"modern Chinese Dictionary" Ancient Words Study

As an authoritative language dictionary, the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (the fifth edition 2005) is extensively used. It is prominent in explanation. But after a comprehensive investigation, we find that the explanations of ancient Chinese words and phrases in this dictionary, although occupying a large scale, are not satisfying. There are so many defects, we can say, it is a weak part in this dictionary. The research of ancient Chinese words and phrases in the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary turned out that there were many errors in interpretations of ancient words. Those items can be divided into seven categories: 1. Misinterpretations, there are obvious mistakes in explanations of those items. 2. Not distinguishing characters of words. 3. Interpretations of words are not complete or there are some little flaws in interpretations. 4. Not catching on the meaning of a single word. 5. Not selecting or edit terms of meaning correctly. 6. The language of explanations is not appropriate. 7. Others. Some of those matters not only appear in the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary but also in other dictionaries. We hope the paper may arouse more attentions to this facet, and can improve the quality of dictionary.