This early dictionary compiled by the philosoper Yang Xiong 楊雄 (53 BC-18 AD) is the first dictionary that examines local dialects. Earlier writers already were aware that the many peoples of ancient China had their own dialects, in some times even languages. The multifold languages of old China are one reason for the abundancy of Chinese characters. The structure of the small book Fangyan is like that of other dictionaries that line up several characters/words with a similar meaning, but only here the regional background of words is an object of research.	Chapters of the Fangyan
	Exemplarious translation: 黨、曉、哲，知也。楚謂之黨（黨期也，解寤貌）或曰曉， 齊宋之間謂之哲。 Assembling dang, making bright xiao, thinking zhe, all means "knowing zhi". The people of Chu (modern Hubei and Hunan) use the word "assembling dang" (commentary: dang means "time" and describes awakening after sleep), somewhere "making bright xiao" is listed, and in the area of Qi and Song (modern Shandong), the word "thinking zhe" is used. 嫁、逝、徂、適，往也。自家而出謂之嫁，由女而出為嫁也。逝，秦晉語也。 徂，齊魯語也。適，宋魯語也。往，凡語之。 Marrying a man jia, departing shi, advancing cu, arriving shi, all means "going to wang". Going out, leaving home, is called "marrying a man jia", that means if a girl leaves home, she is having a girl's new home (character jia: girl+home). "Departing shi" is the language of Qin and Jin (modern Shanxi and Shaanxi), the word "advancing cu" is used in Qi (modern Shandong), the word "arriving shi" is used in Song and Lu (modern western Shandong), but the word "going to wang" is used everywhere. 上，重也。一，蜀也。南楚謂之獨（蜀猶獨耳）。 Above shang, means "up chong". One yi, means "alone shu". In southern Chu (modern Hunan), people say "lonely du" (actually, "alone shu" means a single ear). Translated by Ulrich Theobald.