The first edition of Xinhua Dictionary was compiled in 1953. At that time, the founders of the New World regarded the compilation of this "small dictionary" as an important part of the new cultural cause. It should shoulder the responsibility of standardizing modern Chinese and eliminating illiteracy. "Today, we should also advocate the' Xinhua style' of scholars compiling small dictionaries, and advocate the academic atmosphere of celebrities facing the public and striving for popularization." Summarizing the 50-year history of Xinhua Dictionary, Xu Jialu, vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), said this. "As soon as Xinhua Dictionary came out, it served the people to learn culture and popularize basic education. This active pursuit of being close to the people has made this small dictionary valuable to the people and full of vitality. " Wang Zhan, Vice Minister of Education, analyzed the miracle created by small dictionaries. Xinhua Dictionary is "the largest dictionary in the world" and the most frequently revised dictionary in the dictionary history of China. In the past 50 years, with the progress of society and the changes of the times, this dictionary has been revised 10 times. Although the dictionary is small and dry, it is difficult to know how many it has. Every revision should be "speaking like a book" in content, "keeping pace with the times" and "innovating" in form.

Xinhua Dictionary is the first dictionary that uses vernacular explanations and examples. It consolidated the achievements of the Putonghua campaign aimed at promoting the spoken Chinese of Han nationality and the vernacular campaign aimed at promoting the replacement of classical Chinese with vernacular Chinese, and established, popularized and carried it forward in the form of dictionaries. Xinhua Dictionary is the first dictionary in China that aims at vocabulary standardization and application. "The main purpose of writing is to let readers have a correct understanding of the vocabulary of the motherland through this dictionary, understand the modern standard usage of vocabulary, and be able to use it correctly in writing and speaking."