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51-607: Since 2006, Sinohydro , the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Honduran company Desarrollos Energéticos (DESA) have made preparations for four hydroelectric dams without consulting the Lenca, including the Agua Zarca dam. Construction began in 2012, and in 2013 river access was blocked, after which the Lenca started to protest. They have been met with violence, detention and torture. In March 2013 during

102-443: 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

153-434: 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

204-407: 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

255-610: 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

306-573: 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 ),

357-583: A peaceful protest at the dam office, Tomas García was shot and killed. In March 2016, Berta Cáceres , an internationally known indigenous activist who was a leader of the opposition to the dam, was also shot and killed. In June 2017, the banks financing the project suspended and withdrew funding because of the controversy. The Gualcarque originates in the Reserva Biológica Opalaca in Intibucá flowing eastward for 2.4 miles (3.9 km) to

408-440: 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,

459-561: Is based in Beijing , China. The company has gone on the path of international expansion, becoming a "face of China expansion" across the world by pursuing operations in 55 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe (from the European headquarters of Belgrade , Serbia ), North America, and South America. In the course of international expansion, the company has run into bumps ranging from political risk to environmental controversy. Workers of

510-454: 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

561-813: 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

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612-623: 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

663-484: Is used for washing. Berta Cáceres has stated: "In our worldviews, we are beings who come from the Earth, from the water and from corn. The Lenca people are ancestral guardians of the rivers, in turn protected by the spirits of young girls, who teach us that giving our lives in various ways for the protection of the rivers is giving our lives for the well-being of humanity and of this planet." The Gualcarque River belongs to

714-547: 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,

765-670: 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

816-770: The Padma Bridge Padma Multi-Purpose Bridge in Lohajong, South of capital Dhaka. Contract Period : 4 years+1year (defect liability period). Contract Cost : BDT: 8707.81 crore. Date of work order : 31 December 2014. Date of Completion : Physical Progress of Work : Handed over land to Contractor, Mobilization of equipments & procurement of materials as well as Contractor's accommodation, stack yard, casting yard etc. construction are going on. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write

867-459: 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

918-482: 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

969-520: 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

1020-548: The Central American Bank of Economic Integration. The purpose was to create a 300 metres (980 ft) long reservoir, divert 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of the river and generate 22 MW hydroelectric power. When construction machinery arrived in 2006, community members of Río Blanco asked the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) for help; the Lenca have said that

1071-470: 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

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1122-486: The IFC, concerned about human rights violations, withdrew its funding. In March 2016, Berta Cáceres was shot in her home and killed as well. FMO and Finnfund suspended their loans 16 days after her assassination. In 2021, a court ruled that Roberto David Castillo, President of the dam company, DESA, had planned the murder and hired the gunmen. In June 2017, the banks financing the project suspended and withdrew funding because of

1173-778: The Sarawak Report was hacked after it published the story. The main operating company of the group is Sinohydro Ltd ( 中国水利水电建设股份有限公司 ) which is a major subsidiary formed from units of the Group parent ( 中国水利水电建设集团公司 ) and Sinohydro Consulting ( 中国水电工程顾问集团公司 ) and now held through a holding company Sinohydro Group Limited ( 中国电力建设集团有限公司 ). The company engages in architectural projects, electric power investment, house property and real estate , research and development , and design and manufacture of construction equipment . It provides investment, project financing, consultation, and construction services. The company also engages in

1224-574: The affiliated company Power Construction Corporation were abducted in 2012 by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North while building a road in Sudan . In a Daily Star article dated Aug 4, 2014, the company admitted to being under temporary debarment by the World Bank in response to a query by Bangladesh government with reference to a bid placed for the Padma Bridge project. In Malaysia ,

1275-428: 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

1326-407: 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

1377-403: The company worked on a joint venture with Sime Engineering to build the largest dam in the country. The Malaysian blog Sarawak Report alleged that Sinohydro had widely used a technique involving adding excessive water to cement, making the construction unsafe. Sinohydro responded that the dam was safe but some work like the cleaning of silos was not done "following instructions". The webpage of

1428-409: The controversy. Sinohydro Sinohydro ( Chinese : 中国水电 ; long form : 中国水利水电建设集团公司) is a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company . In the 2012 Engineering News-Record Top 225 Global Contractors, a ranking by annual revenue, the company is 14th by overall position, and 6th among Chinese construction companies. The company was founded in 1950, and

1479-473: 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

1530-476: 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

1581-634: 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

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1632-463: 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

1683-475: 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

1734-511: 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

1785-591: The geothermal sites in northwest Honduras, the Azacualpa thermal springs, surrounding the Yojoa Lake , which is affected by a rough east–west extensional tectonic regime and by Holocene magmatism . The river emerges from a north-northwest to south-south east trending normal fault system just southwest of the Yojoa Lake. Water samples had the lowest measured temperature at 52.5 °C (126.5 °F) and

1836-466: 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

1887-458: The land it had acquired, destroying corn and bean fields, fruit trees and coffee plantations. At the end of March 2013 DESA security officers blocked access to the river, and affected communities started a street blockade. Protesters were "attacked with machetes, discredited, detained, and tortured", and a leader from Río Blanco named Tomas García was shot and killed during a peaceful protest. In late 2013, Sinohydro terminated its contract with DESA;

1938-465: 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,

1989-545: The lowest salinity in the whole Azacualpa area, where thermal springs abound. Since 2006, the Chinese company Sinohydro , the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Honduran company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA) had been planning to construct four hydroelectric dams at the Gualcarque, the so-called Agua Zarca Dam. DESA financed the projects by loans from the FMO, Finnish finance company FinnFund and

2040-515: The manufacture and installation of mechanical and electrical plants. It trades in water conservancy , power generation , expressway, railway, harbor and sea-route, airport, municipal public utility , and building industries. The management and operation of the hydro-electric power station will be delivered to the IEC upon completion of the project in the end of 2022. Selected by the government of Bangladesh for River Training Works(14 km length) of

2091-402: 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,

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2142-628: The project would "jeopardize their water resource and livelihood" and that they have not been consulted about the project, per international law. Together with Berta Cáceres , they organized a local assembly which formally voted against the dam, filed complaints with government authorities in Tegucigalpa , organized and conducted protests against the project, and brought the case to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission . In 2012, DESA started construction on

2193-430: 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

2244-465: 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

2295-577: The reserve's border, where it is crossed by the only road in its entire course, the V-608. It then turns to the north, flowing through the entire length of the Reserva de Vida Silvestre Montaña Verde at its eastern border and upon exiting it discharges into the Río Grande de Otoro . The river is considered sacred to the indigenous Lenca . It provides drinking water, is used to fish, irrigate fields, and

2346-481: 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

2397-467: 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

2448-497: 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

2499-833: 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

2550-522: 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

2601-464: 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

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