This etymological dictionary is based on a selection of works, starting with the Book of History (Shu Jing) and the Book of Odes (Shi Jing) and ending with the dictionary of the second century A.D., the Shuowen Jiezi. For each of the 13,500 characters, the translations are richly annotated. The meanings range from the general to the specific; the French equivalents are precise and critical. They cover the development of the Chinese language across the centuries with their evolution and new usages up to the present. The dictionary includes approximately 2,000 characters present at the origin of Chinese writing – the “oracular” inscriptions found on tortoise shells and oxen shoulder blades (starting in 1500 B.C.) and the shapes engraved on bronze vessels (Zhou dynasty). A unique work for which no equivalent exists in any European language. It is the only work that presents full information about Chinese characters.