Character simplification

There was always the tendendy to abbreviate or to simplify Chinese characters. One early example of simplification is the difference between the so-called large seal script (zhoushu 籀書 or dazhuan 大篆) and the small seal script (xiaozhuan 小篆). In reality, large seal script characters were not necessarily more complex, and not all characters have both variants.

Table 1. Examples of simplification from the Large to the Small Seal Script

Large Seal-Script shape	hypothetical standard-script form	Small Seal-Script shape	standard-script form
	𤐫		票
	𢀩		差
	𣍘		曹
	䝿		貴
	𪉷		覃
	𨘣		還
	𨙙		遷
	𠬻		奉
	𪗓		齋
	𣂹		折
	𨕩		送
	𠬿		兵
	𨑋		農
	𤿌		皮
	𠟭		則
The large seal-script was mainly used in bronze inscriptions. Most large-seal characters can be transferred into a hypothetical standard-script form. Small seal-script was used in bronze inscriptions and is still in used for decorative purposes, for instance, on private seals. The standard script emerged as a simplified form of the small seal script.

A second example of early simplification is the shift from the smaller seal script, which was during the late Warring States 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE) and Qin 秦 (221-206 BCE) periods used for official inscriptions often carved into the base material, to the chancery script (lishu 隸書), which was written with the brush on bamboo slips and later on paper. In chancery-script characters, semantic or signific parts are abbreviated, but also some phonetic parts. The chancery script was the basis for the standard script form (kaishu 楷書) and some smoother writing styles, namely the document script (zhangshu 章書), the "running script" (xingshu 行書), and the cursive "grass script" (caoshu 草書).

In daily use, characters were often abbreviated to so-called "vernacular" or "vulgar" characters (sutizi 俗體字 or suzi 俗字). In earlier times, abbreviated form of characters were called poti 破體 "crushed shapes" or xiaoxie 小寫 "smaller writing" were used.

Most commonly, the term "simplification of characters" refers to the script reform that was initiated in the Republican period (1911-1949) and realized by the People's Republic of China. Simplification was carried out for parts of characters or characters as a whole. There are also some characters that were given up and replaced by others pronounced equally or similarly. Another type of simplification refers to the counting of "brush strokes" by reducing the number of strokes without actually altering the shape of the character. The traditional characters are referred to as "complex characters" (fantizi 繁體字), the abbreviated characters as "simplified characters" (jiantizi 簡體字 or jianhuazi 簡化字). Because the traditional characters are often seen as the proper shapes, they are also sometimes called "correct characers" (zhengtizi 正體字).

The first proposal to create an officially adapted form of simplified characters was made in 1909 by Lu Feiku 陸費逵 (1886-1941) in his essay Putong jiaoyu yingdang caiyong sutizi 普通教育應當採用俗體子 "For the spread of education it is necessary to use popular forms of characters" which appeared in the journal Jiaoyu zazhi 教育雜誌. In 1921 he stressed once more in his essay Zhengli hanzi de yijian 整理漢字的意見 "An opinion about the reorganization of characters" the need to revise all Chinese characters . He suggested adapting 2,000 popular characters as well as reducing the stroke number of characters by either using popular forms or to "invent" a shortened form.

A year later, Qian Xuantong 錢玄同 (1887-1939) presented a list of stroke-reduced characters to the Committee for the Creation of a Standard National Language (Guoyu Tongyi Choubei Weiyuanhui 國語統一籌備委員會). The list had been created by Lu Ji 陸基, Li Jinxi 黎錦熙 (1890-1978) and Yang Shuda 楊樹達 (1885-1956). Their argument was that script was a tool for practical use and had to be as convenient as possible to serve the users to their needs. Their concept included the following ways of abbreviation:

In 1928, Hu Huaichen 胡懷琛 (1886-1938) published his book Jianyizi shuo 簡易字說 "Explanation to simplified characters" that includes 9 different types of abbreviated characters. The 300 simplified characters he presents include also earlier Japanese simplifications as well as phonetic transcriptions. The Historical Linguistic Department (Lishi Yuyan Yanjiusuo 歷史語言研究所) of the Academia Sinica (Zhongyang Yanjiuyuan 中央研究院) published in 1930 a book about character simplification in history, the Song-Yuan yilai suzi pu 宋元以來俗字譜 "A list of popular characters since the Song and Yuan periods", written by Liu Fu 劉復 (1891-1934) and Li Jiaduan 李家端. It includes more than 1,600 abbreviated characters.

In the same year, Zhuo Dingmou 卓定謀 (1886-1967) published the book Zhangcaokao 章草考 "Analysis of standard and grass script", listing 3,000 characters used in the curvise grass script.

The first official publication on the issue of character simplification was Guoyin changyong zihui 國音常用字彙 "Lexicon of oft-used characters according to the National language", published in 1932. Two years later the Service Centre of the National Library (Zhongguo Tushuguan Fuwushe 中國圖書館服務社) published a list of 353 standard simplified characters, Jianzi biaozhun zibiao 簡字標準字表. Xu Zemin 徐則敏 published an unofficial list of 550 popular characters in the half-monthly periodical Lunyu banyuekan 論語半月刊. The second official list of simplified characters came out in 1935, including 2,400 characters.

In Shanghai, Chen Wangdao 陳望道 (1891-1977) founded a work group which selected 300 conventional characters, the so-called shoutouzi 手頭字 "characters for hand-writing". He was supported by a conference and a portfolio of several journals advocating the use of simplified characters. The national government therefore issued a list of 324 simplified characters that were mainly based on the earlier draft by Qian Xuetong, but this list was revoked a year later. Meanwhile, quite a few scholarly institutions published more books espousing the use of a simplified script, like Rong Geng's 容庚 (1894-1983) list of 4,445 characters (1936) based on the grass script, Chen Guangyao's 陳光堯 (1906-1972) list of 3,150 characters (1936), also to a large part derived from grass script forms, or the list of 1,700 characters published in 1937 by the Beiping Academy 北京研究院 in Beijing.

On August 21, 1935, Minister of Education (Jiaoyubu buzhang 教育部部長) Wang Shijie 王世傑 (1891-1981) issued (ministerial order no. 11400) the first set of 324 simplified characters, Di yi pi jiantizi biao 第一批簡體字表, and announced regulations in nine paragraphs advocating the promotion of simplified characters Tuixing jiantizi banfa 推行簡體字辦法.

Table 3. The First List of Simplified Characters from 1935 (Di yi pi jiantizi biao 第一批簡體字表)

〔ㄚ韵〕 /-a/ finals
罷➝罢	發➝发	閥➝阀	答➝荅	殺➝杀	雜➝
壓➝压	啞➝唖	亞➝亜	價➝价	蝦➝虾	襪➝袜
掛➝挂	畫➝画	劃➝㓰
〔ㄛ韵〕 /-ωɔ/ finals
撥➝拨	潑➝泼	羅➝罗	囉➝啰	鑼➝	邏➝逻
籮➝箩	幗➝帼	國➝囯	過➝过
〔ㄜ韵〕 /-ə/ finals
惡➝悪	麼➝庅	個➝个	闔➝	蟄➝蜇	這➝这
熱➝热
〔ㄝ韵〕 /-ɛ/ finals
鐵➝鉄	竊➝窃	協➝协	樂➝乐	覺➝覚	學➝学
〔帀韵〕 vowel-less finals
質➝貭	執➝执	職➝聀	紙➝帋	遲➝	師➝师
獅➝狮	時➝时	實➝实	勢➝势	辭➝辞
〔ㄦ韵〕 retroflex approximants
爾➝尔	邇➝迩
〔ㄧ韵〕 /-i/ finals
醫➝医	儀➝仪	蟻➝蚁	義➝义	議➝	異➝异
藝➝兿	閉➝闭	彌➝弥	糴➝籴	體➝体	擬➝拟
離➝离	禮➝礼	厲➝厉	勵➝励	機➝机	雞➝鳮
虀➝	擠➝㨈	繼➝継	劑➝剤	濟➝済	齊➝斉
豈➝岂	啟➝启	氣➝气	棄➝弃	戲➝戏
〔ㄞ韵〕 /-ai/ finals
礙➝碍	擺➝摆	賣➝	邁➝迈	臺➝台	擡➝抬
檯➝枱	蓋➝盖	開➝	齋➝斋	儕➝㑪	篩➝筛
曬➝晒	纔➝才	儈➝侩	獪➝狯	檜➝桧	懷➝怀
帥➝帅
〔ㄟ韵〕 /-ei/ finals
備➝俻	廢➝废	類➝类	為➝为	偽➝伪	對➝对
歸➝归	龜➝	櫃➝柜	會➝会	繪➝絵	燴➝烩
雖➝虽	嵗➝岁
〔ㄨ韵〕 /-u/ finals
無➝无	覆➝覄	獨➝独	讀➝	圖➝图	爐➝炉
廬➝庐	蘆➝芦	壺➝壷	滬➝沪	燭➝烛	囑➝嘱
處➝処	樞➝枢	贖➝	屬➝属	數➝数	儒➝㐵
卒➝卆	蘇➝苏	肅➝粛
〔ㄩ韵〕 /-y/ finals
歟➝欤	與➝与	譽➝誉	驢➝馿	屢➝屡	縷➝
舉➝举	懼➝惧	區➝区	驅➝駆	趨➝趋	續➝xxx
〔ㄠ韵〕 /-ɑʊ̯/ finals
寶➝宝	報➝报	貌➝皃	禱➝祷	濤➝涛	鬧➝闹
勞➝劳	號➝号	趙➝𧺉	棗➝枣	竈➝灶	藥➝葯
廟➝庙	條➝条	糶➝粜	驕➝	矯➝矫	攪➝撹
喬➝乔	僑➝侨	橋➝桥	簫➝簘	蕭➝䔥
〔ㄡ韵〕 /-oʊ̯/ finals
歐➝欧	毆➝殴	謳➝	嘔➝呕	鬬➝鬥	頭➝头
婁➝娄	樓➝楼	皺➝皱	晝➝昼	儔➝俦	籌➝筹
壽➝寿	鄒➝邹	猶➝犹	留➝	劉➝刘	舊➝旧
繡➝綉
〔ㄢ韵〕 /-an/ and /-ɛn/ finals
庵➝广	辦➝办	蠻➝蛮	膽➝胆	擔➝担	攤➝摊
灘➝滩	癱➝瘫	壇➝坛	檀➝枟	難➝难	覽➝
趕➝赶	堪➝	勘➝	氈➝毡	戰➝战	贊➝賛
蠶➝蚕	傘➝	巖➝岩	鹽➝塩	艷➝艳	邊➝边
變➝变	點➝点	念➝卄	聯➝联	憐➝怜	練➝
煉➝	戀➝恋	間➝间	堅➝坚	艱➝艰	鹼➝碱
簡➝简	薦➝荐	遷➝迁	錢➝	閑➝闲	賢➝
縣➝県	彎➝弯	萬➝万	斷➝断	鸞➝鵉	亂➝乱
觀➝覌	關➝関	歡➝欢	還➝还	環➝环	算➝祘
園➝园	遠➝远	權➝权	勸➝劝	懸➝𢝝	選➝选
〔ㄣ韵〕 /-n/ finals
門➝门	們➝们	悶➝闷	墳➝坟	懇➝恳	斟➝
陳➝陈	甚➝	陰➝阴	隱➝隐	賓➝宾	濱➝滨
殯➝殡	閩➝闽	臨➝临	儘➝侭	盡➝尽	燼➝烬
親➝亲	釁➝衅	聞➝闻	問➝问	閏➝闰	孫➝孙
韻➝韵	勳➝勛	遜➝逊
〔ㄤ韵〕 /-aŋ/ finals
幫➝帮	當➝当	噹➝	黨➝党	擋➝挡	張➝
帳➝	賬➝	漲➝	長➝	場➝	腸➝
嘗➝尝	傷➝	贓➝賍	喪➝丧	陽➝阳	癢➝痒
糧➝粮	礦➝卝	莊➝庄	牀➝床	雙➝双
〔ㄥ韵〕 /-ŋ/ finals
風➝凨	豐➝丰	鳳➝凤	燈➝灯	稱➝称	懲➝惩
聲➝声	繩➝䋲	聖➝圣	應➝应	營➝营	蠅➝蝇
聽➝听	廳➝厛	靈➝灵	興➝	東➝东	凍➝冻
鬨➝	鐘➝鈡	眾➝众	蟲➝虫	榮➝荣	從➝从
叢➝樷	窮➝穷

The war with Japan, beginning in 1937, interrupted all academic work in this field. Today, Communist historiographers claim that simplified characters were promoted in the areas occupied by the Communist Party and their troops, but documents of that time and the first years of the People's Republic demonstrate that traditional characters were also still in use by the Communist Party.

Systematic work to develop a valid pattern of character simplification was begun in 1950. The characters issued as standard simplified forms were not invented by scholars under the Communist Party but were to a large extent based on the many earlier attempts during the Republican era. The Communists thus harvested the results of earlier efforts. A first list of 555 simplified characters was issued in 1951 (Di yi pi jiantizi biao 第一批簡體字表).

In February 1952, the Research Committee for a Reform of Chinese Characters (Zhongguo wenzi gaige yanjiu weiyuanhui 中國文字改革研究委員會) was established. The result of this work was a plan for a procedure of characters simplification (Hanzi jianhua fang'an 漢字簡化方案).

The plan consisted of three parts. The first part contained a list of 798 characters to be simplified, the second part 400 character variants (yitizi 異體字) to be abolished, and the third part included parts of characters (pianpang 偏旁) that were regularly to be abbreviated. This draft was published in February 1955 and it was promulgated that the 50 largest newspapers and journals throughout the country were to used 261 simplified characters. In the same year the State Council (Guowuyuan 國務院) established an examination-and-revision group consisting of nameable scholars and writers, headed by Dong Biwu 董必武 (1886-1975), to make proposals for the final version of the character simplification procedure. The revised draft was finished by the Research Committee in September 1955. The draft was discussed on the National Conference for the Reform of Characters (Quanguo wenzi gaige huiyi 全國文字改革會議).

The result were 515 simplified characters and 54 abbreviated parts of characters. These procedures were accepted by the State Council in January 1956 and then published in the official newspaper Renmin ribao 人民日報 as the draft as the plan Hanzi jianhua fang'an 汉字简化方案. This plan was refined in 1964 by the Jianhuazi zongbiao 简化字总表, which consisted of three tables. The 230 characters of the first tables were already in use by most newspapers and journals. The 285 simplified characters of the second table and the 54 character parts of the third table were to be introduced within two months and then revised.

In 1977, a draft for a second plan of further character simplification was issued, called Di er ci Hanzi jianhua fang'an (cao'an) 第二次漢字簡化方案（草案）. This plan was never implemented and abolished in 1986. The latest revision of the character simplification schedule was issued in 2013, the Tongyong guifan Hanzi biao 通用规范汉字表.

Figure 1. Examples from the aborted Second Plan for Character Simplification from 1977

The following revisions were done with regard to Republican-period drafts:

Table 4. Specific rules of character simplification in the PR China

釒 is abbreviated to 钅 instead of

魚 is abbreviated to 鱼 instead of

鳥 is abbreviated to 鸟 instead of 乌, and 乌 is used for 烏

娄 is to be used for 婁 exclusively, while 嘍 (formerly also simplified as 娄) is further to be simplified with a separate character as 喽

彻 is to be used for 徹 exclusively, while 澈 (formerly also simplified as 彻) is not further simplified

仓 is to be used for 倉 exclusively, while 艙 (formerly also simplified as 仓) is further to be simplified with a separate character as 舱

The characters 言, 食 and 金 are not abbreviated, but as signific part of other characters, they are abbreviated as 讠, 饣 and 钅. The signific component 糹 (from the obsolete character 糸) is simplified to 纟, except in the character 丝. The signific parts 糸, 言, 金 and 食 are not simplified if standing at the bottom of a character (like 紫, 警, 鉴 or 餐).

There were nine different methods of simplifying characters:

In 1964, the Research Committee issued a general list of simplified characters (Jianhuazi zongbiao 簡化字總表) that consists of three tables, the first including 352 simplifications of characters not used as character parts (pianpang 偏旁) in other characters, the second including 132 characters that are also used as parts in other characters as well as 14 elements exclusively used as parts in other characters, and the third including 1,754 simplified characters, coming to a total of 2,238 simplified characters of which 签 and 须 appear two times. In 1986, the characters 象 and 迭 (of which actually no complex form exists) were eliminated from the list.

The "General List" includes some remarks concerning complications arising from the character simplification, for instance, 干 gān "shield" is also the simplification of 乾 gān "dry", while 乾 qiān "Celestial" is not abbreviated; or 吁 that is the simplification for 籲 yù "to call on", but is read xū in the meaning of "to sigh" (which had always been written in the short form).

There are two appendices to the General List, namely an appendix presenting 39 variant characters commonly viewed as simplifications, like 脣 (variant of and shortened to 唇), or 傑 (variant of and shortened to 杰), and a list of specially simplified characters of place names, like Xunxian 洵縣, Shaanxi, to 旬县, or Fengdu 酆都, Sichuan, to 丰都.

Simplified characters are also used in Singapore. The earliest attempts in this city state included some simplified characters not identical to those used in China, like 㘯 for 場 (analogous to 伤 for 傷), for 開, 囱 for 窗, or 𡚩 for 要 (which is not simplified in China). In 1976, Singapore adopted the Jianhuayi zongbiao of the People's Republic. Malaysia has accepted the Zongbiao in 1981, but Thailand has not promulgated the use of simplified characters for her Chinese-speaking communities.

Japan and South Korea have their own tradition of simplifying characters. While some Japanese characters are identical to the simplified characters of China, others differ in the shape of dots (like 単 instead of the Chinese 单, for 單) or the length and shape of brush strokes (like 称 instead of 称 [for 稱], or 与 instead of 与 [for 與]), and a third group totally differs in the method of abbreviation, like 図 instead of 图 (for traditional 圖), or 訳 instead of 译 (for traditional 譯).

The government of the People's Republic of China took measures to enhance literacy in the new founded socialist state. These measures did not only mean that much more schools were opened, especially in the countryside, but the complicated writing system of Chinese underwent a simplification to make it easier for everybody to learn some 2,000 characters needed for daily life - and of course, to study the propaganda of official newspapers and the Communist writings.

The outcome of the character simplification project is that there exist two or even three different characters for many words. And it is not really clear if the rise of literacy in China was due to the character simplification or just due to a better education system. In some cases, the simplification can even cause troubles because words of very different meanings are expressed by the same character.

The following tables explain the character simplification model of the PR China.

Some radicals have a different shape if standing alone, in top or bottom position or on the left or right side of the character. Sometimes it is difficult for unexperienced people to find out the original shape of the radical. Therefore, all different shapes of radicals were defined as separate radicals:

For unexperienced people, it is sometimes difficult to discern between two different radicals and their shapes. Some radicals are therefore unified in one

On the other hand, different shapes of character modules were assimilated

Table 9. Consolidated character and character modules

彑	same as	彐
(as in 当尙)	look for	小
羔差	look for	羊
(as in 即)	look for	艮
爫	same as	爪
覀	same as	襾
巳	look for	己
	look for	刀
孑	look for	子
夭	look for	天

Because the simplification of quite a few characters is extreme, some simplified forms will have a very different radical, for instance 農 (radical 辰), simplified to 农 (radical 冖).

In order to make it easier to find a radical, the goverment of the PRC created many new radicals. In this process, some lost their original meaning (亡 "to perish", 廾 "two hands", 屮 "sprout") and are used purely graphical. In addition to this measure, characters with two potential (graphical) radicals can in dictionaries be found under both to spare time-consuming radical search, like 忘 (potentially 亡 and 心, independent from the meaning). These new radicals are not standardized and may differ from dictionary to dictionary:

Table 10. New radicals

new radical	stroke number	examples
マ	2	勇予豫疏
亡	3	亡忘盲妄赢
廾	3	开弊
尢	3	尤无尬尴
屮	3	出
小	3	小尔尘当尚省
天	4	天夭乔吞蚕
	4	老考孝者
廿	4	廿共恭巷黄燕
不	4	不歪甭
中	4	中忠贵
尺	4	尺尽昼
	5	奉奏春泰秦
去	5	去丢却
	5	劳荣营莹
戊	5	戎戌成咸威戚
龸	5	党堂常掌
业	4	业凿
由	5	由胄邮
申	5	申畅
	6	券卷拳眷
亦	5	亦变弯栾
	6	载裁哉栽
朿	6	枣
亚	6	亚严恶晋
光	6	光辉耀
束	7	束柬敕赖整
	8	乾韩翰朝
是	9	是匙题

Chinese characters consist of separable parts that are used countless times in many different characters. Often-used parts were therefore simplified to make learning easier. For example, the character 僉 is simplified as 佥. As component of characters, it is likewise abbreviated, like 剑检捡脸. The simplified character 签 is an abbreviation of 簽 as well as of 籤.

Table 11. Simplified character components which are not characters by themselves

臤	→		坚贤竖鲣
龻	→		变恋鸾湾
𦥯	→	龸	学觉搅
咼	→	呙	涡祸锅娲
昜	→	𠃓	汤扬场烫
	→		览鉴揽
睪	→	𠬤	译泽择箨
戠	→	只	识帜织职
巠	→	𢀖	径经轻颈
𤇾	→		劳荣营崂

There is another group of characters components of which are simplified, while this component is not simplifed as component of other parts of if standing alone. For instance, 壩 is simplified as 坝, but 霸 is not abbreviated to 贝.

Simplified Characters in Japan

From the 4th century on, Japan adopted the Chinese writing system. Chinese characters are the origin of the Japanese Hiragana and Katakana syllable alphabets. With their long history of use, Chinese characters (jap. Kanji) in Japan developed shapes of their own and some simplified characters were created that are not identical to those used in China. In some cases, the difference is just leaving out a dot or a stroke.