66-481: The Chengdu–Kunming railway or Chengkun railway ( simplified Chinese : 成昆铁路 ; traditional Chinese : 成昆鐵路 ; pinyin : chéngkūn tiělù ), is a major trunkline railroad in southwestern China between Chengdu , the capital of Sichuan Province and Kunming , the capital of Yunnan Province . The line is 1,134 km (705 mi) long and traverses rugged terrain from the Sichuan Basin to
132-443: A component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓ ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏ ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of
198-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One 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
264-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as
330-641: A largely new double-track line started in 2010 and was completed on 26 December 2022. A northern section of the old line was called the Emei–Panzhihua railway , but since the completion of the new line has been called the Chengdu–Panzhihua (shortened to Chengpan ) section of the line and a southern section was called the Yuanmou–Kunming railway , but is now called the Yuanmou-Kunming section of
396-610: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as
462-573: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. 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 ),
528-473: A statement that "[the railroad] will undoubtedly require more than the normal maintenance because of the rugged terrain it passes through" based on the detection of at least two replacement works of the destroyed tracks caused by landslides in the first year of its operation. Upon operation, major natural disasters did not occur in the Anning River Valley and Longchuan River Valley section due to
594-733: A symbol of the Communist Party's technical ability to remake the Chinese landscape in accord with its own vision, comparing its function in this regard to the Ten Great Buildings . In 1974, an ivory sculpture commemorating the completion of the Chengdu–Kunming railway was presented as a gift to the United Nations and is displayed at the U.N. Headquarters in New York. The sculpture depicts the rail bridge across
660-615: A total of 122 stations, although many of these are now closed for passengers and some for freight operations. Four stations on either side of the Jinsha River ( Yangtze ) crossing were inundated by the Wudongde Dam in 2020. On 14 August 2019, a major landslide occurred near Adai station, killing 17 staff involved in rescue and disaster relief. After emergency repairs on the affected section, freight trains and daytime passenger trains resumed operation on 25 October and 2 December of
726-599: A total of 25 dams were completed, under construction or planned for the river. Those dams are listed below from downstream to upstream. After completion of the Baihetan Dam in 2022, five of the largest hydroelectric power stations in the world with sizes of at least 3,000 MW, are on the river. When all the hydropower stations are in operation on the Jinsha River, they constitute the world’s largest clean energy corridor. The pre-imperial " Tribute of Yu " recorded
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#1732790674094792-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌 'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊ '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,
858-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with
924-582: Is habitat to thousands of resident and migratory waterbirds. The upper course of the river falls about 14 feet per mile (2.7 m/km). Below Batang in Sichuan, the gradient gradually decreases to about 8 feet per mile (1.5 m/km) but the Jinsha is not navigable. Its upper course through the gorges , particularly, is more of an obstacle than an aid to transportation. The Jinsha is being heavily developed, primarily for hydroelectric power. By March 2014,
990-813: 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. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. 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. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at
1056-623: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". 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
1122-547: Is used instead of 叠 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 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,
1188-709: The Chengdu–Chongqing intercity railway (completed in 2015) from Chengdu to Neijiang North, the Chengdu–Yibin high-speed railway (opened in 2023) from Chengdu East to Yibin , and the Chongqing–Kunming high-speed railway (approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2019) from Yibin to Kunming. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write
1254-670: The Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of
1320-569: The Dadu River between two mountain peaks, with intricate details of passengers inside the train. The sculpture, 150 cm (59 in) in length and 110 cm (43 in) in height, was made from eight elephant tusks and weighs over 300 kilograms (660 lb). The Chengkun railway is a major trunkline in China's railway network and connects with numerous other railway lines including: Sichuan Province Yunnan Province Four sections of
1386-689: The Lu ( t 瀘水 , s 泸水 , Lúshuǐ ). Owing to earlier romanization systems, the river has been known as the Chin-sha Chiang and Kinsha Kiang (when it was not simply described as the Yangtze ) in English sources for the last three centuries. The most common present name, Jinsha is the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the same Chinese characters as the other two. Although
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#17327906740941452-691: The Yangtze River . It flows through the provinces of Qinghai , Sichuan , and Yunnan in western China . The river passes through Tiger Leaping Gorge . It is sometimes grouped together with the Lancang (upper Mekong) and Nu (upper Salween) as the Sanjiang ("Three Rivers") area, part of which makes up the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas . The river is important in generating hydroelectric power, and several of
1518-694: The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau . The line was built between 1958 and 1970, with much of the work coming during the Third Front campaign to develop industry in China's interior. Major cities along route include Chengdu, Pengshan , Jiajiang , Emei , Ebian , Ganluo , Xide , Xichang , Dechang , Miyi and Panzhihua in Sichuan Province and Yuanmou , Lufeng , Anning and Kunming in Yunnan Province . Construction of
1584-411: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Jinsha River The Jinsha River ( Chinese : 金沙江 ; pinyin : Jīnshājiāng ; lit. 'Gold Sand River', Tibetan : Dri Chu, འབྲི་ཆུ, Yi : ꀉꉷꏁꒉ , romanized: Axhuo Shyxyy ) or Lu river, is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of
1650-459: 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". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across
1716-482: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . 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
1782-520: 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. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of
1848-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 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
1914-511: The Jinsha continues to this day. The Jinsha culture in prehistoric China derives its name from a road near its type site and not from the river directly. The Jinsha River is simply the upper course of the Yangtze, although the Yalong and Min rivers were sometimes considered to have been the main course before the advent of modern geography . It is traditionally considered to begin at
1980-479: The Yuanmou–Kunming railway (shortened to Yuankun railway ), but is now called the Yuanmou-Kunming section of the line. The section of the old line between Huapengzi (south of Panzhihua) and Huangguayuan (north of Yuanmou) has been closed and flooded by the Wudongde Dam . The new line is designed mainly for freight. It is proposed that high-speed passenger services between Chengdu and Kunming will be provided by
2046-513: The central route as they considered the western route to be too difficult to build, because of its geography and geology, and that it could not be maintained because it would be prone to flooding, mudslides and earthquakes. Nevertheless, a committee headed by Zhou Enlai preferred the western route and this was eventually confirmed. It was considered to give access to important mineral deposits, passed through areas inhabited by ethnic minorities and had advantages for national defence. The eastern route
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2112-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between
2178-407: 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 : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant
2244-616: The confluence of the Tongtian and Batang rivers near Gyêgu in Qinghai . As the Jinsha River, it then flows south through a deep gorge parallel to the similar gorges of the upper Mekong and upper Salween rivers, from which it is separated by the Ningjing Mountains. It forms the western border of Sichuan for some 250 miles (400 km) and then flows into Yunnan province. After a large, 200 mile (320 km) long loop to
2310-514: The considered route selection and adequate protection strategies adopted. However, the section through the Niuri River Valley that had a faster river flow—due to its short, steep channel and unstable valley side slope—was not given sufficient consideration during the construction period. Multiple incidents of debris flow have occurred in the Niuri River Valley section especially between Niri and Suxiong and between Lianghong and Aidai. In
2376-473: 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
2442-460: The early 20th century. The Jinsha River is under heavy development by China, with over sixteen dam projects in various phases of development along the river, and many on its tributaries as well, especially the Yalong. Four dams along the lower part of the river are under construction or have already been completed to generate hydroelectric power and to trap silt that would otherwise create problems at
2508-476: 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
2574-511: The early 21st century, with local economic growth, the single-track Chengdu-Kunming Railway had become congested. In order to create more capacity, the line was replaced by a double track-line with longer tunnels and viaducts, although the original track was generally retained as one of the two tracks between Chengdu and Emei . The new line is 900 kilometres (560 mi) long, with a design speed of 160 to 200 kilometres per hour (99 to 124 mph) and cost 55.2 billion yuan to build in total. Most of
2640-634: The first official list of simplified forms was published, 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. 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
2706-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including
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2772-475: 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
2838-459: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during
2904-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. 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
2970-465: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d. 208 BC ), 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 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,
3036-561: The line. Planning of the Chengdu–Kunming railway began in 1952 with several routes under consideration. An eastern route would have run via Neijiang , Zigong , Yibin , Shuifu , Yanjin . Yiliang , Malong and Songming . A central route would have taken a similar route as far as Yibin and continued via Pingshan , Suijiang , Yongshan , Daguan , Qiaojia , Huize , Dongchuan and Songming. A western route would run via Meishan , Leshan , Ebian Yi , Ganluo , Xide , Xichang , Dechang , Huili and Guangtong. Soviet advisers recommended
3102-402: 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 ). 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,
3168-469: The name is generally over-literally translated as the "Gold Sand" or "Golden-Sanded River", the name is not poetic or descriptive of the color of the river's banks. Rather, 金沙 described actual placer gold, alluvial gold powder sometimes still panned from the river's waters. The name "Jinsha" originates in the Song dynasty when the river attracted large numbers of gold prospectors. Gold prospecting along
3234-400: The new line runs near the old line, but on some sections of the route is significantly shortened and straightened. Therefore, the new line is nearly 200 kilometres (120 mi) shorter than the old 1,091-kilometre (678 mi) line. Trains now take only about 7 hours from Chengdu to Kunming. Work on the new line commenced in 2010. Double-tracking of the section between Hualongmen and Pengshan
3300-531: The north of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture , the Jinsha swings northeast, forming the Sichuan - Yunnan provincial boundary until it joins the Min River at Yibin in Sichuan to form the Yangtze. Lashihai Wetland is in the basin of the Jinsha River. The lake and wetland supplies drinking water to Lijiang , provides flood control, storage, and water balance functions for the Jinsha and Yangtze watersheds, and
3366-430: 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. In 1986, authorities retracted
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#17327906740943432-604: The railroad which pass through the Niuri River Valley, Manshuiwan to Xichang of the Anning River Valley, Jinsha River Valley and Longchuan River Valley are under the exposure of the vulnerable debris flow and landslide. Soviet experts used to make a prediction that the railroad "will be turned into a pile of scrap iron by violent nature even after it is completed" in the route design stage; An Imagery Analysis Service Note published by CIA in October 1971 made
3498-412: The railway was not announced or promoted. The government published a pictorial in 1976 showing pictures of the construction and extreme terrain that required hundreds of tunnels and bridges. Building conditions were hazardous and 2,100 workers perished during the construction of the original line. On August 30, 2000, the entire line was electrified. Aside from Chengdu and Kunming, the old line had
3564-465: 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 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on
3630-481: 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
3696-553: The same year respectively. It was decided to build the 1.5-kilometre-long (0.93 mi) Yandai Tunnel to avoid the landslide-affected section. The project started on 7 September 2019. It was suspended due to the 2020 Lunar New Year holiday and the impact of the Covid 19 epidemic. It resumed on 10 February 2020 and was completed on 9 March and 26 April. Academic Covell F. Meyskens writes that the Chengdu-Kunming railway serves as
3762-467: 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: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊
3828-497: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to
3894-833: 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. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list 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 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes
3960-598: The traditional view of the Yangtze River as originating with the Min or Yalong instead of the Jinsha and this remained unchallenged for millennia, even after Li Daoyuan 's Commentary on the Water Classic recorded much of the Jinsha's extensive river system during the Northern Wei . The Ming -era geographer Xu Xiake was the first to correct this, although it remained a common misconception in China as late as
4026-522: 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
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#17327906740944092-678: The world's largest hydroelectric power stations are on the Jinsha river. The river was first recorded as the Hei ( 黑水 , Hēishuǐ , lit. "Blackwater") in the Warring States ' " Tribute of Yu ". It was described as the Sheng ( t 繩水 , s 绳水 , Shéngshuǐ , "Rope River") in the Han -era Classic of Mountains and Seas . During the Three Kingdoms , it was known as
4158-464: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by
4224-531: Was accelerated when fears of possible American invasion increased after the Gulf of Tonkin incident . The only rail connection to Kunming at that time ran through North Vietnam. In July 1970, the line was completed and entered into operation in January 1971. Because it was built as part of the secretive Third Front campaign pursuant to the view that it had to be kept hidden from China's geopolitical rivals, completion of
4290-515: Was completed in June 2017. The final 384-kilometre (239 mi)-long section between Emei and Miyi was completed on 26 December 2022. A northern section of the old line was called the Emei–Panzhihua railway (shortened to E-Pan railway ), but changed on completion of the full line to the Chengdu–Panzhihua (shortened to Chengpan ) branch of the Chengdu–Kunming railway. A southern section was called
4356-648: Was later used for much of the Neijiang–Kunming railway , which was completed in 2001. The central route has similarities to the route of the under construction Chongqing–Kunming high-speed railway . Construction began in 1958 during the Great Leap Forward and expanded to full-scale in 1964. Much of the construction occurred as a focus of the Third Front campaign to develop basic industry and national defense industry in China's interior; this campaign
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