The principle and system of Origin of Chinese Characters compiled by Xu Shen

Xu Shen's aim of compiling Origin of Chinese Characters was to criticize slipshod use of language for sake of safeguarding position of classical writing.From Confucius' idea that good standpoint is basis of appropriate means,he creatively found a correct way to do his work,i.e.to begin with explanation of character origin,which he believed could lead to authentic meaning and usage of Chinese characters.In order to make a clear and organized explanation,Xu Shen adopted principle of The Book of Change,i.e.things of one kind come together,and established 540 radicals of Chinese characters by following theories of the six categories of Chinese characters.The self-sufficient system set up in Origin of Chinese Characters distinguished itself from all like works in that period.Its compiling style of radicals has become model followed by other books of same type.