Abstract: A method of finding a Chinese character in an electronic dictionary. The method includes sorting the characters in the dictionary into three groups according to stroke type: horizontal, vertical and slant, identifying which group a character belongs to based on the first writing stroke of the character, locating an original root of the Chinese character from the identified group based on a first three writing strokes of the Chinese character and finding the Chinese character in the dictionary based on the first three writing strokes of the Chinese character that immediately follow the strokes of the located original root.

Abstract: A method of using a Chinese dictionary, including the steps of (a) selecting a stroke type of a first stroke of a principal root in a desired Chinese Character from among a corresponding stroke group found in a root table, the stroke group being a horizontal stroke, a vertical stroke and a slant stroke, the root table containing a root for the desired Chinese character together with a page where the desired Chinese character is found in the Chinese dictionary, (b) identifying the page from the root table that is associated with the selected stroke type of the first stroke, (c) selecting a stroke type of a first stroke in the secondary root from among the corresponding stroke group, (d) finding on the page a list of Chinese characters associated with the selected stroke type of the first stroke in the secondary root, (e) selecting stroke types of the next one or two strokes in sequence in the secondary root from among the corresponding stroke group, (f) finding a subsidiary list of Chinese characters from the