A "radically" different approach

This site is intended to aid students of Chinese language in the study of Chinese characters.

The difference between this Finder and a standard Chinese dictionary is that the characters here are organized according to their visual form, rather than according to the traditional system of 214 "radicals" or by a phonetic transcription of Chinese words. You are presented the characters in the context of a hierarchy of visual "cues" to facilitate learning their specific formal attributes. This site is designed to encourage learning the characters (and finding them) graphically and intuitively.

The Finder now covers the 3,500-character list of frequently used characters issued by the Ministry of Education of China, as set forth in Xiandai Hanyu Changyong Zibiao (现代汉语常用字表). More on this list can be found here. You are first presented with "elements," not unlike the ABC's, which, when clicked, display "keywords." And by clicking on a keyword, a "grouping" of visually associated characters is presented along with pronunciations and meanings.

The form of a keyword will generally be "embodied" in some fashion in the characters listed in a grouping. In some instances, however, there may be a character in a grouping that may bear no relation to the keyword beyond a general similarity in appearance. For instance, the character 干 (gan1, dry) is in the same grouping as the character 于 (yu2, regarding). The two characters look almost identical, and while they may have no ostensible genealogical relationship, it is useful to include them in such a grouping for the purpose of comparing them didacticly.

This program uses simplified characters, while traditional characters are included in parentheses in the groupings.

Given the scope and degree of subjectivity involved in such a project, shortcomings will invariably be encountered, for which the author begs your forebearance. But this site will continually evolve. And it is hoped that students will find this an accessible environment within which to familiarize themselves with the characters.

For an in-depth look at the components comprising the characters, check out Rick Harbaugh's Genealogy of Chinese Characters.