[1] This encyclopedic dictionary includes 49,905 Chinese characters arranged under the traditional 214 Kangxi radicals.
Each character entry shows the evolution of graphic forms (such as small seal script), gives pronunciations, and chronological meanings with sources.
Words, phrases, and four-character idioms are given under the head character entry, arranged according to the number of strokes in their components.
"There are many phrases under some characters,"[2] for example, 3,417 under yi (一 "one") and 1,398 under huang (黄 "yellow").
The Zhongwen Da Cidian is one of the most extensive reference works of Chinese, rivaled only by the later 1993 completion of the Hanyu Da Cidian ("Comprehensive Dictionary of Chinese").