A set of "Supplementary Dictionary" in the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) has been found in the home of Chen Mingyan, Hengping Village, Renheping Town, Wufeng Tujia Ethnic Group Autonomous County, central China's Hubei Province.

The dictionary with traditional thread binding came off press in 1795.

With a total of 13 volumes, the dictionary is 25.5 cm long and 6 cm wide. Consisting of 3,600 supplemented characters, from one stroke to 32 strokes, it was printed in the form of complex font. Its preface provides a pithy formula to teaching people how to consult it.

Some pages have moth-eaten traces.

Cheng Kaolin, 60, the father of Chen Mingyan, said that it is his grandfather who passed on the dictionary to him.

(Xinhua 04/04/2001)