Cihai, or "Sea of Words", is the most authoritative encyclopedic dictionary of the Chinese language. The sixth edition of Cihai was released on Monday, after five years of revision.

The new edition of Cihai has five volumes, all with colorful illustrations.

For this revision, twelve-thousand vocabulary entries have been added along with 16-thousand illustrations. The total vocabulary entries have now reached 130-thousand.

The added vocabulary is mostly centered around key construction and projects throughout the country, as well as the new development of science and technology, especially in life sciences.

Chao Feng, vice editor-in-chief, said, "The change of the era, the key events in each aspect of the society are all reflected in the new edition of Cihai."

The new edition of Cihai will arrive on the bookstore shelves of major cities in China in time for the National Day holiday.

(CCTV September 24, 2009)