214 Radical System

The 214 Radical System is a system of writing Chinese characters, with 214 unique radicals, which contribute to the meaning of written Chinese.

Origin

This system was developed in the creation of a dictionary, the Zihui. It was also an improvement on a system which previously had had over 500 radicals.

Usage

The 214 Radical System is also a way of listing Chinese ideograms in a dictionary. It is the most widespread method for listing these entries. Since Chinese does not have an alphabet, a standard way to create some kind of standard order for words had to be devised.