| AH | The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000) |
| b. | born |
| c. | century |
| ca. | circa |
| chap. | chapter |
| d. | died |
| fl. | flourished |
| HDC | Hanyu da cidian (see under Luo Zhufeng in the bibliography) |
| MSM | Modern Standard Mandarin |
| n. | note |
| no. | number |
| q.v. | quod vide (which see) |
| r. | reigned |
| RH | The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed., unabridged (New York: Random House, 1983) |
| s. | scroll ([juan] of ancient Chinese books) |
| s.v. | sub verbo (under the word [in question]) |