Chinese Character Simplification Scheme
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The Chinese Character Simplification Scheme () is the standardized simplification of Chinese characters promulgated in the 1950s by the
State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...
. It contains the existing
Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the ''Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one o ...
that are in use today. To distinguish from the later
Second round of simplified Chinese characters The second round of Chinese character simplification, according to the official document, Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (Draft) ("Second Scheme" or "Second Round" for short) to introduce a second round of simplified Chinese char ...
, this reform is also known as the First Chinese Character Simplification Scheme.


History

In 1952, the Language Reform Research Committee of China first drafted the ''List of Frequently Used Simplification of Chinese Characters'' (), affirming the principle of "only describing and stating the concepts of the ancient anpeople, not creating ew characters (). The ''Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (Draft)'' was published on 7 January 1955 for public consultation. It consists of three sections: ''List of simplification of 798 characters (draft)'' (), ''List of 400 variant characters intended to be abolished (draft)'' () and ''List of simplification in handwriting of character components (draft)'' (). The second and third sections were deleted in the modification process. The modified ''Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (Draft)'' was passed by the National Language Reform Meeting after discussion in October 1955, followed by modifications by the Language Reform Committee of China in accordance to the outcome of the discussions. The modified draft was reviewed by the State Council's Committee for the Application of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme. On 21 November 1955, the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
issued a ''Notice Regarding the Implementation of Simplified Chinese Character in All Schools'' (). The
People's Liberation Army General Political Department The People's Liberation Army General Political Department (GPD; ) was the former chief political organ under the Central Military Commission of Chinese Communist Party. It led all political activities in the People's Liberation Army. Its former ...
made similar notices in the same month. On 28 January 1956, the 23rd State Council Plenary Meeting passed the ''Resolution Regarding the Promulgation of the "Chinese Character Simplification Scheme"'' (). On 31 January 1956, the
People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...
published in full about the ''Resolution Regarding the Promulgation of the "Chinese Character Simplification Scheme"'' and the ''Chinese Character Simplification Scheme'' (). The first list of the scheme was used nationwide on 1 February 1956, and the rest was put into use in batches later.


Later development

Significant changes were subsequently made to this scheme, in particular the introduction of the principle of simplification by analogy. In May 1964, the Language Reform Committee published the ''List of Simplified Chinese Characters'' () to address the defects found in the ''Chinese Character Simplification Scheme''. It is divided into three parts. The first part records 352 simplified characters that are not used as radicals; The second part records simplified characters that may be used as radicals and 14 simplified radicals; The third part records 1,754 simplified characters that are formed according to its radicals. There are a total of 2,238 characters (realistically only 2,236 characters, as the characters 签 ''qiān'' and 须 ''xū'' appear twice as duplicates). The Language Reform Committee of China proposed the Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (Draft) on 20 December 1977, rescinded in 1986.


Structure

The ''Chinese Character Simplification Scheme'' is divided into three parts. The first part consists of 230 simplified characters; the second part consists of 285 simplified characters; the third part consists of 54 simplified radicals. The first and second parts differ in their time of implementation; the first part was to be implemented the day after the announcement, while the second part was mostly implemented in three batches later between 1956 and 1959 after further trials and slight changes, leaving out 28 simplified characters which were implemented in 1964 when the ''List of Simplified Chinese Characters'' was published.


Controversy

The simplification of Chinese characters met strong resistance from the public and the academia. The prominent scholar
Chen Mengjia Chen Mengjia (; 20 April 1911, in Nanjing – 3 September 1966, in Beijing) was a Chinese scholar, poet, paleographer and archaeologist. He was considered the foremost authority on oracle bones and was Professor of Chinese at Tsinghua University ...
was one of the outspoken critics of the scheme. When the
Anti-Rightist Movement The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was l ...
began in 1957, Chen was labeled a
Rightist Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, auth ...
and attacked as an enemy of the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
. In 1966, at the beginning of the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, Chen was again severely persecuted for his ideas and committed suicide. On 10 January 1958,
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...
gave a report on the task of Chinese writing reform, in which he criticized "rightists" for opposing the scheme, saying that the opposition was used to undermine the party and state. He went on to state that simplification was "in line with the interests of the general public," and "should be strongly supported."


See also

*
Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the ''Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one o ...
*
Second round of simplified Chinese characters The second round of Chinese character simplification, according to the official document, Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (Draft) ("Second Scheme" or "Second Round" for short) to introduce a second round of simplified Chinese char ...


References

{{Portal bar, Language, China Chinese characters 1950s in China Simplified Chinese characters