 dispels claims of the term 'wokou' (Japanese pirates) being removed from the Xinhua Dictionary, underlining the pocket-sized dictionary's focus on individual characters.){kind=link}
The China Publishing and Media Journal (CPMJ), a prestigious trade newspaper under the guidance of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has rebuffed recent allegations that the term ‘wokou’, translated as Japanese pirates, was eliminated from the latest edition of the Xinhua Zidian, more commonly known as the Xinhua Dictionary. This pocket-sized dictionary, considered an authoritative reference, is published by the state-owned Commercial Press.
This clarification was prompted by rumors that sparked after several netizens insinuated that the term had been excised from the dictionary’s 12th edition, which was released in 2020. This was further fueled by a video posted by the Shandong Province-based Qilu Evening News that corroborated the absence of ‘wokou’ in the said edition. The video, however, has since been deleted.
Historically, the term ‘wokou’ refers to Japanese pirates who, from the 14th to the 16th centuries, persistently tormented and pillaged the coastal regions of China and Korea during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The term also characterizes Japanese invaders during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression from 1931 to 1945, as elucidated in the Modern Chinese Dictionary by the Commercial Press.
This allegation of ‘wokou’ being dropped from the Xinhua Dictionary spread like wildfire on the social media platform Sina Weibo, inciting extensive debates. One user, expressing apprehension over the purported removal, emphasized that the term carries considerable historical context and significance. The user added that erasing such a term might inadvertently dilute the Chinese populace’s comprehension of their own history.
Nonetheless, CPMJ clarified this issue in an official post on its WeChat account. It stated that the Xinhua Dictionary, given its compact nature, primarily concentrates on accumulating individual characters. Since its inaugural publication in the 1950s, the dictionary has not incorporated the two-character term ‘Japanese pirates.’ The post further clarified that the term ‘wokou’ has been consistently included in other publications like the Modern Chinese Dictionary and the Xinhua Cidian, both medium-sized dictionaries also published by the Commercial Press.
The Xinhua Dictionary, first released in 1953, is regarded as the first modern Chinese dictionary produced after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. For many decades, this dictionary has served as a critical tool for Chinese language learning. The Commercial Press has overseen its publication and distribution since 1957. In 2016, the Xinhua Dictionary earned two spots in the Guinness World Records as the “most popular dictionary” and the “best-selling regularly updated book,” as reported by the Xinhua News Agency.
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