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82-499: The Chongzhen Emperor ( simplified Chinese : 崇祯帝 ; traditional Chinese : 崇禎帝 ; pinyin : Chóngzhēn Dì ; 6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644), personal name Zhu Youjian ( Chinese : 朱由檢 ; pinyin : Zhū Yóujiǎn ), courtesy name Deyue ( 德約 ), was the 17th and last emperor of the Ming dynasty . He reigned from 1627 to 1644. " Chongzhen ", the era name of his reign, means "honorable and auspicious." Zhu Youjian

164-625: A Southern Ming dynasty in Nanjing , naming Zhu Yousong (the Prince of Fu) as the Hongguang Emperor. In 1645, however, Qing armies started to move against the Ming remnants. The Southern Ming, again bogged down by factional infighting, were unable to hold back the Qing onslaught, and Nanjing surrendered on 8 June 1645. Zhu Yousong was captured on 15 June and brought to Beijing, where he died

246-434: 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

328-610: 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

410-469: A practice which has always been present as 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 ,

492-567: A single one of our people." According to a servant who discovered the emperor's body under a tree , however, the words tianzi (Son of Heaven) were the only written evidence left after his death. The emperor was buried in the Ming tombs . The Manchus were quick to exploit the death of the Chongzhen Emperor: by claiming to "avenge the emperor," they rallied support from loyalist Ming forces and civilians. The Shun dynasty lasted less than

574-404: 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 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

656-526: A suggestion to move the crown prince to the south. In April 1644, the Ming imperial court finally ordered Wu Sangui to move his army south from his fortress at Ningyuan to Shanhai Pass. It was too late, however, and Wu would not reach Shanhai Pass until 26 April. Word reached Beijing that Shun rebels were approaching the capital through Juyong Pass , and the Chongzhen Emperor held his last audience with his ministers on 23 April. Li Zicheng offered

738-504: A year prior during the mysterious Wanggongchang Explosion ). As the emperor's brother, Zhu Youjian, then about 16 years old, ascended the throne as the Chongzhen Emperor. His succession was helped by Empress Zhang (widow of the Tianqi Emperor), despite the manoeuvres of the chief eunuch, Wei Zhongxian , who wanted to continue to dominate the imperial court. From the beginning of his rule, the Chongzhen Emperor did his best to stem

820-603: A year with Li Zicheng's defeat at the Battle of Shanhai Pass . The victorious Manchus established the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing dynasty as ruler of all China. Because the Chongzhen Emperor had refused to move the court south to Nanjing, the new Qing government was able to take over a largely intact Beijing bureaucracy, aiding their efforts to displace the Ming. After the Chongzhen Emperor's death, loyalist forces proclaimed

902-440: 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,

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984-454: 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

1066-425: Is not known, his overall control of the palace and the emperor's powers of edict ensured his involvement in some degree. The Tianqi Emperor died in 1627, and although many expected Wei to attempt to seize the throne, no such coup happened. According to Li Sunzhi (a Donglin sympathizer), Wei had previously attempted to convince Empress Zhang to adopt his nephew, Wei Liangqing, in order to continue his manipulation of

1148-813: 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

1230-547: 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,

1312-473: 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 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

1394-499: 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 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

1476-475: The Great Plague of Jingshi devastated northern China. In 1641, Xiangyang fell to Zhang Xianzhong, and Luoyang to Li Zicheng. The next year, Li Zicheng captured Kaifeng . The year after that, Zhang Xianzhong took Wuchang and established himself the ruler of his Xi kingdom. Court officials offered a number of unrealistic proposals to stop the rebel armies, including the establishment of archery contests,

1558-554: 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 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

1640-546: The Taichang Emperor , both died in 1620, the palace bureaucracy was thrown into a succession crisis. The death of the Taichang Emperor brought Madame Ke, Wei Zhongxian, and Zhu Youjiao under the supervision of Lady Li, the Taichang Emperor's consort. Zhu hated Lady Li. Donglin activist Yang Lian also did not want Lady Li in power, not wanting China to fall under the temporary rule of a regent (Zhu Youxiao

1722-478: The imperial examinations of 1630 and 1631. The reversal of Wei Zhongxian's fortunes resulted in a renewal of the Donglin faction's influence at court, arousing great suspicion from the Chongzhen Emperor. The nomination of Donglin favorite Qian Qianyi for the post of Grand Secretary led to accusations of corruption and factionalism by his rival Wen Tiren. Qian Qianyi was imprisoned on the emperor's orders. Though he

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1804-531: 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 ( 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,

1886-425: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Wei Zhongxian During his tenure, Zhu Youjiao was uninterested in court affairs, leaving room for Wei to abuse his power to issue edicts to promote and demote hundreds of officers. Mao Wenlong was one of the generals promoted by Wei Zhongxian. During Zhu Youjiao's reign, Wei would send

1968-607: The "Wei-Ke conspiracy". Meanwhile, partisans of the Donglin Academy faction, which had been devastated under Wei Zhongxian's influence, established political organizations throughout the Jiangnan region. Chief among these was the Fushe , or Restoration Society, whose members were a new generation of scholars who identified with the old Donglin faction. They succeeded in placing their members into high government posts through

2050-570: The 1620s. At the same time, Ming armies were occupied in the defence of the northern border against the Manchu ruler Hong Taiji , whose father, Nurhaci , had united the Manchu tribes into a cohesive force. In 1636, after years of campaigns against Ming fortifications north of the Great Wall , Hong Taiji declared himself emperor of the Qing dynasty . Through the 1630s, rebellion spread from Shaanxi to nearby Huguang and Henan . From 1633 to 1644,

2132-469: 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

2214-482: 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

2296-520: 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

2378-470: 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

2460-575: The Chongzhen Emperor issued an edict listing Wei's crimes and exiled him south to Fengyang (in present-day Anhui ). As Wei traveled to Fengyang, one of the Chongzhen Emperor's commissioners warned the emperor that Wei might work with other demoted officials of the deceased Tianqi Emperor to stage a rebellion. Acting on the warning, the Chongzhen Emperor ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest Wei and bring him back to Beijing. On December 13, informants found Wei and told him of

2542-458: The Chongzhen Emperor's reign began, the emperor refused. A month later, Wei decreed that no more temples should be built in his honor. In the months afterwards, multiple complaints about and calls for Wei's impeachment came before the emperor. After ignoring the first few, the Chongzhen Emperor finally called for evidence of Wei's faults from officials. In response to this, "more than one hundred" officials sent memorials denouncing Wei. On December 8,

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2624-678: The Chongzhen Emperor, who rejected proposals to recruit new militias from the Beijing region and to recall general Wu Sangui , the defender of Shanhai Pass on the Great Wall. The Chongzhen Emperor had dispatched a new field commander, Yu Yinggui, who failed to stop Li Zicheng's armies as they crossed the Yellow River in December 1643. Back in Beijing, the capital defence forces consisted of old and feeble men, who were starving because of

2706-513: The Donglin party, but in wielding power that was only supposed to be used by emperors themselves. Stories and dramatizations of this persecution were written just months after his death and gained a large public audience. In 2009, a 42-hour primetime television series dramatizing Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke's power during the reign of the Tianqi Emperor was shown on Chinese television. The series also portrayed Wei Zhongxian and Zhu Youjiao in

2788-436: The Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest Wei Zhongxian. Wei then committed suicide . Zhu then punished 161 officials and executed 24 of Wei's associates. Madam Ke , who was also close to Wei, was beaten to death. Many people denounced the incident, with the Chinese public writing stories dramatizing the event. Eventually, the Ming dynasty was destroyed and overturned by the Qing dynasty , and the Qing armies purged and persecuted

2870-485: The Grand Secretariat (equivalent to the cabinet and chancellor ). Even though the Ming dynasty still possessed capable commanders and skilled politicians in its dying years, the Chongzhen Emperor's impatience and paranoid personality prevented any of them from enacting any real plan to salvage a perilous situation. In particular, the Chongzhen Emperor's execution of Yuan Chonghuan on extremely flimsy grounds

2952-555: The Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming dynasty , gave the Chongzhen Emperor the temple name "Sizong". In historical texts, "Sizong" is the most common temple name of the Chongzhen Emperor, even though the Southern Ming rulers had changed "Sizong" to "Yizong" (毅宗) and then to "Weizong" (威宗). The Qing dynasty gave the Chongzhen Emperor the temple name "Huaizong" (懷宗), but the temple name was later revoked. Zhu Youjian

3034-548: 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

3116-525: The Taichang Emperor's sons died before reaching adulthood except for Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian. Zhu Youjian grew up in a relatively lonely but quiet environment. After the Taichang Emperor died in 1620, Zhu Youjian's elder brother Zhu Youxiao succeeded their father and was enthroned as the Tianqi Emperor . He granted the title "Prince of Xin" (信王) to Zhu Youjian and posthumously honoured Zhu Youjian's mother, Lady Liu , as "Consort Xian" (賢妃). Fearing

3198-620: The Wanli Emperor's (1563–1620) long and underwhelming reign, the Donglin faction of activist scholars had hoped that the Taichang and Tianqi emperors would prove to be "Confucian gentlemen". When the Tianqi Emperor proved just as indifferent to his imperial responsibilities as his grandfather was and an illiterate eunuch seemed to be the most powerful figure in the Forbidden City, the Donglin scholars decided that their intervention

3280-631: The Zhu emperors and their families. Little is known of Wei's pre-court life. Wei was illiterate throughout his life, which may be an indication that he was born into a peasant or merchant class family. He is presumed to have been born in 1568 in Suning County (100 miles southeast of Beijing ), to have married a girl with the surname of Fang (方), and to have castrated himself at age 21 (Ming dynastic records claim that he did so in order to escape his gambling debts). Due to his fame in Chinese culture over

3362-444: 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 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

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3444-447: 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". The initiatives following

3526-407: 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

3608-595: 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 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,

3690-422: The corruption of eunuchs responsible for provisioning their supplies. The troops had not been paid for nearly a year. Meanwhile, the capture of Taiyuan by Li Zicheng's forces gave his campaign additional momentum; garrisons began to surrender to him without a fight. Through February and March 1644, the Chongzhen Emperor declined repeated proposals to move the court south to Nanjing , and in early April, he rejected

3772-656: The country. In 1935, 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

3854-468: The court eunuch Wei Zhongxian , who controlled the Tianqi Emperor, Zhu Youjian avoided attending imperial court sessions under the pretext of illness until he was summoned to court by his brother in 1627. At the time, the Tianqi Emperor was gravely ill and wanted Zhu Youjian to rely on Wei Zhongxian in the future. When the Tianqi Emperor died in October 1627, he had no surviving heir (his last son died

3936-421: The decline of the Ming dynasty. His efforts at reform focused on the top ranks of the civil and military establishment. However, years of internal corruption and an empty treasury made it almost impossible to find capable ministers to fill important government posts. The emperor also tended to be suspicious of his subordinates, executing dozens of field commanders, including general Yuan Chonghuan , who had directed

4018-464: The defence of the northern frontier against the Manchu (later known as the Qing dynasty ). The Chongzhen Emperor's reign was marked by his fear of factionalism among his officials, which had been a serious issue during the reign of the Tianqi Emperor. After his brother's death, the Chongzhen Emperor immediately eliminated Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke , as well as other officials thought to be involved in

4100-542: The dynasty. However, despite a reputation for hard work, the emperor's paranoia, impatience, stubbornness and lack of regard for the plight of his people doomed his crumbling empire. His attempts at reform did not take into account the considerable decline of Ming power, which was already far advanced at the time of his accession. Over the course of his 17-year reign, the Chongzhen Emperor executed seven military governors, 11 regional commanders, replaced his minister of defence 14 times, and appointed an unprecedented 50 ministers to

4182-447: 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" ( 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

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4264-408: The edict. That night, he and his entourage stopped at an inn 150 miles south of Beijing. Wei and his secretary proceeded to hang themselves from the rafters with their own belts. After discovering Wei's death, the rest of his entourage managed to escape the area before the guards came. The Chongzhen Emperor's retribution to Wei and his political allies was swift and severe. In early 1628, Wei's corpse

4346-399: The emperor an opportunity to surrender, but the negotiations produced no result. Li commanded his forces to attack on 24 April. Rather than face capture by the rebels, the Chongzhen Emperor gathered all members of the imperial household except his sons. Using his sword, he killed Consort Yuan and Princess Zhaoren, and severed the arm of Princess Changping . On 25 April, the Chongzhen Emperor

4428-532: The emperor's edicts to the Embroidered Uniform Guard led by prison director Xu Xianchun to purge corrupt officials and political enemies. Xu then arrested and demoted hundreds of officials and scholars from the Donglin movement , including Zhou Zongjian, Zhou Shunchang, and Yang Lian. When Zhu Youjian rose to power, he received complaints about Wei and Xu's actions. Zhu Youjian then ordered

4510-512: 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, 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

4592-475: 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

4674-474: The following year. The dwindling Southern Ming were continually pushed farther south, and the last emperor of the Southern Ming, Zhu Youlang , was finally caught in Burma , transported to Yunnan , and executed in 1662 by Wu Sangui. While the Chongzhen Emperor was not especially incompetent by the standards of the later Ming, he nevertheless sealed the fate of the Ming dynasty. In many ways, he did his best to save

4756-430: 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

4838-590: The greatest obstacles to the eventual Manchu conquest of China . Consorts and Issue: Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write 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

4920-556: 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

5002-533: 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 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,

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5084-459: The other five Donglin leaders to lengthy interrogations and torture. Eventually all six died, apparently without imperial edict. Xu then arrested seven other Donglin scholars, including Zhou Zongjian, and killed them in 1626. Over the two-year period of 1625–26, hundreds of other presumed Donglin sympathizers were demoted or purged from the government by Xu and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Although Wei's exact involvement in these arrests and killings

5166-421: The palace was issued in the name of the emperor as well as Wei, the "Depot Minister". Fourteen of Wei's relatives were either ennobled or received hereditary military positions; some were even appointed to high official positions. As fear of Wei's power became more and more prevalent in China, many local officials commissioned the building of temples in his honor, much to the chagrin of Confucian scholars. After

5248-495: The past 400 years, other stories of his early life have appeared, many showing him as a ruffian and a compulsive gambler. Through a relative of his mother, Wei was able to enter into service in the Forbidden City . After he became an imperial eunuch, he used the name Li Jinzhong. As a eunuch in the Ming court, Wei slowly gained the favor of various palace officials while working in various unofficial positions. In 1605, he

5330-430: 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

5412-507: The restoration of the weisuo military colony system, and the execution of disloyal peasants. Li Zicheng took Xi'an in late 1643, renaming it Chang'an , which had been the city's name when it was the capital of the Tang dynasty . On the lunar New Year of 1644, he proclaimed himself king of the Shun dynasty and prepared to capture Beijing . By this point, the situation had become critical for

5494-481: 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

5576-467: 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

5658-485: The throne. However, the empress refused. Because none of the Tianqi Emperor's three sons lived to adulthood, the emperor conferred the right to rule to his younger brother, Zhu Youjian, who became the Chongzhen Emperor on 2 October 1627. Although the Chongzhen Emperor was intent on ruling without any decision-making surrogates, he did not immediately dismiss Wei. When Wei offered to resign just six days after

5740-833: 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

5822-464: 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

5904-524: Was dismembered and displayed in his native village as a warning to the public. By 1629, 161 of Wei's associates had been punished by the Chongzhen Emperor; of those, 24 were sentenced to execution. Madam Ke was beaten to death by an interrogator just 11 days after Wei's death. Since his death, Wei has been seen by Chinese people and scholars as an instigator of Zhu Youjiao's abuse of power and collective atrocities. According to historical Chinese scholars, Wei's faults lay not necessarily in his persecution of

5986-483: Was given the job of serving meals to Lady Wang and her infant son Zhu Youjiao, who would eventually become the Tianqi Emperor . While serving in this position, he grew close to Zhu Youjiao's wet nurse, Madame Ke . As Zhu Youjiao grew older, he became extremely attached to both Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian, treating them as his de facto parents when his mother died in 1619. When the Wanli Emperor and his heir,

6068-624: Was regarded as the decisively fatal blow. At the time of his death, Yuan was supreme commander of all Ming forces in the northeast, and had just rushed from the borders to defend the capital against a surprise Manchu invasion. For much of the preceding decade, Yuan had served as the Ming Empire's bulwark in the north, where he was responsible for securing Ming borders at a time when the Empire was suffering humiliating defeat after defeat. His unjust death destroyed Ming military morale and removed one of

6150-414: Was said to have walked to Meishan, a small hill in present-day Jingshan Park . There, he either hanged himself on a tree , or strangled himself with a sash. By some accounts, the emperor left a suicide note that said, "I die unable to face my ancestors in the underworld, dejected and ashamed. May the rebels dismember my corpse and slaughter my officials, but let them not despoil the imperial tombs nor harm

6232-441: Was son of the Taichang Emperor and younger brother of the Tianqi Emperor , whom he succeeded to the throne in 1627. He battled peasant rebellions and was not able to defend the northern frontier against the Manchu . When rebels under Li Zicheng reached the capital Beijing in 1644, he committed suicide, ending the Ming dynasty . The Manchu formed the succeeding Qing dynasty . In 1645, Zhu Yousong , who had proclaimed himself

6314-488: Was soon released, his status was reduced to that of a commoner and he returned to Jiangnan. Wen Tiren would later become Grand Secretary himself. In the early 17th century, persistent drought and famine driven by the Little Ice Age accelerated the collapse of the Ming dynasty. Two major popular uprisings swelled up, led by Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng , both poor men from famine-hit Shaanxi who took up arms in

6396-529: Was sorely needed. Donglin sympathizer and Ming censor Zhou Zongjian impeached Wei Zhongxian in July 1622, imploring the emperor to remove him from the palace. In 1624, Yang Lian wrote a memorial to Tianqi condemning Wei of "24 crimes", some of them fabricated. Both attempts were unsuccessful and turned Wei against the Donglin party. As head of the Eastern Depot, Wei's power to arrest and convict dissidents

6478-465: Was still 15 and underaged). Thus, Yang Lian invaded the Forbidden City, captured Zhu Youxiao, and had him proclaimed emperor in his own right. With Lady Li deposed, it became much easier for Wei and Madame Ke to influence the imperial court's decisions. Soon after Zhu Youxiao was enthroned as the Tianqi Emperor , it became clear that he was much more interested in carpentry and building projects than in court matters; he often left such matters to Wei, who

6560-555: Was technically confined to peasants and merchants. Arrests and interrogations of officials had to be done through the Embroidered Uniform Guard , who were under command of prison director Xu Xianchun. However, Wei's true power came through his commission to deliver the emperor's edicts, as well as his close relationship with the emperor. In 1625, Xu then arrested six of the Donglin party's leaders, including Yang Lian (Wei's detractor), whom he had accused of squandering public money through their bureaucracy positions. Xu then subjected Yang and

6642-427: Was the fifth son of Zhu Changluo, the Taichang Emperor , and one of his low-ranking concubines, Lady Liu . When Zhu Youjian was four years old, his mother was executed by his father for reasons unknown and was buried secretly. Zhu Youjian was then adopted by his father's other concubines. He was first raised by Consort Kang, and after she adopted his eldest brother Zhu Youxiao , he was raised by Consort Zhuang. All of

6724-747: Was then promoted to be the Brush-Holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial (Sili Jian Bingbi Taijian), and the Grand Secretaries. Wei's loyalty to the Tianqi Emperor paid quick dividends – by 1625, he had become the minister of the Eastern Depot , a force of over one thousand uniformed policemen headquartered in the Forbidden City. As the Tianqi Emperor's de facto father and protector, Wei eventually became responsible for delivering imperial edicts, and any order from

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