<p>The book is "说文解字", shorten as "说文".
汉 here means the time when it was written, the Han Dynasty; but not Chinese(汉语/汉文). People may refer it to "汉·说文" or just "说文".
You can get details here: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia/Shuowen_Jiezi</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-13T13:59:29.673Z
2015-10-13T13:59:29.673Z
nee.wong
<p>I am beginning Chinese speaker, but I watch this documentary on Chinese characters and they talk about origins of the characters from ideograms.  They refer to a book called "Roots of Characters" but I cannot find it.  Instead using Chinese Characters 汉说文 I find a website with some information: <a href="http://shuowen.xpcha.com/03ch6de8uu4.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://shuowen.xpcha.com/03ch6de8uu4.html</a> Here is the entry for:  水 (shui : water)</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hcG97.gif" alt=""></p>

<p>What is the English name of this book?  Is there a reliable online resource?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-06T20:27:49.087Z
I believe you are referring  to 说文, a dictionary originated from Han dynasty
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi
Siyi Deng
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-06T20:40:28.283Z
@SiyiDeng sure! looks great! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi
john mangual
<classical-chinese><dictionary>
What is this book called? 汉说文
# What is this book called? 汉说文

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-10-06)

I am beginning Chinese speaker, but I watch this documentary on Chinese characters and they talk about origins of the characters from ideograms. They refer to a book called "Roots of Characters" but I cannot find it. Instead using Chinese Characters 汉说文 I find a website with some information: <http://shuowen.xpcha.com/03ch6de8uu4.html> Here is the entry for: 水 (shui : water)

![](https://i.sstatic.net/hcG97.gif)

What is the English name of this book? Is there a reliable online resource?

**Tags:** classical-chinese, dictionary

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I believe you are referring  to 说文, a dictionary originated from Han dynasty https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi  
> **username_0**: @username_1 sure! looks great! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-10-13. Score: 1

The book is "说文解字", shorten as "说文".
汉 here means the time when it was written, the Han Dynasty; but not Chinese(汉语/汉文). People may refer it to "汉·说文" or just "说文".
You can get details here: [Wikipedia/Shuowen\_Jiezi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi)


---

