79-491: The Beiyang Fleet ( Pei-yang Fleet ; simplified Chinese : 北洋舰队 ; traditional Chinese : 北洋艦隊 ; pinyin : Běiyáng Jiànduì ; Wade–Giles : Pei-yang Chien-tui ; lit. 'Northern Ocean Fleet', alternatively Northern Seas Fleet ) was one of the four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty . Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang , one of
158-540: A naval infantry unit of 300 marines who were identified by their red uniforms as opposed to the regular Beiyang Navy personnels white dress uniforms for the summer & autumn, and blue dress uniform for the winter & spring. The marines role also involved military policing and firefighting along with their role in amphibious warfare. The marines saw action following the First Sino-Japanese War when it attempted to retake Nanbang Fort (南幫炮台) after it
237-443: 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
316-434: 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
395-407: 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
474-569: A minimum of 636 trained cadets in a fleet numbering 4,000. Senior command of the fleet however went to Ding Ruchang , an army officer without any formal training who was noted for his courage and capability in land affairs therefore William Lang was appointed as Chief Inspector of the Beiyang navy in 1882 and re-appointed for another term in 1885 however Lang resigned following the Flag-hoisting incident where Beiyang officers refused to hoist
553-610: 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
632-573: 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 ),
711-578: A standstill, which eventually contributed to its defeat in the Battle of the Yalu River against Japan. Much of the diverted funding was re-directed to the renovation and repairs of the New Summer Palace and construction of a marble boat a total of $ 12mil was diverted from the naval fund between 1889 and 1894. Prior to 1888 the budget of the Beiyang fleet was two million taels however in 1888
790-440: 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,
869-454: 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
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#1732765858077948-600: Is now carried out at the Britannia Royal Naval College , and the new Joint Services Command and Staff College , created in 1997, took over the staff college functions. The college was established in buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1696 and 1712, then intended to serve as the Greenwich Hospital , a home for disabled sailors. This closed in 1869, when the pensioners were transferred to other places, leaving
1027-813: 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
1106-623: 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
1185-547: 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,
1264-633: The Admiralty considered them to be "weak in structure". The Admiralty view proved correct when both Chinese ships were lost in the Sino-Japanese War. (So were the Japanese Elswick Cruisers Yoshino and Takasago during the 1904 Russo-Japanese War , though not for the design reasons – the first was accidentally rammed, and the second struck a mine and blew up.) These foreign-built ships were joined in 1889 by
1343-530: The Battle of Yalu River (1894) , the Beiyang Fleet suffered heavy losses due to the surprise attack of the Japanese and the inferiority of its equipment, and was eventually annihilated in the Battle of Weihaiwei . Minor attempts to rebuild the fleet were made after the war, but the Beiyang Navy was never to reattain its former significance. From 1896 to 1899 the fleet received new ships from Germany and
1422-782: The British Army was the Staff College, Camberley , and the equivalent in the Royal Air Force was the RAF Staff College, Bracknell . The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was founded by an Order in Council dated 16 January 1873. The establishment of its officers consisted of a president, who was always a flag officer; a captain, Royal Navy; a director of studies; and professors of mathematics, physical science, chemistry, applied mechanics, and fortification. It
1501-670: 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
1580-474: The Fuzhou arsenal established in 1866 produced many naval officers which Li hired for the Beiyang navy however the academy also had to provide officers for the other three fleets and with the academy producing only 630 cadets over a 14-year period this was insufficient and Li established the Beiyang naval college in 1880 which produced 300 cadets within the same 14-year period however Fuzhou graduates still composed
1659-823: The Second Sea Lord (and from 1994 an honorary role held by the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff ). Presidents included: The following individuals served as Director of Studies: Now known as the Old Royal Naval College , the college's former buildings are open to the public and are the home of three attractions; the Painted Hall , the chapel, and the Discover Greenwich visitor centre. The site has also been used as
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#17327658580771738-485: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich , was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college , which provided advanced training for officers. The equivalent in
1817-459: 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
1896-487: The 1894–1895 First Sino-Japanese War . It was the largest fleet in Asia and the 8th in the world during the late 1880s in terms of tonnage . The creation of the Beiyang Fleet dated back to 1871, when four ships from the southern provinces were shifted north to patrol the northern waters. The Beiyang fleet was initially considered to be the weakest of the four Chinese regional navies. This soon changed when Li Hongzhang allotted
1975-482: 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
2054-520: 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
2133-480: The Admiral's flag due to Ding Ruchang's absence Lang felt insulted when Li did not support him and Lang resigned in anger. It was necessary for a modern fleet to possess fortified dockyards and bases for the maintenance and repair of ships of that navy. Li Hongzhang endeavoured therefore to create the necessary support needed for the fleet. The remit of the Beiyang fleet was the protection of the coastal waters between
2212-592: The Beiyang fleet was formally subordinated to the Navy Yamen (the Qing equivalent to a naval ministry) this saw the budget reduced to 1.3 million taels and in 1891 the Hubu recommended against the purchasing of large guns for the navy and in favour of the reduction of naval personnel, this made any effort of modernisation or even maintenance extremely difficult and meant that many of the Chinese ships went into action in
2291-470: 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
2370-527: The Japanese in Korea . The result was the loss of two Chinese warships from the Nanyang Fleet at the Battle of Shipu (14 February 1885). Li's selfish attitude was neither forgotten nor forgiven, and in the First Sino-Japanese War the Nanyang Fleet made little attempt to help the Beiyang Fleet. In 1894, on the eve of the war with Japan, the Beiyang Fleet was in theory the most powerful fleet in Asia. It
2449-483: The Qing dynasty's high expenditures in other fields. Grand Tutor Weng Tonghe advised the Guangxu Emperor to cut all funding to the navy and army, because he did not see Japan as a true threat, and there were several natural disasters during the early 1890s which the emperor thought to be more pressing to expend funds on. Because of the lack of funding, the training of the fleet and personnel essentially came to
Beiyang Fleet - Misplaced Pages Continue
2528-638: The Sino-French War. In February 1885 the Beiyang Fleet reluctantly released two of its ships, Chaoyong and Yangwei , to join a sortie launched by a number of ships of the Nanyang Fleet to break the French blockade of Formosa . The two ships set sail for Shanghai to join the Nanyang vessels, but were almost immediately recalled by Li Hongzhang, who claimed that they were needed to watch
2607-801: The United Kingdom, including the Hai Qi -class cruisers Hai Qi and Hai Tien that arrived in Dagū , where they became part of the reorganized Beiyang Fleet at the time of the Boxer Rebellion . In 1909 the Beiyang and Nanyang fleets were merged and re-organised into the Sea Fleet and the River Fleet. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write
2686-513: The Vulcan yard at Stettin. Another pair of protected cruisers, Chingyuan (靖遠) and Zhiyuan (致遠), were built by Armstrong Whitworth at its new Elswick yard in 1887. The latter pair were a class loosely known as the "Elswick Cruisers", ships built for export under a generally similar design. These cruisers were fast (25 knots) and heavily armed, but were not adopted by the Royal Navy because
2765-601: The Vulcan yard in Stettin for the use of the steel battleships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan . These four craft, known respectively as Dingyuan No. 1 and No. 2 and Zhenyuan No. 1 and No. 2, were delayed in harbour by the Germans during the Sino-French War along with their mother ships, and joined the Beiyang Fleet in October 1885. Torpedo boats Training ships Auxiliary ships Transport The Beiyang Fleet maintained
2844-494: The armoured cruiser Pingyuan , a product of the Foochow Navy Yard originally named Longwei ( Lung-wei , 龍威). The Beiyang Fleet also included six steel but unarmoured British-built gunboats, delivered in 1879. These gunboats, of identical specifications, were named respectively Zhenbei ("Guard the north"), Zhendong ("Guard the east"), Zhennan ("Guard the south"), Zhenxi ("Guard the west"), Zhenbian ("Guard
2923-618: The autumn of 1885, after the end of the Sino-French War. In late June 1884, when the news of the Bắc Lệ ambush broke, the French admiral Sébastien Lespès , commander of the Far East naval division, was cruising off Che-foo in the Gulf of Petchili with the French warships La Galissonnière , Triomphante , Volta and Lutin , while the Beiyang Fleet lay at anchor in Che-foo harbour. Although war
3002-677: The base. This city sits at the Northeastern tip of the Shandong peninsula and guarded the southern entrance to the Bohai bay. The harbour of Weihai was guarded by Liugong Island and had excellent deep waters for the basing of large warships. The naval base was established in 1887 due to the limited budget of the fleet soon the harbour was fortified , with an arsenal including a torpedo factory being constructed too, other facilities included an ammunition depot and coaling facilities important for
3081-427: The buildings available for a new use. The site of the former hospital had once been occupied by the medieval Palace of Placentia , or "Palace at Greenwich", begun by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester , in 1428. After the Royal Navy departed in 1998 the buildings were opened to the public as the Old Royal Naval College . The president of the college was a full-time post until 1982 when it became an honorary role held by
3160-458: The calculations of the French government between 1883 and 1885. The Beiyang Fleet was due to take delivery in early 1884 of Dingyuan , Jiyuan and Zhenyuan , three modern warships then building in German shipyards. In December 1883, as war with China seemed increasingly likely, the French persuaded the German government to delay the release of these three ships. They did not reach China until
3239-428: 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
Beiyang Fleet - Misplaced Pages Continue
3318-407: 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
3397-542: The college at Greenwich in 1914. During World War I the Royal Naval College was requisitioned as a barracks and for scientific experiments. The training of officers was not resumed until 1919. On 30 October 1939 the college began to train officers of the Women's Royal Naval Service . During World War II , the college increased the number of officers of both sexes trained for an expanded Navy. Its major task
3476-497: The college since 1873, transferred to University College London in 1967. The Royal Naval College continued to train women until 1976, when their courses were transferred to the Britannia Royal Naval College . From 1983 the relocated Joint Services Defence College also occupied much of the King Charles building. With a shrinking Royal Navy, the decision was taken to close RNC Greenwich in 1998. All initial officer training
3555-473: 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
3634-476: 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
3713-650: The first Sino-Japanese war in a state of disrepair and unmodernised. The state of disrepair was so acute that when the Dingyuan fired its 10-inch guns at the beginning of the battle of the Yellow Sea its flying bridge flew sending Admiral Ding and Tyler flying along with it. The British naval officer Captain William Lang was recruited by Hart and Li Hongzhi in 1882 to advise the Chinese in naval matters. Other foreign officers hired include: The Fuzhou academy in
3792-634: 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
3871-463: 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
3950-425: The flagships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were purchased from Germany, the superiority in strength of the Beiyang Fleet became evident, as Germany was the emerging world power, rivalling Britain (which dominated the ocean) in new naval construction. The Qing Chinese navy at its peak consisted of 78 ships, with a total tonnage of 83,900 tons. However, construction of new ships almost completely stopped in 1888 owing to
4029-408: The fleet in 1881 and which Li Hongzhang prudently kept far from the scene of action during the Sino-French War, were products of Laird's yard , Birkenhead . Three German-built cruisers, Jiyuan , Jingyuan (normally romanised as Kingyuan or King Yuen (經遠) to distinguish her from another, British-built, cruiser whose name was pronounced identically) and Laiyuan (來遠), were completed in 1887 in
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#17327658580774108-461: The fleet. This base sat at the southeastern tip of the Liaodong peninsula and guarded the northern entrance to the Bohai bay. Construction of the base was given particular priority, and a French syndicate constructed most of the facilities; the construction ran from 1880 to 1890 and cost approximately three million taels. The port also hosted torpedo and mining facilities and hosted a large dockyard
4187-475: 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
4266-511: 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
4345-569: The frontier") and Zhenzhong ("Guard the interior"). The first four ships were originally to have been allocated to the Nanyang Fleet, but Li Hongzhang was so impressed with their quality that he took them over for the Beiyang Fleet, compensating the Nanyang Fleet with four elderly gunboats that had served with the Beiyang Fleet since 1876. The Beiyang Fleet also possessed an array of small torpedo boats. Exact numbers are uncertain, because these craft were not systematically listed, but some details are known. Four 16-ton torpedo boats were built in 1883 at
4424-466: 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
4503-465: 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,
4582-485: The majority of naval funds to the Beiyang Fleet. In 1884, on the eve of the Sino-French War , the Beiyang Fleet was the second-largest regional navy but was gradually closing the gap with the Nanyang Fleet , based at Shanghai. By 1890, it was the largest of China's four regional navies. Unlike the other Chinese fleets, the Beiyang Fleet consisted mostly of battleships imported from Germany and Great Britain. When
4661-500: The majority of the graduates in the fleet. Nonetheless, these two academies only provided basic and general naval training which was insufficient for a modern fleet so 35 cadets were sent to study in the Royal Naval College Greenwich , Royal Artillery academy Woolwich and others with a more practical assignment in the Royal Navy itself when these students returned to China they were appointed captains this meant
4740-402: 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,
4819-520: The most trusted vassals of Empress Dowager Cixi and the principal patron of the " self-strengthening movement " in northern China in his capacity as the Viceroy of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang Commerce (北洋通商大臣). Due to Li's influence in the imperial court, the Beiyang Fleet garnered much greater resources than the other Chinese fleets and soon became the dominant navy in Asia before the onset of
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#17327658580774898-556: The mouth of the Yalu river and the bay of Jiaozhou a large section of the coastline and an important one as it guarded the Bohai bay and therefore the approaches to Tianjin and the capital Beijing. Li decided to fortify the ports of Lushunkou , Weihaiwei and Tianjin that formed a triangle within the Bohai bay. This port at the mouth of the Hai river and the port city of the capital Beijing
4977-603: The only one capable of repairing the Dingyuan class battleships . Port Arthur was of particular importance that the Navy Regulations stipulated half the year must be spent there by senior officers of the fleet. However, there is controversy over the decision to adopt Lushunkou as the primary base given its relative isolation something that proved particularly important in the First Sino-Japanese war, this
5056-430: 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
5135-465: 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
5214-481: 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
5293-408: 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
5372-427: 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
5451-699: 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
5530-463: 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
5609-415: 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
5688-474: Was attacked by Japanese forces on Christmas day of 1895 and fell on December 29 1895. However the marines failed to dislodge the Japanese from the fort. In 1894, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched the First Sino-Japanese War against China. Due to the lack of government funding and the intensive Japanese naval program, Beiyang's once superior resources were becoming outdated. By the time of
5767-452: Was clearly imminent, France and China remained technically at peace, and Lespès was forbidden to attack the Beiyang Fleet pending the outcome of diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis. On 3 July 1884 the Beiyang Fleet's commander, Admiral Ding Ruchang (丁汝昌), withdrew his ships from Che-foo to Pei-ho, where a strong bar across the harbour protected them from the French ships. The fleet remained at Pei-ho in almost complete idleness throughout
5846-505: Was commissioned in the King William building in 1962. In 1967 Queen Elizabeth II knighted Francis Chichester on the river steps of the college, honouring his achievement in circumnavigating the world as a solo yachtsman, using the old route of the clippers , becoming the first to do so. His was also the fastest such circumnavigation, taking nine months and one day. The Royal School of Naval Architecture , which had been part of
5925-433: Was explained as being necessary as Li as the limited budget of the fleet meant that despite Qingdao being the superior naval base with a larger and more amenable bay the financial capacity to establish a base was not sufficient. The Beiyang Fleet took good care to stay out of range of Admiral Amédée Courbet 's Far East Squadron during the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885). Nevertheless, it featured prominently in
6004-496: Was only one of China's four regional fleets, but in numbers it equalled Japan's entire fleet. The pride of the Beiyang Fleet were the German-built steel turret battleships Dingyuan (定遠) and Zhenyuan (鎮遠). Between 1881 and 1889 the Beiyang Fleet acquired a squadron of eight protected or armoured cruisers , most of which were built in either Britain or Germany. The cruisers Chaoyong (超勇) and Yangwei (揚威), which joined
6083-717: Was strategically important and was also the headquarters of the entirety of the Beiyang fleet. The base also hosted the Dagu shipyards, the Tianjin Arsenal, the Tianjin Naval college, the Beiyang Military Academy. The base at Tianjin hosted the telegraph office and academy of the fleet making it important for communication as well as a medical academy and a hospital for naval personnel the torpedo and mining detachments also had their headquarters based in
6162-431: Was the training of fighting officers, and around 35,000 men and women graduated during that period. In 1943, the beautiful Admiral's House on the north wing of King Charles Court was damaged by a direct hit from a German bomb; another bomb hit the front of the building. The Navy's Department of Nuclear Science and Technology opened on the college premises in 1959, and JASON , the department's research and training reactor,
6241-551: Was to take in officers who were already sub-lieutenants and to operate as "the university of the Navy". The director of studies, a civilian, was in charge of an academic board, while the captain of the college was a naval officer who acted as chief of staff . The Royal Naval War College , which had been established at Greenwich in November 1900 before being removed to first Devonport and then Portsmouth, transferred its activities to
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