Pianzi leibian 駢字類編

Pianzi leibian 駢字類編 "Categorized book of combined characters" is rhyme dictionary compiled on imperial order during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Zhang Tingyu 張廷玉 (1672-1755), Wu Shiyu 吳士玉 (1665-1733), and Shen Zongjing 沈宗敬 (1669-1735). The compilation was realized between 1719 and 1726, and the Yongzheng Emperor 雍正帝 (r. 1723-1735) wrote a preface to it.

The 240 juan or fascicles of the Pianzi leibian contain 13 categories or chapters, according to which the terms have to be looked for. The words "sun", "wind", and "rain", for instance, are listed under the headword "Heaven". For each character or word, disyllabic words or terms are listed and explained with quotations from literary sources. The lemma character is always in the head position of the disyllabic word, like in modern dictionaries, and not that of the end position, like it is common in a lot of other traditional dictionaries and encyclopaedias<7a>, a method which has been first used by the Tang-period 唐 (618-907) scholar Yan Zhenqing 顏真卿 (709-785) in the encyclopaedia Yunhai jingyuan 韻海鏡源. The Pianzi leibian only contains disyllabic words, and no expressions with more characters than two. The use of the Pianzi leibian is foremost in the examples for rhymes in poetry, but the quotations are also taken from prose writings. The sources of the quotations are always indicated. Although the Pianzi leibian does not contain as much words as the Peiwen yunfu, it is much easier to use as a dictionary, but only with caution, because not all meanings of the words are explained.

There is a print of the Imperial Household from 1726, a print from the Guangxu reign-period 光緒 (1875-1908), and a modern publication from 1984 by the Zhongguo Shudian Press 中國書店. The Pianzi leibian is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.