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The official language of Afghanistan now has its first ever Chinese dictionary, thanks to a linguist¹ in Beijing. Seventy-eight year old Che Hongcai has just completed the first ever Pashto-Chinese dictionary, a project commissioned 36 years ago by the State Council, but that was later interrupted and nearly abandoned. 

A mission of a lifetime. In his modest home in Beijing, Che Hongcai begins a typical day cross-referencing dictionary entries. Piles of index cards containing Chinese and Pashto terms sit in his study. He reads out every definition. Each entry is checked against up to five other dictionaries to guarantee accuracy. They are a testament² to the years of meticulous³ and laborious⁵ work Che has endured.

After picking up the Pashto as a student sent by the Chinese government to Kabul University in Afghanistan in the 1960s, Che has since devoted⁶ nearly half his life to the language.

"I think it was very wise for then Premier⁷ Zhou Enlai to assign us to learn the less-spoken language of Pashto, the official language of Afghanistan. I now feel that I have a mission to pass it down, and a dictionary could be useful for later generations." Che said. 

Well before China began its famous reform and opening up, the State Council called a national meeting in 1975 to discuss compiling 160 foreign-language dictionaries that would serve the nation during its coming decades of development. As one of the few Chinese experts in Pashto, Che was contacted by the Commercial Press in 1978 and asked to compile the dictionary.

But the project was soon interrupted, as Che received other assignments that sent him to become a university professor, a radio reporter, and even for a time, a diplomatic envoy⁸ in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"During my years in Pakistan, I was able to get access to Afghan radio and TV to refresh my language skills. I also worked in Pashto. This experience has been useful. My years in radio has increased my sense of urgency to finish the dictionary. " Che said. 

But Che persevered⁹. And in 2008, he resumed the work he had started decades earlier. When he first began the project in the 1980s, Che relied on a 62 yuan monthly salary. But no further funding was available for working on the dictionary. Still for hours every day, Che toiled¹⁰ over different words on his computer.

The hefty draft was finally delivered to the Commercial Press in 2012. At first, the publisher didn’t remember commissioning the dictionary, and had to sort through company archives to find the long forgotten project.

A new contract was promptly¹¹ signed, giving Che and his assisstant 80 yuan per 1,000 words. But Che says money is not the real reward.

"I have the determination, confidence and persistence¹² to finish the project. It’s monotonous¹³, but I find joy in learning the new meaning of every word " Che said.

Che had two assisstants on the project over the years. One of them passed away in 2000, never able to see the project’s completion. At the age of 78, Che hopes he will see the fruits of his decades-long labor⁴. His 2.5-million-word Pashto-Chinese dictionary is due out by the end of 2014.