| Chinese script reform | |||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 漢字改革 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 汉字改革 | ||||||||||||||||
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Chinese script reform
Background
Antiquity
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 (字形; zìxíng), the "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form (字体; 字體; zìtǐ), "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". [1] Prior to the 20th century, the irregular use of character variants by scribes was pervasive. It was common for multiple variants of a character to appear within the same manuscript written by a single scribe. As an example of this variation, during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙—with either 日 'SUN' or 囧 'WINDOW' on the left beside the 月 'MOON' component on the right. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d. 782 BC) 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 large seal script. [2]
The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c. 100 AD), 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.Following Qin's wars of unification that founded the imperial Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), Chancellor Li Si ( d. 208 BC) attempted to universalize Qin small seal script across the country. Li prescribed the 朙 form for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明. However, the increased usage of 朙 was followed by the proliferation of a third variant 眀, with 目 'EYE' on the left—which had likely been derived as a contraction of 朙. Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. [3]
The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian.
Modern campaigns
Late Qing vernacular and Republican-era reform (1850–1949)
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Upon the arrival of Jesuits in China
While the state had perennially made efforts to standardize character forms, the impulse prior to the 20th century was generally conservative, and rejected simpler character forms. [4]
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 (1886–1941) formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first 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" (漢字不滅，中國必亡). Over the following years, which were 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. [5] Instead, Chao proposed that a national form of the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. [6]
Parallel campaigns of alphabetization and character simplification campaigns would continue within the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. 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 first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by the philologist and Peking University professor Qian Xuantong. However, opposition from within the KMT resulted in the list's rescission in 1936. [7]
Simplification
First round (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. [8] In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. [9]
Second round (1977–1986)
Within the country, further character simplification became associated with the political left in Chinese society, and ultimately 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.[ citation needed]
Romanization
See also
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ Qiu 2000, pp. 44–45.
- ^ Bökset 2006, pp. 17–19.
- ^ Bökset 2006, p. 19.
- ^ Qiu 2000, p. 404.
- ^ Yuen Ren Chao (趙元任); Hu Shih (胡適) (1916). "The problem of the Chinese language". The Chinese Students' Monthly. 11–15.
- ^ Chen 1999, pp. 150–153; Zhong 2019, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Chen 1999, pp. 150–153.
- ^ Bökset 2006, pp. 27–29.
- ^ Bökset 2006, pp. 32.
Works cited
- Bökset, Roar (2006), Long Story of Short Forms: The Evolution of Simplified Chinese Characters (PDF), Stockholm East Asian Monographs, vol. 11, Stockholm University, ISBN 978-9-162-86832-1
- Chen Ping (陳平) (1999), Modern Chinese: History and Sociolinguistics (4th ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-64572-0
- DeFrancis, John (1972) [1950], Nationalism and language reform in China, New York: Octagon, ISBN 978-0-374-92095-1
- Qiu Xigui (裘锡圭) (2000) [1988], Chinese Writing, translated by Gilbert L. Mattos; Norman, Jerry, Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China and The Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, ISBN 978-1-557-29071-7
- Zhong, Yurou (2019), Chinese Grammatology: Script Revolution and Literary Modernity, 1916–1958, Columbia University Press, doi: 10.7312/zhon19262, ISBN 978-0-231-54989-9