Simplified Chinese characters

Simplified Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets.
Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one of the two standard character Simplified Chinese
sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the People's
Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the
1950s and 1960s to encourage literacy.[1] They are officially used in the People's
Republic of China, Malaysia and Singapore, while traditional Chinese characters remain
in common use in Hong Kong, Macau, ROC/Taiwan and Japan, as well as South Korea
to a certain extent.

Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name 简 化 字 ;

Jiǎnhuàzì or colloquially 简 体 字 ; Jiǎntǐzì . In its broadest sense, the latter term
refers to all characters that have undergone simplifications of character "structure" or
"body",[note 2] some of which have existed for millennia mainly in handwriting alongside
traditional characters. On the other hand, the official name refers to the modern Script type Logographic
systematically simplified character set, which includes not only structural simplification Time 1956 – present
but also substantial reduction in the total number of standardized Chinese period
characters.[note 3][3]
Direction Left-to-right, rows top
Simplified character forms were created by reducing the number of strokes and to bottom (modern
simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of Chinese characters. Some usage)
simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic Top-to-bottom,
simplifications of the traditional forms. Some characters were simplified by applying columns right to left
regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a
(traditional style)
simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the same pronunciation
and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the Official  People's
simplest amongst all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by script Republic of China
simplification and are thus identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese
 Singapore
orthographies.
 United Nations
A second round of simplifications was promulgated in 1977, but was later retracted in (documents in
1986 for a variety of reasons, largely due to the confusion caused and the unpopularity Simplified Chinese
of the second-round simplifications.[4] characters from
1971–present)
In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a modified list of
simplified characters.[5][6][7][8] The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters Languages Chinese
consisting of 8,105 (simplified and unchanged) characters was officially implemented Related scripts
for use by the State Council of the People's Republic of China on June 5, 2013.[9]
Parent Oracle Bone Script
systems
History Seal Script

Clerical Script
China Traditional
Chinese
Before 1949 Simplified
Chinese
Although most simplified Chinese characters in use today are the result of the work
moderated by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the 1950s and Sister Kanji
1960s, the use of some of these forms predates the PRC's formation in 1949. Caoshu, systems
cursive written text, was the inspiration of some simplified characters, and for others, Chữ Hán
some are attested as early as the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) as either vulgar variants or Chữ Nôm
original characters. Hanja

One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lufei Kui, who proposed Khitan large script
in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following Khitan small script
the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought Zhuyin
ways to modernise China as quickly as possible. Traditional culture and values such as
Confucianism were challenged and subsequently blamed for their problems. Soon, ISO 15924
people in the movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an ISO 15924 Hans (501), ​Han
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 (Simplified variant)
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 ). Simplified Chinese
Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the characters
economic problems in China during that time.[10]
Simplified Chinese 简化
In the 1930s and 1940s, discussions on character simplification took place within the 字[note 1]
Kuomintang government, and a large number of the intelligentsia maintained that Traditional Chinese 簡化字
character simplification would help boost literacy in China.[11] In 1935, 324 simplified
characters collected by Qian Xuantong were officially introduced as the table of first Transcriptions [show]
batch of simplified characters, but they were suspended in 1936 due to fierce opposition Standard Mandarin
within the party. Hanyu Pinyin Jiǎnhuàzì
Wade–Giles Chien3 hua4
After 1949 tzŭ4

Within the PRC, further character simplification became associated with the leftists of Yue: Cantonese
the Cultural Revolution, culminating with the second-round simplified characters, Yale Gáan faa jih
which were promulgated in 1977. In part due to the shock and unease felt in the wake of Romanization
the Cultural Revolution and Mao's death, the second round of simplifications was poorly Jyutping Gaan2 faa3 zi6
received. In 1986, the authorities retracted the second round completely. Later in the
same year, the authorities promulgated a final list of simplifications, which is identical Alternative rendering
to the 1964 list except for six changes (including the restoration of three characters that Simplified Chinese 简体字
had been simplified in the first round: 叠, 覆, 像; the form 疊 is used instead of 叠 in Traditional Chinese 簡體字
regions using traditional Chinese). In 1965, the PRC published the Yinshua tongyong
hanzi zixing biao 印 刷 通 用 汉 字 字 形 表 (zh) (List of commonly used characters for Transcriptions [show]
printing), which included the standardized printing forms of 6196 characters. Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Jiǎn​tǐ​zì
There had been simplification initiatives aimed at eradicating characters entirely and
establishing the Hanyu Pinyin romanization as the official written system of the PRC, Wade–Giles Chien3 ti3 tzŭ4
but the reform never gained quite as much popularity as the leftists had hoped. After the Yue: Cantonese
retraction of the second round of simplification, the PRC stated that it wished to keep
Yale Romanization Gáan tái jih
Chinese orthography stable. Years later in 2009, the Chinese government released a
major revision list which included 8,300 characters. No new simplifications were Jyutping Gaan2 tai2 zi6
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.[8]
The proposed orthographic changes to 44 characters were not implemented due to
overwhelmingly negative public opinion.[12]

The officially promulgated version of the Table of General Standard Chinese

Characters, announced in 2013, 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 and Malaysia

Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification, eventually

arriving at the same set of simplified characters as mainland China.[13]

The first round, consisting of 498 simplified characters from 502 traditional characters, The first batch of simplified
was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969. The second round, consisting of characters introduced in 1935, later
2287 simplified characters, was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 retracted in 1936, consisted of 324
differences from the mainland China system; those were removed in the final round in characters.
1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted the six revisions made by mainland China in 1986.
However, unlike in mainland China where personal names may only be registered using
simplified characters, parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters in Singapore.

Malaysia promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, which were also completely identical to the simplified
characters used in mainland China. Chinese-language schools use these.
Traditional characters are still often seen on shop signs, calligraphy, and some newspapers in both countries.

Hong Kong

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

Japan

After World War II, Japan also simplified a number of Chinese characters (kanji) used in the Japanese language. The new
forms are called shinjitai. Compared to Chinese, the Japanese reform was more limited, simplifying only a few hundred
characters. Further, the list of simplifications was exhaustive, unlike Chinese simplification – thus analogous simplifications
of not explicitly simplified characters (extended shinjitai) are not approved, and instead standard practice is to use the
traditional forms.

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.

Method of simplification
Structural simplification of characters
All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in Jianhuazi zong biao (简化字总表),
"Complete List of Simplified Characters" announced in 1986.
Chart 1 lists all 350 characters that are used by themselves, and can never serve as 'simplified character
components'.
Chart 2 lists 132 characters that are used by themselves as well as utilized as simplified character components to
further derive other simplified characters. Chart 2 also lists 14 'components' or 'radicals' that cannot be used by
themselves, but can be generalized for derivation of more complex characters.
Derivation based on simplified character components
Chart 3 lists 1,753 characters which are simplified based on the same simplification principles used for character
components and radicals in Chart 2. This list is non-exhaustive, so if a character is not already found in Chart 1, 2 or
3, but can be simplified in accordance with Chart 2, the character should be simplified.
Elimination of variants of the same character
Series One Organization List of Variant Characters accounts for some of the orthography difference between
mainland China on the one hand, and Hong Kong and Taiwan on the other. These are not simplifications of character
structures, but rather reduction in number of total standard characters. For each set of variant characters that share
the identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard
character set, and the rest are obsoleted. After rounds of revisions, by 1993, some 1,027 variant characters have been
declared obsolete by this list. Amongst the chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified
Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly.
Adoption of new standardized character forms
New standardized character forms originated from the "List of character forms of General Used Chinese characters for
Publishing" containing 6,196 characters, published in 1965. The new forms tend to adopt vulgar variant forms for most
of its characters. The List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese list, published in 1988, contains 7,000
commonly used characters, and replaces the 1965 list. 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.

Structural simplification of characters

All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the Complete List of Simplified Characters.
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 two or more usually homophonous characters:

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

Using printed forms 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 of a character 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.
Further morphing a character after omitting some components:

婦 → 妇; 麗 → 丽; 歸 → 归; 顯 → 显; 務 → 务; etc.
Preserving the basic outline or shape of the original character

繼 → 继; 龜 → 龟; 齒 → 齿; 奪 → 夺; 門 → 门; 見 → 见; etc.
Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compound characters:

鄰 → 邻; 斃 → 毙; 蠟 → 蜡; 鍾 → 钟; 艦 → 舰; etc.
Replacing uncommon phonetic component of a character with a more common one:

華 → 华; 憲 → 宪; 歷、曆 → 历; 賓 → 宾; etc.
Replacing entire character with a newly coined phono-semantic compound character:

護 → 护; 驚 → 惊; 藝 → 艺; 響 → 响; etc.
Removing radicals from characters

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

Only retaining radicals from characters

廣 → 广; 親 → 亲; 產 → 产; 類 → 类; 廠 → 厂; 鄉 → 乡; etc.
Adopting obscure 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.
Re-adopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters:

餘 → 余; 後 → 后; 裡/裏 → 里; etc.
Modifying a traditional character to simplify another traditional character:

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

Derivation based on simplified character components

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

The "Complete List of Simplified Characters" employs character components, not the traditional definition of 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.

Elimination of variants of the same character

The "Series One Organization 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.

Adoption of new standardized character forms

The new standardized character forms (新字形 xīn zìxíng) shown in the List of Character Forms of Generally Used Chinese
Characters for Publishing and revised through the List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese 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.

Inconsistencies

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 "List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern
Chinese".

Distribution and use

The People's Republic of China and Singapore generally use simplified characters. They
appear very sparingly in printed text produced in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and
overseas Chinese communities, although they are becoming more prevalent as China
opens to the world. Conversely, the mainland is seeing an increase in the use of
traditional forms, where they are often used on signs, and in logos, blogs, dictionaries,
and scholarly works.

Mainland China The east square of Guangzhou

railway station in 1991. Notice the
The Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Common Language and prevalence of traditional Chinese
Characters implies simplified Chinese as the standard script, with traditional Chinese characters as brand logos during
being used for purposes such as ceremonies, cultural purposes (e.g. calligraphy), that time, including Jianlibao (健力
decoration, publications and books on ancient literature and poetry, and research 宝), Rejoice (飄柔) and 广东万家乐,
purposes. Traditional Chinese remains ubiquitous on buildings predating the promotion only Head & Shoulders (海飞丝)
of simplified characters, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, printed in simplified. In mainland
educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional Chinese is also often China, it is legal to design brand
used for commercial purposes, such as shopfront displays and advertisements. logos in traditional characters, yet,
by 2020, apart from Jianlibao, the
As part of the one country, two systems model, the PRC has not attempted to force Hong other three change to simplified.
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, it prints versions of the People's Daily in traditional characters and both the People's
Daily and Xinhua websites have versions in traditional characters using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling
products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters on their displays and packaging to communicate with
consumers (the reverse is 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.

Hong Kong
Textbooks, official statements, newspapers, including the PRC-funded media, show no
signs of moving to simplified Chinese characters. However, some students may opt to
use the simplified form when taking notes or doing test papers to write faster.

It is common for Hong Kong people to learn traditional Chinese characters in school,
and some simplified Chinese in passing (either through reading mainland-published
books or other media). For use on computers, however, people tend to type Chinese
characters using a traditional character set such as Big5. In Hong Kong, as well as
elsewhere, it is common for people who use both sets to do so because it is much easier
to convert from the traditional character set to the simplified character set because of the
The slogan 战无不胜的毛泽东思想
usage of the aforementioned methods 8 and 9 of simplification.
万岁! (Zhàn wúbù shèng de Máo
Zédōng sīxiǎng wànsuì!; Long live
the invincible Mao Zedong
Taiwan
Thought!), in simplified script, on
Xinhua Gate in Beijing.
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 (alternative script) which are not the same as the
simplifications officially promulgated by the PRC and are often instead influenced by the shinjitai used in Japan. The
informal simplification of the first character of "Taiwan", "Taipei", etc., from 臺 to 台 rivals its orthodox form in
commonality, even in print and in answers to school exams.[14][15] 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.[16]

Singapore and Malaysia

In Singapore, where Mandarin Chinese is one of the official languages, simplified characters are the official standard and are
generally used in all official publications as well as the government-controlled press. While simplified characters are taught
exclusively in schools and are generally used in all 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. Furthermore, traditional characters are widely used by older generations and are
widespread on signboards, stall menus, and decorations, among others.

In Malaysia, Chinese is not an official language, but over 90% of ethnic-Chinese students are educated in Chinese schools,
which have taught simplified characters since 1981. Likewise, traditional characters are also widely used by older
generations and are widespread on signboards, etc., albeit more common than in Singapore. Most of Malaysia's Chinese
newspapers compromise by retaining traditional characters in article headlines but using simplified characters for content.

As there is no restriction of the use of traditional characters in the mass media, television programmes, books, magazines
and music CD's that have been imported from Hong Kong or Taiwan are widely available, and these almost always use
traditional characters. Most karaoke discs, being imported from Hong Kong or Taiwan, have song lyrics in traditional
characters as well. Many shop signs continue to be written in traditional characters.[17] Menus in hawker centres and coffee
shops are also commonly seen in traditional characters.

Education
In general, schools in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore use simplified characters exclusively, while schools in Hong
Kong, Macau, and Taiwan use traditional characters exclusively.

Today, simplified Chinese characters predominate among college and university programs teaching Chinese as a foreign
language outside of China,[18] such as those in the United States.[19]

Mainland China

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.[20] A similar
proposal was delivered to the first plenary session of the 11th CPPCC in March 2008.[21]

Hong Kong

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.

Singapore and Malaysia

Chinese textbooks in Singapore and Malaysia 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.

Chinese as a foreign language

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.

Europe

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.

East Asia

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.[22]

Southeast Asia

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.

Computer encoding and fonts

In computer text applications, the GB encoding scheme most often renders simplified Chinese characters, while Big5 most
often renders traditional characters. Although neither encoding has an explicit connection with a specific character set, the
lack of a one-to-one mapping between the simplified and traditional sets established a de facto linkage.[23]

Since simplified Chinese conflated many characters into one and since the initial version of the GB encoding scheme, known
as GB 2312-80, contained only one code point for each character, it is impossible to use GB 2312 to map to the bigger set of
traditional characters. It is theoretically possible to use Big5 code to map to the smaller set of simplified character glyphs,
although there is little market for such a product. Newer and alternative forms of GB have support for traditional characters.
In particular, mainland authorities have now established GB 18030 as the official encoding standard for use in all mainland
software publications. The encoding contains all East Asian characters included in Unicode 3.0. As such, GB 18030
encoding contains both simplified and traditional characters found in Big-5 and GB, as well as all characters found in
Japanese and Korean encodings.

Unicode deals with the issue of simplified and traditional characters as part of the project of Han unification by including
code points for each. This was rendered necessary by the fact that the linkage between simplified characters and traditional
characters is not one-to-one. While this means that a Unicode system can display both simplified and traditional characters,
it also means that different localization files are needed for each type.

The Chinese characters used in modern Japanese (called Kanji characters) have also undergone simplification, but generally
to a lesser extent than with simplified Chinese. It is worth mentioning that Japan's writing system utilizes a reduced number
of Chinese characters in daily use, resulting partly from the Japanese language reforms; thus, a number of complex
characters are written phonetically. Reconciling these different character sets in Unicode became part of the controversial
process of Han unification. Not surprisingly, some of the Chinese characters used in Japan are neither 'traditional' nor
'simplified'. In this case, these characters cannot be found in traditional/simplified Chinese dictionaries.

In font filenames and descriptions, the acronym SC is used to signify the use of simplified Chinese characters to differentiate
fonts that use TC for traditional Chinese characters.[24]

Web pages
The World Wide Web Consortium's Internationalization working group recommends the use of the language tag zh-Hans as
a language attribute value and Content-Language value to specify web-page content in simplified Chinese characters.[25]

Criticism
There are ongoing disputes among users of Chinese characters related to the introduction of simplified Chinese characters.

Author Liu Shahe was an outspoken critic of the simplification of Chinese characters. He wrote a dedicated column entitled
"Simplified Characters are Unreasonable" (简化字不讲理) in the Chinese edition of the Financial Times.[26]

Traditional Chinese supporters sometimes refer to simplified Chinese as 殘體字 (cántǐzì – 'crippled characters').

Criticism of the simplifications does not necessarily imply sympathy for restoration of the traditional spelling since
alternative simplifications are possible.[27]

See also
Language portal

China portal

Ambiguities in Chinese character simplification

Chinese Character Simplification Scheme
Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters
Ryakuji
Xin Zixing
Shinjitai (新字体 or 新字體 – Japanese simplified characters)
Differences between Shinjitai and Simplified characters
 Traditional Chinese characters

Notes
1. Refer to official publications: zh:汉字简化方案, zh:简化字总表, etc.
2. The Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian defines the term as "Chinese characters that have undergone simplification" (经过简
化的汉字).[2]
3. As stated by then-Chairman Mao Zedong in 1952
4. All examples listed here are sourced from 简化字#字型結構簡化#簡化方法 where all entries are associated with proper
references.
5. This is very similar to the 'elimination of variants of the same character' in "Series One Organization List of Variant
Characters", except that these eliminations happen in Chart 1 and Chart 2 of "Complete List of Simplified Characters".
Characters simplified in Chart 2 can be further used for derivation of Chart 3, but those chosen in "Series One
Organization List of Variant Characters" cannot.

References
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记者问 (http://www.gov.cn/xwfb/2006-03/22/content_233556.htm). GOV.cn (in Chinese (China)). 2006-03-22.
2. Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian, 3rd edition (Beijing: Foreign Language and Teaching Press, 2015), s.v. "简体字".
3. 書同文 :《漢字簡化方案》制訂始末，黄加佳，新华网 (https://web.archive.org/web/20180819015635/http://big5.xinhuan
et.com/gate/big5/www.news.cn/). Detailed account of the Chinese simplification effort. (Wayback Machine 2018-08-19)
4. "Simplified Chinese Characters" (http://www.omniglot.com/chinese/simplified.htm). omniglot.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
5. "Guānyú "tōngyòng guīfàn hànzì biǎo" gōngkāi zhēngqiú yìjiàn de gōnggào" 关于《通用规范汉字表》公开征求意见的公
告 (https://web.archive.org/web/20090815131513/http://www.china-language.gov.cn/gfhzb/gfhzb/gong_gao.html). china-
language.gov.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original (http://www.china-language.gov.cn/gfhzb/gfhzb/gong_gao.html)
on 2009-08-15. Retrieved 2009-08-18. Page about the list at the State Language Commission's website, including a link
to a pdf of the list.
6. Renmin ribao (2009-04-09). "Hànzì, gāi fán háishì jiǎn?" 汉字，该繁还是简？ (https://web.archive.org/web/2009042802
2945/http://news.xinhuanet.com/focus/2009-04/09/content_11154357.htm). Xīnhuá wǎng 新华网 (in Chinese). Archived
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体字代价太大 新规范汉字表将公布 (https://web.archive.org/web/20090412131028/http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2009-
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8. Wu, Jing; Guo, Likun (August 12, 2009). "China to Regulate Use of Simplified Characters" (https://web.archive.org/web/
20090816170017/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/12/content_11871748.htm). China View. Archived from the
original (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/12/content_11871748.htm) on 2009-08-16. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
9. "Guówùyuàn guānyú gōngbù "tōngyòng guīfàn hànzì biǎo" de tōngzhī" 国务院关于公布《通用规范汉字表》的通知 (htt
p://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2013-08/19/content_2469793.htm) [Notice of the State Council on Promulgating the "Common
Standard Chinese Characters Table"] (in Chinese). Government of the People's Republic of China. 2013-08-19.
10. Yen, Yuehping (2005). Calligraphy and Power in Contemporary Chinese Society. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-31753-3.
11. "Jiǎnhuà zì de zuótiān, jīntiān hé míngtiān" 简化字的昨天、今天和明天 (https://web.archive.org/web/20110714164833/ht
tp://bolin.netfirms.com/087.htm). bolin.netfirms.com (in Chinese). Archived from the original (http://bolin.netfirms.com/08
7.htm) on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
12. " "Tōngyòng guīfàn hànzì biǎo" 44 gè hànzì "zhěngxíng" yǐnfā zhēnglùn" 《通用规范汉字表》44个汉字"整形"引发争论
(https://web.archive.org/web/20170109114116/http://www.edu.cn/hzb_8413/20090824/t20090824_401814.shtml).
Zhōngguó jiàoyù hé kēyán jìsuànjī wǎng 中国教育和科研计算机网 (in Chinese). 2009-08-24. Archived from the original
(http://www.edu.cn/hzb_8413/20090824/t20090824_401814.shtml) on 2017-01-09. Retrieved 2017-01-09.
13. Chia, Shih Yar 谢世涯. Xīnjiāpō yǔ zhōngguó tiáozhěng jiǎntǐzì de píng zhì 新加坡与中国调整简体字的评骘 (http://www.h
uayuqiao.org/articles/xieshiya/Simplified/6_XinJiaPoTiaoZhengJianTiZi-XP.htm) [A Comparative Study of the Revision of
Simplified Chinese Characters Proposed by Singapore and China]. Paper presented at The International Conference on
Culture of Chinese Character. Convened by Beijing Normal University and Liaoning People Publishing House. Dandong,
Liaoning, China. 9-11 Nov 1998 (in Chinese) – via huayuqiao.org.
14. "Jī cè zuòwén sú tǐ zì bù kòu fēn" 基測作文 俗體字不扣分 (https://web.archive.org/web/20111109185546/http://tw.nextme
dia.com/applenews/article/art_id/2532975/IssueID/20060412). Píngguǒ rìbào 蘋果日報 (in Chinese). April 12, 2006.
Archived from the original (http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/2532975/IssueID/20060412) on 2011-11-09.
15. Shih, Hsiu-chuan (14 December 2010). "Premier Respects 'Choice' on Spelling" (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwa
n/archives/2010/12/14/2003490913). Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
16. Zhao, Shouhui (2008). "Chinese Character Modernisation in the Digital Age: A Historical Perspective". In Kaplan, Robert
B.; Baldauf, Richard B., Jr. (eds.). Language Planning and Policy in Asia, Vol. 1: Japan, Nepal and Taiwan and Chinese
Characters. Multilingual Matters. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-84769-095-1.
17. Chia, Shih Yar 谢世涯. Xīnjiāpō hànzì guīfàn de huígù yǔ qiánzhān 新加坡汉字规范的回顾与前瞻 (http://www.huayuqiao.
org/articles/xieshiya/Simplified/5_XinJiaPoHanZiGuiFan-XP.htm) [Review and Prospect of Standardization of Chinese
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18. Xing, Janet Zhiqun (2006). Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: A Pedagogical Grammar. Hong
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20. "Shì jiàowěi bóhuí zhèngxié wěiyuán pǔjí fántǐ zì jiàoxué jiànyì" 市教委驳回政协委员普及繁体字教学建议 (https://web.arc
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Committee Rejects Commissar of The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to Popularize the Traditional
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21. "Zhēngmíng: Fántǐ zì jiàoyù jìn xiàoyuán yǒu bìyào ma?" 争鸣：繁体字教育进校园有必要吗？ (https://web.archive.org/w
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s/2009-04/09/content_11154357.htm). web.archive.org. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
24. "Noto CJK" (https://www.google.com/get/noto/help/cjk/). Google Noto Fonts.
25. Richard Ishida (editor): Best Practice 13: Using Hans and Hant codes (https://www.w3.org/TR/i18n-html-tech-lang/#h2_l
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Are Unreasonable]. FTChinese.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 2021-06-01.
27. "【中国時報】簡体字の一部見直しの動き 中国政府、繁体字回帰か" (https://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/prentry-143403.htm
l).

Further reading
Bergman, Peter M. (1980). The Basic English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary: Using Simplified Characters (with
an Appendix Containing the Original Complex Characters) Transliterated in Accordance with the New, Official Chinese
Phonetic Alphabet. New York, N.Y.: New American Library. ISBN 0-451-09262-7.
Bökset, Roar (2006). Long Story of Short Forms: The Evolution of Simplified Chinese Characters. Stockholm East Asian
Monographs, No. 11. Stockholm: Dept. of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University. ISBN 91-628-6832-2.
Chen, Huoping (1987). Simplified Chinese Characters. Torrance, CA: Heian. ISBN 0-89346-293-4.

External links
Andrew West, Proposal to Encode Obsolete Simplified Chinese Characters (http://unicode.org/L2/L2009/09260-simp-chi
nese.pdf)
Stroke Order Animation and Dictionary of Simplified Chinese Characters (https://www.archchinese.com/)
Simplified to Traditional Chinese Conversion Table (https://www.sayjack.com/chinese/simplified-to-traditional-chinese-co
nversion-table/)

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