A Summary of Dictionary of Idioms and Allusions

Tracing back to the source is one of the most important tasks for idiom researchers. Editors and authors of books such as Ci Yuan and Chinese Dictionary have done a lot of work in tracing the source of idioms, but on the whole, many idioms still have unclear, inaccurate or even no source. The Dictionary of Idioms and Allusions has done a lot of work in this respect. For example, the idiom "Go through fire and water" is the source of Ci Yuan, which comes from the Biography of Han Dynasty and Cuo. "Therefore, many people can learn from it, and treat death as life", while the example of Chinese Dictionary only quoted Fu Zi's words in the Liu Weizhi Table of the Three Kingdoms at the earliest: "Today's policy is quality, and only the generals' orders are obeyed. . The Dictionary of Idiom Origin holds that the word "going through fire and water" originated from the phrase "countless people died in from the mire" in Mozi's All Love, and quoted Chapter 25 of Han Shichuan as the source. In this way, the origin of this idiom is greatly advanced, both in meaning and form.

Sorting out the evolution of idioms is an important feature of Idiom Dictionary, which fills the gap in the field of dictionaries. This book not only further enriches the expression of idioms, but also enables us to clearly understand the historical track of the development and change of idioms. Such as "approachable" and "common people" in the original text, examples are taken from Duke Zhou of Lu and schools in Historical Records. In the Tang Dynasty, people avoided the taboo of Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin and changed to "approachable". In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were also variations such as "Shu Ren", "Harmony and Approaching People", "Happiness and Approaching People" and "Vulgarity". From this, we can see the influence of taboos in feudal society on language, and also the evolution of an idiom in different historical periods.

The Dictionary of Idiom Origin not only examines the variations of idioms in the process of development and evolution, but also examines the abbreviated forms and extended forms of idioms. For example, the dictionary lists its abbreviations such as "throwing bricks to attract jade", "throwing bricks to attract jade" and "throwing bricks to attract jade"; "beat about the bush", the dictionary lists its extension "beat about the bush" and so on.

On the basis of textual research on the origin of idioms, Dictionary of the Origin of Idioms has many discoveries and new insights on the semantic interpretation of idioms, which further enriches the semantic content of idioms. For example, "it seems like a lifetime ago" is generally interpreted as "expressing feelings born of great changes in personnel and scenery" This dictionary points out that when the ancients used this idiom, they often had another meaning, that is, "describing a beautiful realm is fascinating, as if it changed the world", and citing examples from Yuan Hongdao and others, which is very convincing.

The Dictionary of Idiom Origin also uses ancient annotations in time, which makes the understanding of the original meaning of idioms more accurate. For example, the Dictionary of Idioms holds that Zhuangzi said that "the door is empty, and the tung milk leads to the nest", and quoted Sima Biao's note: "The door is empty, the wind likes to throw it away, and the tung is like milk, with leaves, and birds like to nest." This shows that "everything happens for a reason" is the original meaning of this idiom At present, some idiom dictionaries interpret "groundless" as "without cause", which is unfounded.

Idiom Source Dictionary is very rigorous in using textual research materials and pays attention to academic norms. The feature of this book is tracing back to the source, so it attaches great importance to the originality and primitiveness of the materials. For example, in the article Fishing with Exhausted Zee, the Dictionary of Idioms and Allusions lists the sources of Wen Zi Shang Li, Wen Zi Ren Shang, Huainanzi Ben Jing Xun, Huainanzi Zhu Shu Xun and Huainanzi Ren Xun after citing the example of Lu Chunqiu Qiu Yi Shang. After citing the examples of Machiavellian tactics in Shuo Yuan, its sub-chapter Fishing Classics points out that "this language can be found in Pan Cao, Confucius' Family Talk, Sleeping Oath and so on. ".It can be said that the relevant information about this idiom is basically listed. The author of this book has a strong sense of version, using thousands of ancient books, which are basically recognized as better versions by the academic community. For example, The Twenty-four History uses the punctuation of Zhonghua Book Company, The Four Books and Five Classics uses the Notes of Thirteen Classics of Zhonghua Book Company, and A Dream of Red Mansions uses the Three Comments of Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. A good version not only ensures the accuracy of data sources, but also is very convenient for readers to consult and use.