Simplified Chinese characters

Although most simplified Chinese characters in use today are the result of the work carried out by Chinese government during the 1950s and 1960s, the use of many of these forms predates the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Caoshu, cursive written text, was the inspiration of some simplified characters, and for others, some are attested as early as the Qin dynasty as either vulgar variants or original characters.

The first batch of simplified characters, introduced in 1935 and retracted in 1936, totaled 324 entries

One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lufei Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China as quickly as possible. Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged and subsequently blamed for their problems. Soon, people in the movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and therefore proposed that a reform be initiated. It was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, "If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" (漢字不滅，中國必亡). Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time.[11]

In the 1930s and 1940s, discussions on character simplification took place within the Nationalist government, and a large number of the intelligentsia maintained that character simplification would help boost literacy in China.[12] In 1935, 324 simplified characters collected by Qian Xuantong were officially introduced as the table of first batch of simplified characters, but they were suspended in 1936 due to fierce opposition within the party.

In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing (hereafter Characters for Printing), which included standardized printed forms for 6196 characters.

Within the country, further character simplification became associated with the radical left-wing of Chinese society and with the Cultural Revolution. Efforts culminated with a second round of simplified characters promulgated in 1977. In part due to the shock and unease felt as the Cultural Revolution had wound down, and with Mao's death, the second round of simplifications was poorly received. In 1986, authorities retracted the second round completely, but they had been largely out of use only a year after they were first introduced. Later in the same year, the authorities promulgated a final list of simplifications, which is identical to the 1964 list except for six changes (including the restoration of three characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠, 覆, 像; the form 疊 is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional Chinese).

There had been simplification initiatives aimed at eradicating characters entirely and establishing the Hanyu Pinyin romanisation as the official written system of the PRC, but the reform never gained quite as much popularity as many on the Chinese left had hoped. After the retraction of the second round of simplification, the PRC stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. Years later in 2009, the Chinese government released a major revision list which included 8,300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. However, six characters previously listed as "traditional" characters that have been simplified, as well as 51 other "variant" characters, were restored to the standard list. In addition, orthographies (e.g. stroke shape) for 44 characters were proposed to be modified slightly to fit traditional calligraphic rules. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until August 31, 2009, for feedback from the public.[9] The proposed orthographic changes to 44 characters were not implemented due to overwhelmingly negative public opinion.[13]

The 2013 Table of General Standard Chinese Characters contained 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents.

Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification, eventually arriving at the same set of simplified characters as mainland China.[14]

The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted the 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters.

Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools.

In both countries, traditional characters are often used in calligraphy, are still seen on shop signs and in some newspapers.

A small group called 导字社; 導字社; dou⁶zi⁶se⁵ (or 导字会; 導字會; dou⁶zi⁶wui⁶) attempted to introduce a special version of simplified characters using romanizations in the 1930s. Today, however, traditional characters remain dominant in Hong Kong.

After World War II, Japan also simplified a number of kanji, with the new forms being called shinjitai. The number of characters in circulation was also reduced, and formal lists of characters to be learned during each grade of school were established. The overall effect was to standardize teaching and the use of kanji in modern literature and media. Compared to in China, Japanese reform was more limited, only simplifying a few hundred commonly-used characters individually, not with exhaustive systematic rules. Analogous systematic simplifications of non-listed characters (extended shinjitai) are not approved—instead, standard practice is to use the traditional forms.

All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List. Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3 is derived.[note 4]

Merging usually-homophonous characters:

蒙、懞、濛、矇 → 蒙; 復、複、覆、复 → 复; 乾、幹、榦、干 → 干; 髮、發 → 发; etc.

Using printed adaptations of cursive shapes (草書楷化):

書 → 书; 長 → 长; 當 → 当; 韋 → 韦; 樂 → 乐; 車 → 车; 興 → 兴; 發 → 发; 東 → 东; 專 → 专; 過 → 过; 報 → 报; 爾 → 尔; 盡 → 尽; 學 → 学; etc.

Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂):

對 → 对; 觀 → 观; 僅 → 仅; 難 → 难; 鳳 → 凤; 這 → 这; 劉 → 刘; etc.

Omitting entire components:

廠 → 厂; 廣 → 广; 飛 → 飞; 習 → 习; 滅 → 灭; 親 → 亲; 業 → 业; 鄉 → 乡; 餘 → 余; 氣 → 气; etc.

Omitting components, then applying further alterations:

婦 → 妇; 麗 → 丽; 歸 → 归; 顯 → 显; 務 → 务; etc.

Structural changes that preserve the basic shape

繼 → 继; 龜 → 龟; 齒 → 齿; 奪 → 夺; 門 → 门; 見 → 见; etc.

Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds:

鄰 → 邻; 斃 → 毙; 蠟 → 蜡; 鍾 → 钟; 艦 → 舰; etc.

Replacing an uncommon phonetic component with a more common one:

華 → 华; 憲 → 宪; 歷、曆 → 历; 賓 → 宾; etc.

Replacing entirely with a newly coined phono-semantic compound:

護 → 护; 驚 → 惊; 藝 → 艺; 響 → 响; etc.

Removing radicals

麼 → 么; 開 → 开; 裡/裏 → 里; 餘 → 余; 關/関 → 关; etc.

Only retaining single radicals

廣 → 广; 親 → 亲; 產 → 产; 類 → 类; 廠 → 厂; 鄉 → 乡; etc.

Replacing with ancient forms or variants:[note 5]

塵 → 尘; 膚 → 肤; 從 → 从; 眾 → 众; 雲 → 云; 網 → 网; 與 → 与; 無 → 无; 電 → 电; etc.

Adopting ancient vulgar variants:[note 5]

體 → 体; 國 → 国; 憑 → 凭; 陽 → 阳; 陰 → 阴; etc.

Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters:

餘 → 余; 後 → 后; 裡/裏 → 里; etc.

Copying and modifying another traditional character:

義 → 义(乂); 髮、發 → 发(友); 龍 → 龙(尤); 頭 → 头(大) etc.

Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List, the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as a conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed:

• The Complete List employs character components, not traditional radicals. A component refers to any conceivable part of a character, regardless of its position within the character, or its relative size compared to other components in the same character. For instance, in the character 摆, not only is 扌 (a traditional radical) considered a component, but so is 罢.
  • Each of the 132 simplified characters in Chart 2, when used as a component in compound characters, systematically simplify compound characters in exactly the same way the Chart 2 character itself was simplified. For instance, 單 is simplified in Chart 2 to 单. Based on the same principle, these derivations can be made: 彈 → 弹; 嬋 → 婵; 囅 → 冁; etc.
  • The 14 simplified components in Chart 2 are never used alone as individual characters. They only serve as components. Example of derived simplification based on the component 𦥯, simplified to 𰃮 (), include: 學 → 学; 覺 → 觉; 黌 → 黉; etc.
• Chart 1 collects 352 simplified characters that generally cannot be used as components. Even in rare cases where a Chart 1 character is found as a component in a compound character, the compound character cannot be simplified in the same way. For instance, 習 is simplified in Chart 1 to 习, but 褶 cannot be simplified to ⿰衤习.
• A character that is already explicitly listed as simplified character in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" cannot be alternatively simplified based on derivation. For instance, 戰 and 誇 are simplified in Chart 1 to 战 and 夸 respectively, thus they cannot be simplified alternatively by derivation via 单 and 讠 in Chart 2 to 𢧐 and ⿰讠夸. 過 is simplified in Chart 2 to 过, thus it cannot be alternatively derived via 呙 in Chart 2 as 𬨨.

Sample Derivations:

𦥯 → 𰃮 (), thus 學 → 学; 覺 → 觉; 黌 → 黉; etc.

單 → 单, thus 彈 → 弹; 嬋 → 婵; 囅 → 冁; etc.

頁 → 页, thus 顏 → 颜; 頷 → 颔; 順 → 顺; 額 → 额; etc.

專 → 专, thus 傳 → 传; 轉 → 转; 磚 → 砖; etc.

𩙿 → 饣, thus 飯 → 饭; 飽 → 饱; 飼 → 饲; 餃 → 饺; etc.

訁 → 讠, thus 話 → 话; 語 → 语; 誰 → 谁; etc.

The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst the chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow:

Sample reduction of equivalent variants:

姪 → 侄; 蹤 → 踪; 恆 → 恒; 佇 → 伫; 虖、嘑、謼 → 呼; 夠 → 够 etc.

In choosing standard characters, often ancient variants with simple structures are preferred:

異 → 异; 淚 → 泪; 災、烖、菑 → 灾; etc.

Vulgar forms simpler in structure are also chosen:

傑 → 杰; 貓 → 猫; 豬 → 猪; 獃、騃 → 呆; etc.

The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1:

裏 → 裡 → 里; 歎 → 嘆 → 叹; 唘、啓 → 啟 → 启; 鬦、鬪、鬭 → 鬥 → 斗; 厤、暦 → 曆 → 历; 歴 → 歷 → 历; etc.

In some instances, the chosen variant is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨. The "hand" radical 扌, with three strokes, on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now "seen" as more complex, appearing as the "tree" radical 木, with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨.

Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance, the traditional character 強, with 11 strokes is standardised as 强, with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters.

The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow:

The traditional component 釆 becomes 米:

粵 → 粤; 奧 → 奥; etc.

The traditional component 囚 becomes 日:

溫 → 温; 媼 → 媪; etc.

The traditional "Break" stroke becomes the "Dot" stroke:

虛 → 虚; 噓 → 嘘; etc.

The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈:

靜 → 静; 睜 → 睁; etc.

The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂:

換 → 换; 煥 → 焕; etc.

A commonly cited example of the irregularity of simplification involves characters that share the "hand" component 又 , which is used in many simplified characters. While there is an observable pattern involving the replacement of 𦰩 with 又 as seen in 漢 → 汉, 難 → 难, 癱 → 瘫, 嘆 → 叹, 灘 → 滩, etc., when observing that 歎 → 叹, 歡 → 欢, 勸 → 劝, 灌 (not simplified) and 罐 (not simplified), an inconsistency arises. This is due to the fact that in the Complete List of Simplified Characters, 漢 → 汉 appears in Chart 1 while 難 → 难 is listed in Chart 2 and 癱 → 瘫 as a derived character in the non-exhaustive list in Chart 3. Therefore, 难 is defined as a 'simplified character component' according to the standard, while 又 is not. Based on 难, 癱 is simplified to 瘫, and 灘 to 滩. Since both 歡 → 欢 and 勸 → 劝 appear in Chart 1, they are not defined as derived characters. There are therefore no characters or components found in Chart 2 usable for derivation of 灌 and 罐. Further investigation reveals that these two characters do not appear in Chart 1 nor in "Series One Organization List of Variant Characters". Thus they remain unchanged from traditional forms in the Common Modern Characters list.

The Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Common Language and Characters implies that simplified Chinese characters are the country's standard script, with traditional Chinese being used for purposes such as ceremonies, cultural purposes such as calligraphy, for decoration, in publications and books on ancient literature and poetry, and for research purposes. Traditional characters remain ubiquitous on buildings that predate the promotion of simplified characters, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional characters are also often used for commercial purposes, such as in shopfront displays and advertisements.

As part of the one country, two systems model, the PRC has not attempted to force Hong Kong or Macau into using simplified characters. The PRC tends to print material intended for people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, versions of the People's Daily are printed in traditional characters, and both People's Daily and Xinhua have traditional character versions of their website available, using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters in order to communicate with consumers; the inverse is equally true as well.

Dictionaries published in mainland China generally show both simplified and their traditional counterparts. In digital media, many cultural phenomena imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan into mainland China, such as music videos, karaoke videos, subtitled movies, and subtitled dramas, use traditional Chinese characters.

Textbooks, official statements, and newspapers show no signs of moving to simplified Chinese characters, including state-funded media. However, for example, Hong Konger students sometimes opt to write with simplified characters when taking notes or while taking exams, in order to write faster.

It is common for Hong Kongers to learn traditional Chinese characters in school, as well as some simplified characters incidentally, usually by consuming media produced on the mainland. For use on computers, however, people tend to type Chinese characters using an IME with a traditional character set, such as Big5. In Hong Kong, as well as elsewhere, it is common for people to use both sets, due to the ease of conversion between the two sets.

Simplified Chinese characters are not officially used in governmental and civil publications in Taiwan. However, it is legal to import simplified character publications and distribute them. Certain simplified characters that have long existed in informal writing for centuries also have popular usage, while those characters simplified originally by the Taiwanese government are much less common in daily appearance.

In all areas, most handwritten text will include informal simplifications which are not the same as the simplifications officially promulgated by the PRC, often ones influenced instead by 新字体, shinjitai characters that originated in Japan. For example, the informal simplification 台 of the first character of "Taiwan" 臺 rivals its orthodox form in commonality, even in publications and academic contexts. In part, this is due to the simplification process adopting existing variants in use, rather than fashioning them from whole cloth, such as was largely done in the unsuccessful second round.[15][16] This is because the adoption of simplified characters has been gradual and predates the Chinese Civil War by several decades and some are used beyond mainland China to some extent.[17]

In Singapore, where Mandarin Chinese is one of the official languages, simplified characters are the official standard and are generally used in most of official publications as well as the government-controlled press.

While simplified characters are taught exclusively in schools and are generally used in most of official publications, the government does not officially discourage the use of traditional characters and still allow parents to choose whether to have their child's Chinese name registered in simplified or traditional characters.

Traditional characters are widely used by older Singaporeans, and are widespread on billboards, stall menus, and decorations, as well as in newspapers and on television.

Chinese is not an official language in Malaysia, but over 90% of ethnic-Chinese students in the country are educated in Chinese schools, which have been teaching in simplified characters since 1981. Traditional characters are also widely used by older people and are likewise widespread on billboards, to a greater extent than in Singapore. Most of Malaysia's Chinese-language newspapers compromise by retaining traditional characters in article headlines, but opting to use simplified characters for the bodies of articles.

There is no restriction on the use of traditional characters in mass media, and television programs, books, magazines and music imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan are widely available, almost always using traditional characters. Many shop signs and menus in hawker centres and coffee shops continue to be written with traditional characters.[18]

In Indonesia, Chinese is not an official language. However, the country is also home to a sizable ethnic-Chinese community, and similarly to Malaysia, ethnic-Chinese students typically receive their education in Chinese-language schools that almost exclusively use simplified characters. Traditional characters are seldom used, typically only for stylistic purposes.

In December 2004, Ministry of Education authorities rejected a proposal from a Beijing Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) political conference member that called for elementary schools to teach traditional Chinese characters in addition to the simplified ones. The conference member pointed out that many, especially young people, have difficulties with traditional Chinese characters; this is especially important in dealing with non-mainland communities such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. The educational authorities did not approve the recommendation, saying that it did not fit in with the "requirements as set out by the law" and it could potentially complicate the curricula.[21] A similar proposal was delivered to the first plenary session of the 11th CPPCC in March 2008.[22]

Most, if not all, Chinese language textbooks in Hong Kong are written in traditional characters. Before 1997, the use of simplified characters was generally discouraged by educators. After 1997, while students are still expected to be proficient and utilize traditional characters in formal settings, they may sometimes adopt a hybrid written form in informal settings to speed up writing. With the exception of open examinations, simplified Chinese characters are considered acceptable by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority for their speed.

Chinese textbooks in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are written exclusively in simplified characters, and only simplified characters are taught in school. Traditional characters are usually only taught to those taking up calligraphy as a co-curricular activity or Cantonese as an elective course at school.

As the source of many Mandarin Chinese textbooks is mainland China, the majority of textbooks teaching Chinese are now based on simplified characters and Hanyu Pinyin – although there are textbooks originating in China which have a traditional version. For practical reasons, universities and schools prepare students who will be able to communicate with mainland China, so their obvious choice is to use simplified characters.

In places where a particular set is not locally entrenched, such as Europe and the United States, instruction is now mostly simplified, as the economic importance of mainland China increases, and also because of the availability of textbooks printed in mainland China. Teachers of international students often recommend learning both systems.

In the United Kingdom, universities mainly teach Mandarin Chinese at the undergraduate level using the simplified characters coupled with pinyin. However, they will require the students to learn or be able to recognise the traditional forms if they are studying in Taiwan or Hong Kong (such as taking Cantonese courses). In Australia and New Zealand, schools, universities and TAFEs use predominantly simplified characters.

Russia and most East European nations are traditionally oriented on the education of the PRC's system for teaching Chinese, which uses simplified characters but exposes the learners to both systems.

In South Korea, universities have used predominantly simplified characters since 1990s. In high school, Chinese is one of the selective subjects. By the regulation of the national curricula standards, MPS I and traditional characters had been originally used before (since the 1940s), but by the change of regulation, pinyin and simplified characters have been used to pupils who enter the school in 1996 or later. Therefore, MPS I and traditional characters disappeared after 1998 in South Korean high school Chinese curriculum.

In Japan there are two types of schools. Simplified Chinese is taught instead of traditional Chinese in pro-mainland China schools. They also teach Pinyin, a romanization system for standard Chinese, while the Taiwan-oriented schools teach Zhuyin, which uses phonetic symbols. However, the Taiwan-oriented schools are starting to teach simplified Chinese and Pinyin to offer a more well-rounded education.[23]

In the Philippines, the use of simplified characters has become increasingly popular. Before the 1970s, Chinese schools in the Philippines were under the supervision of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China. Hence, most books were using traditional characters. Traditional characters remained prevalent until the early 2000s. Institutions like the Confucius Institute, being the cultural arm of the People's Republic of China, are strong proponents of the use of simplified characters. Also, many schools are now importing their Mandarin textbooks from Singapore instead of Taiwan.

Public universities such as the Linguistics and Asian Languages Department of the University of the Philippines use simplified characters in their teaching materials. On the other hand, private schools such as Chiang Kai Shek College and Saint Jude Catholic School remain major proponents of the usage of traditional characters. Some private universities, such as the Ateneo de Manila University, also use simplified characters.