Background According to Chinese palaeographer
Qiu Xigui, the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical
shape (), the "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical
form (), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the
Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their
small seal script across the recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of
woodblock printing, was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the
Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either or —with either or on the left, with the
component on the right.
Li Si (), the
Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin
small seal script across China following
the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the form of the character for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as . However, the increased usage of was followed by proliferation of a third variant: , with on the left—likely derived as a contraction of . Ultimately, became the character's standard form. The
Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by
King Xuan of Zhou () to unify character forms across the
states of ancient China, with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what is referred to as the "
big seal script". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the
Shuowen Jiezi dictionary (), is that the Qin
small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to the founding of the Qin. The
Han dynasty (202 BC220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of
clerical script through the process of
libian.
Late Qing literature and Republican-era reform (1850–1949) Ministry of Education in 1935, later retracted in 1936 Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during the early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist
Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911
Xinhai Revolution that toppled the
Qing dynasty, followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919
May Fourth Movement—many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see the country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist
Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet
Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from the use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time.
Lu Xun, one of the most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" (). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling
Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935, the
Republic of China Ministry of Education published the first official list of simplified forms, consisting of 324 characters collated by
Peking University professor
Qian Xuantong. However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936.
First round of simplification (1949–1977) Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the
Chinese Character Simplification Scheme, a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over the following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with
pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by
Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the ''
(hereafter Characters for Printing''), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme.
Second round of simplification (1977–1986) A
second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by the public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end.
Since 1986 In 1986, authorities retracted the second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the
General List of Simplified Chinese Characters. It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: , , ; the form is used instead of in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The
Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised
List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese, which specified common characters and less common characters. In 2009, the Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. 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 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. It included 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.
Outside mainland China Singapore underwent
three successive rounds of character simplification, eventually arriving at the same set of simplified characters as mainland China. 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. == Methodology ==