This dictionary was a project of the Dankook University Institute of Oriental Studies, which started in June 1977 and was completed 28 October 2008, and cost 31 billion KRW, or US$25 million.

Initially, the university foundation turned down the project after financial difficulties, and concerned senior scholars tried to dissuade Chang from compiling the dictionary.

Despite his manuscripts being burned in a fire during World War II, his publisher going bankrupt, and numerous other setbacks, after 32 years of collaborative work, the Dai Kan-Wa Jiten or "Great Chinese–Japanese Dictionary" was finally completed.

Taiwan's Defense Committee followed suit with a 10-year effort, along with the Academia Sinica, to complete the Zhongwen Da Cidian, or "Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Chinese Language."

Collaboration attracted the participation of 43 universities, as well as numerous research centers and scholars nationwide, yielding the 12 volume Hanyu Da Cidian or "Comprehensive Dictionary of Chinese Words" in 1993.