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The 214 Determinatives
(or ‘Radicals’) System
Note 1: This system was first employed in the Zihui dictionary of 1615 and then
adopted as standard in later character dictionaries, replacing the highly innovative
but unwieldy system of 540 determinatives known as (J. bushu, Ch. bushou)
used in the Shuowen jiezi (ca.100AD), the earliest extant complete character dictionary
compiled in China. The 214 system has been used now for some centuries
and continues to be a familiar framework of arrangement for characters in Japan
and China, sometimes found with modifications, especially in the People’s Republic
of China. The popular character dictionary Xinhua zidian (New Chinese Character
Dictionary), published there from 1953 onwards, for example, employs a modified
system of 189 determinatives. Below is the full list of the 214 determinatives still
widely used in Japanese character dictionaries today. In some instances the English
equivalent is just a convenient label, not a translation.
Note 2: While used widely as a system of arrangement in character dictionaries, the
traditional system of 214 determinatives is not the main referencing system used in
this book, in which the numbers for characters and character elements relate to the
individual entries. For details, see Introduction (Section 7.6).
Note 3: Cross-reference numbers under ‘Alternative forms/nicknames/comments’
below relate only to the numbered determinatives in the list below, not to entry
numbers in the main part of this book.
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