Search the Unihan Database

Use this page to search the contents of the Unihan database. Searching is currently limited to the definition field and the six phonetic fields: three varieties of Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, and Tang), the two basic Japanese pronunciations (Japanese On, or Sino-Japanese, and Japanese Kun, or native Japanese), and Sino-Korean.

To select a field to search, use the pop-up menu. Enter the data to search for in the text field, and click on the "Lookup" button or hit <return>. You will be presented with a page listing all characters in the Unihan database with matching data in the appropriate field. Searching is case-insensitive. Mandarin pronunciations are indicated using pinyin, with numbers to indicate tones. Cantonese pronunciations are indicated using Yale romanization, again with numbers to indicate tones. Standard romanizations are used for Japanese and Korean.

For example, to find all characters whose definition contain the word "well," type "well" into the text field, select the "Definition" item in the pop-up menu, and click on "Lookup." To find all characters whose Mandarin pronunciation is "jing3," type "jing3" in the text field, select the "Mandarin" item from the popup, and click on "Submit."

Note that this is a preliminary version of a searching facility. More features will be added in the future.