Shuowen jiezi
The Shuowen jiezi (Chinese说文解字, Pinyin Shuowen jiezi ) is the first character dictionary of Chinese writing, specifically the small seal script.
It was during the Han dynasty, around the year 100 AD, compiled by the scholar Xu Shen许慎and published in the year 121.
Construction
The Shuowen Jiezi listed and explained in 15 chapters 9,353 characters, which are ordered by radicals. This system is, in principle, to this day use. The Shuowen Jiezi knows 540 radicals, their arrangement was influenced by philosophical considerations.
This number of 540 radicals was only in 1716, during the Qing dynasty, Kangxi Dictionary reduced to 214 radicals.
List of 540 radicals
Contents of Shuowen Jiezi: [Note 1]