Dictionary of Allusions for Chinese?

[character]

Does such a website/book exist?

Something like this would be nice: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions "What are the meanings and origins of the phrases bad day at Black Rock, feeding frenzy, let a hundred flowers bloom , and trouble in River City? Using allusions in everyday conversation and writing is standard practice today. This small reference tool, compiled by a freelance writer and a journalist, will help users discover hidden or new meanings, increase knowledge beyond simple definitions, master the correct usage from experts, and learn today's new allusions. More than 900 entries are listed alphabetically."

[gato]

There's probably nothing exactly like that in Chinese, but you can try

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=635466

辞海 99版

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=9008691

现代汉语辞海

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20031903

名人名言（学生版）

[character]

Thanks! After posting I found:

Origins of Chinese Culture "Let this book guide you through the perplexing maze of all things Chinese. [...] Study in great detail the origin of Chinese characters and customs through the reading of fascinating stories which can be enjoyed by children and adults alike [....]"

and

Origins of Chinese Martial Arts "Unravel the exciting mystery behind Chinese martial arts, or Wushu, an exotic branch of traditional Chinese culture in this exciting book. Trace evolution of this special art form from the early rough and ready brawls of Chinese cavemen to the polished gongfu of Shaolin and Wudang warriors. [...] An easy and entertaining read, the volume also sheds light on the legend of Bruce Lee, the Yue Maiden Sword and more! [...]"

Both of which seem to be aimed at kids. I tried ordering them but had some problem with the site.

[roddy]

Would a decent idioms dictionary be adequate? At a guess I'd imagine the majority of allusions in Chinese are going to be in that form. Maybe something like this?

[xianu]

I'm not quite sure I understand your idea of allusions. It sounds like you are looking for a chengyu 成語 dictionary, and I have seen a ton of those. I even found a couple of illustrated chengyu dictionaries (though I found those years ago, and I haven't seen them since maybe 2000). The Chengyu dictionaries I found list the phrases in pinyin alphabetical order. I don't have them with me, but I think the ones I found only define the chengyu, sometimes provide a little illustration, and sometimes also have a baihua synopsis (usually pretty basic) of the original story from whence the chengyu comes. However, if you mean allusions in the sense of the kind of phrases that pop up in poetry, stories, pretty much all written compositions in traditional Chinese (both literary and non), your best bet would be to use one of the monster dictionaries like the Hanyu da cidian (from mainland) or Zhongwen da cidian (from Taiwan or Morihashi's version on which the zhongwen da was based). these are where you will find the origins of where the allusions come from, what they mean, and examples of how they have been used in traditional Chinese texts. The problem is that you need to actually know what the chengyu or allusion phrase is, (i.e. hear/read them) and then look it up.

[character]

Thanks for all the responses. Basically I was looking for some sort of primer on all these bits of cultural knowledge.

Based on your feedback, I'll check the online bookstores again. I should have said earlier, but at my limited level, something which had the Chinese phrase (and "keywords" about the story) in traditional Chinese and the explanation in English would be best.

Y'all have given me a lot of help in the kinds of things I should be looking for, so thanks again.