The purpose of this paper is to explain how the Chinese characters were unified and how the users reached an agreement thereof. The paper pointed two useful concepts from the "Explanation and Study of Principles of Composition of Characters (Shuowen J ...

The purpose of this paper is to explain how the Chinese characters were unified and how the users reached an agreement thereof. The paper pointed two useful concepts from the "Explanation and Study of Principles of Composition of Characters (Shuowen Jiezi)", considered by many as the first Chinese dictionary. First, the Chinese characters have a unique mechanism of self-reproduction. Second, this unique mechanism allowed the users to combine basic elements and derivative ingredients to form yet another character. For example, the number ‘three [三]' is an element in the character ‘emperor [王]'. The editor of Shuowen Jiezi put a strong and widespread emphasis on the divine status of the Chinese Emperor. Perhaps this Sino-centrism was one of the driving forces prompting the users‘ agreement.