Shuowen Jiezi

Shuowen Jiezi
Cover of a modern reprint of a Song dynasty 'veritable edition' (zhēnběn 真本) of the Shuowen Jiezi
Traditional Chinese	說文解字
Simplified Chinese	说文解字
Literal meaning	Explaining graphs and analyzing characters
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shuōwén jiězì Gwoyeu Romatzyh Shuowen jieetzyh Wade–Giles Shuo1-wen2 chieh3-tzŭ4 IPA [ʂwó.wə̌n tɕjè.tsɨ̂] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Syut-màhn gáai-jih Jyutping Syut3-man4 gaai2-zi6 IPA [syt̚˧.mɐn˩ kaj˧˥.tsi˨] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Soat-bûn kái-jī Tâi-lô Suat-bûn kái-jī Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Syiwet-mɨun KeXdziH

The Shuowen Jiezi is a Chinese dictionary compiled by Xu Shen c. 100 CE, during the Eastern Han dynasty (25–206 CE). While prefigured by earlier Chinese character reference works like the Erya (c. 3rd century BCE), the Shuowen Jiezi featured the first comprehensive analysis of characters in terms of their structure, and attempted to provide a rationale for their construction. It was also the first to organize its entries into sections according to shared components called radicals.