Actually, most of the radicals existed long before the Shuōwén Jiězì, as recurring graphic elements[1].<p>They might not have been called &#x27;radicals&#x27;, or been used to look up dictionaries, but they certainly existed.<p>[1] Wilkinson, Endymion (2013), Chinese History: A New Manual, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, ISBN 978-0-674-06715-8