emergence of a dictionary of special terms, and the content of the dictionary of special terms also reflects the content of the subject study, and the structure to a certain extent correlates with the structure of the subject, that is, the structure of the dictionary of special terms can reflect the structure of the subject itself, namely linguistic terminology.

A dictionary of special terms is "a dictionary that contains terms and proper names of certain disciplines or fields of knowledge and gives a professional interpretation." Dictionaries of special terms are the product of social and cultural development, as well as the result of the evolution and progress of science and technology. In the 20th century, Chinese science and technology made an unprecedented leap, and Chinese dictionaries of special terms of the 20th century demonstrate a high level of development of Chinese lexicography. Although in ancient China there was no such concept as a dictionary of special terms, in fact in ancient China there was already such a dictionary. Around the 6th century, the book "Qi Ming Yao Shu", compiled by the post-Wei period agronomist Jia Xixi, was considered the first dictionary of special terms in China. However, only after the publication of the dictionary "Qi Hai. Preliminary version" in 1965, the Dictionary of Special terms was included as a term as dictionaries. A series of Chinese dictionaries of special terms was created in the twentieth century, mainly in the middle and late twentieth century.

From 1900 to 1949, only 70 specialized Chinese dictionaries were published in China, and in the period from 1979 to 1988, 710 dictionaries were already published. The total number of publications in ten years was 10 times more than in the first half century (Xu Qingkai, 1989). A total of 84 dictionaries were published in 1980, 122 in 1981, 206 in 1982 and 266 in 1983 (Yan Qinglong, 1984).

Dictionaries of special terms published in China in the 20th century were responsible for the development of culture and society, politics, economics, and technology. The number, variety, level and influence of dictionaries have been significantly increased compared to the previous period, new categories are emerging and eventually a relatively complete system of dictionaries of special terms is being formed.

"Bencao ganmu" () is the greatest "pharmacy" masterpiece in the history of Chinese medicine. Darwin called this text the "encyclopedia of Ancient China." British historian of science Joseph Needham also noted that "the greatest scientific achievement of the Ming Dynasty was Li Shizhen's Benzao ganmu, who also called Benzao ganmu "the main work on medicinal substances." "Bencao ganmu" () is a landmark dictionary of special terms in the history of compiling Chinese dictionaries. It has accumulated valuable experience in compiling specialized dictionaries, encyclopedic dictionaries and even encyclopedias, and also developed a method of compilation based on categorization. Bencao Ganmu divides herbal medicine into 16 categories: water, fire, soil, metals and minerals, grass, grain, vegetables, fruits, clothing and utensils, insects, scales, shell, birds, animals and people. Each part is based on the principles of "from the microscopic to the giant" and "from the cheap to the expensive", which not only facilitates the search, but also reflects the idea of biological evolution and development. The structure of Chinese medicine at that time was also formulated in accordance with the "Bencao ganmu"(), which is a medical dictionary of a certain structure, where water, fire, soil, stone, grass, grain, vegetables, fruits, wood, etc. are distinguished.

Tiangong Kaiu is a dictionary of special terms that comprehensively introduces the reader to the production technologies of agriculture and crafts of the late Ming Dynasty. Foreign scientists call it the Encyclopedia of science and Technology of China. It enjoys a high reputation in the history of ancient Chinese science and technology due to its extremely rich and informative content demonstrating the level of industrial and agricultural production technologies in China in the mid-17th century. It is still an important material in the history of science and technology in China, as well as a rare agricultural masterpiece in the history of ancient world science and technology. The dictionary is divided into 18 chapters in three volumes. Attached are 123 illustrations depicting the names, forms and processes of more than 130 production technologies and tools. The book is divided into chapters: "Nai Li" (cereals), "Nai Fu" (textiles), "Zhang Shi" (dyeing), "Cui Jing" (grain processing), "Zuo Xian" (salt making), "Gan Shi" (sugar), "Gao Ye"(edible oil), "Tao Shan" (ceramics), "Zhi Tao" (casting metal objects), "zhou che" (ships and chariots), "Chui Lian"(firing), "Fan Shi" (coal burning), "Sha Qing" (paper making), "Wu Jin" (Mining and smelting of metals), "jia Bing" (weapons), "Dan Qing" (mineral pigments), "Qu Ne" (jiuqu) and "Zhu Yu" (source of jewelry and jade). The first volume describes the methods of cultivation and processing of grain, soy, and bast crops, the technology of spinning and dyeing of silky cotton frames, as well as the processes of salt and sugar production. The second volume includes the production of bricks and tiles, the production of ceramics and porcelain, the manufacture of cabs and ships, the firing of metals, the extraction and burning of coal, lime, sulfur and alum, as well as methods of squeezing oil and paper production. The last volume describes the extraction of minerals and the smelting of metals, the manufacture of weapons, the production of pigments and malt, as well as the collection and processing of pearls and oil. Just as in the structure of the dictionary "Tiangong kaiu" (), in the structure of Chinese science and technology in the Middle and Late Ming era and before that, agriculture, handicraft industry and manufacturing industry are mainly distinguished.

The "Great Dictionary of Chinese History" ()) (Shanghai Lexicographic Publishing House, 1984 ~1999) was compiled by more than 1,000 experts and scholars. The collection lasted 21 years. According to the dynasties, it was divided into the pre-Qin, Qin and Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, Sui and Tang, Song, Liao, Xia, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. This dictionary begins with the legendary ancient times, before the revolution of 1911. Its content mainly focuses on political history and economic history, as well as literature, philosophy, education, science and technology, issues of ethnicity, religion and archaeology. It has more than 24 million words. This dictionary is original, academic and authoritative, it is the first major historical dictionary in China covering all areas of history. The history of China is structured by time, these are Qin and Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, Sui, Tang and five dynasties, Song, Liao, Xia, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing. In other words, the structure of the "Chinese Historical Dictionary" exactly reflects the structure of Chinese history.

In the 1920s, almost all university disciplines and most industry disciplines in China already had their own subject dictionaries, and the structure of each subject dictionary also reflected the structure of the subject. Consider as an example the "Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine" (Li Yongchun, People's Medical Publishing House, 1981 ~1986). The Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine consists of descriptions of such categories as basic theory, Chinese medicine, prescriptions, acupuncture and moxibustion, massage, qigong, health preservation, internal medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, surgery, orthopedics and otorhinolaryngology department, medical history. Accordingly , medicine itself in China includes the following sections:basic theory, Chinese medicine, recipes, acupuncture and moxibustion, massage, qigong, health preservation, internal medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, surgery, orthopedics, ENT and medical history. The structure of the "Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine", as we can see, fully corresponds to the structure of Chinese medicine. The Chinese Wushu Dictionary (Fang Jinhui et al., Anhui People's Publishing House, 1989) consists of general remarks, descriptions of martial arts, equipment, counter-training, presentation of martial arts formulas, competition rules, a review of books and periodicals. The composition of Chinese martial arts includes martial arts, equipment, equipment movements, counter-training programs and formulas of martial arts. The structure of the "Chinese Wushu Dictionary" duplicates the structure of Chinese Wushu.

The structure of the "Dictionary of Historical Records" includes 12 benji ["Benji" is a special term for the biography of the emperor in history textbooks,], 10 Biao["Biao" is a simple record of the events of each historical period.], 8 Shu [ "Shu" is a document about the beginning and end of individual events.], 30 Shijia[ "Shijia" is a narrative about the history of the members of the royal house.] and 70 Lechuan[ "Lechuan" are biographies of ordinary people.], and the structure of the "historical records" is 12 benji, 10 Biao, 8 Shu, 30 Shijia and 70 Lezhuan. The structure of the "Shiji Dictionary" corresponds to the structure of the "Shiji". The Dictionary of Chinese Cinema includes information about domestic awards, Golden Rooster Awards, Hundreds of Flowers Awards, Outstanding Film Awards, Golden Horse Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, international awards, feature, scientific, educational and documentary films. The structure of the Chinese cinematographic process is conditionally divided into awards and types of films. Awards are divided into domestic and foreign. Among the films, artistic, scientific, educational and documentary films stand out. In general, the "Dictionary of Chinese Films" reflects the structure of Chinese cinema.

The Mao Zedong Dictionary of Thought (Chao Feng, Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, 1993) includes sections on philosophy, politics, law, economics, the armed forces, diplomacy, education, literature and art, as well as party building. Mao Zedong's legacy can be divided into philosophy, politics, law, economics, the armed forces, diplomacy, education, literature and art, as well as party building. So, the structure of the "Dictionary of Mao Zedong's Thoughts" fully reflects the general structure of Mao Zedong's thought.

With the development of disciplines, special dictionaries appeared. Since college dictionaries are usually compiled according to the subject or academic category, the structure of college dictionaries can clearly reflect the structure of the subject. Such as "Dictionary of Chinese History", "Dictionary of Chinese Medicine", "Dictionary of Chinese Wushu", "Dictionary of Thought of Mao Zedong", "Historical Dictionary" mentioned above. At the same time, there is a structure of specialized dictionaries on oil, which may reflect the general structure of the activities of oil scientists, and the structure of specialized dictionaries on botany roughly reflects the structure of botany. Therefore, in order for us to study the structure of a certain discipline, the simplest and most intuitive method is to study the structure of the most authoritative specialized dictionary of this discipline and, thus, with its help, determine the structure of the discipline itself.