Page "Written Chinese" Paragraph 4

Written Chinese is not based on an alphabet or a compact syllabary.

Instead, Chinese characters are glyphs whose components may depict objects or represent abstract notions.

Occasionally a character consists of only one component ; more commonly two or more components are combined to form more complex characters, using a variety of different principles.

The best known exposition of Chinese character composition is the Shuowen Jiezi, compiled by Xu Shen around 120 CE.

Since Xu Shen did not have access to Chinese characters in their earliest forms, his analysis cannot always be taken as authoritative.

Nonetheless, no later work has supplanted the Shuowen Jiezi in terms of breadth, and it is still relevant to etymological research today.