Zhong Haochu, 80, spent more than half his life compiling Zhongguo Shiyun Xinbian (The New Chinese Rhymes Corpus). Totaling one million Chinese characters, the recently published dictionary is a tool for poets and scribes to find characters that rhyme. Such dictionaries, known as yunshu, have been around in China since ancient times, but their popularity has waned in the modern age.

“Language changes over time. Ancient rhyming dictionaries have limited use nowadays due to the content, style and practicability of their words, which is why I decided to compile a modern rhyming dictionary,” said Zhong.

Zhong was born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province. After graduating from Jiangxi Normal University, he taught at a middle school in Xinfeng county, Jiangxi Province. He later worked for a local opera troupe as a scriptwriter. The job required him to often come up with rhymes for scripts, lyrics and poems, and sparked his passion for words.

Zhong began compiling his dictionary in the 1970s. He modified the ancient rhyming system of classic dictionaries, spending all his spare time on the project. After a decade of working on the dictionary, Zhong completed its first draft that had around one million Chinese characters. Over the next 30 years he made amendments and improvements to the draft, adding new words coined in modern times and noting regional linguistic characteristics.

“After a long time, I finally compiled the Table of Syllable in Rhymes,” said Zhong referring to an index in his dictionary that features 400 basic characters based on which he developed the whole dictionary over the next 40 years. “Every character is listed with its rhyming counterparts, phonetic notation, meaning and poems containing specific rhymes. There are even quotes by well-known figures involving certain phrases and rhymes.”

Zhongguo Shiyun Xinbian was published by China Literature and History Press in February 2014. Famous playwright Wu Zuguang, linguist Zhao Keqin and other literary experts have lauded the dictionary.

The Chinese link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/culture/2014-07/24/c_126790386.htm

　　Translated by Du Mei

　　Revised by Tom Fearon