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61-401: Liu Cixin ( Chinese : 刘慈欣 ; pinyin : Liú Cíxīn , pronounced  [ljǒʊ tsʰɨ̌ɕín] ; born 23 June 1963) is a Chinese computer engineer and science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of China's Galaxy Award and has also received the 2015 Hugo Award for his novel The Three-Body Problem as well as the 2017 Locus Award for Death's End . He

122-401: A cage and dumped into cold water. The video was taped by a member of the movie crew. There was a claim that between shots, the dog was worked into a frenzy so he would bark as loudly as possible, and that this had been done on several takes. The director did not give a statement, but Crazy Alien actor Matthew Morrison said he was heartbroken after seeing the video. The studio responded that

183-478: A camera. Due to the setting being an amusement park, it has many replicas of famous architectural monuments around the world. The Armenikan agents intercept the transmission of the photographs, believing it to be in those locations, they go to the Kremlin and the pyramids of Giza , shooting everyone along the way. They eventually catch up with the alien. Meanwhile, Geng and Shen differ in opinion on what to do with

244-443: 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

305-538: A consulting producer on the project. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were named as writers and executive producers. Other members of the creative team included executive producer Rian Johnson , Ram Bergman , Bernadette Caulfield , Nena Rodrigue, Lin Qi, and Rosamund Pike . The Netflix television adaptation started production in early November 2021, with a scheduled finish date in August 2022. In November 2023, Netflix released

366-434: 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

427-407: 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

488-610: 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

549-573: 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 ),

610-519: A script. Crazy Alien is the final installment in Ning Hao's black comedy trilogy. It began in 2006 with Crazy Stone , continuing with 2009's Crazy Racer . Shooting began in Qingdao , Shandong on July 26, 2017 and ended on December 9 of that same year. Filming locations included Qingdao , Changsha , Russia and France . In March 2018, a video surfaced showing a dog being spun around in

671-463: A sensation of Chinese science fiction literature within Chinese territory and internationally. In 2012, the winner of the Nobel Prize of Literature, Mo Yan , acclaimed the remarkable originality of Liu Cixin. Liu's fiction focuses primarily on problems such as social inequality, scientific development and ecological limitations that impact humanity. Chinese video platform Tencent Video released

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732-529: A series based on The Three-Body Problem in January 2023. A cinematic adaptation of The Three-Body Problem has been filmed, but its release has been indefinitely postponed. In March 2018, Amazon was rumored to be negotiating for the rights to the project. However, YooZoo Pictures released a statement in response stating that it was the "sole owner of the rights for film and TV series adaptations." Although it "was originally scheduled to be released in 2017,"

793-554: A sneak peek and announced that the drama would be released 21 March 2024. Chinese video sharing website Bilibili released a series exploring the science of Liu Cixin's science fiction in November 2022. Liu is married and has a daughter. In a June 2019 interview published in The New Yorker , interviewer Jiayang Fan found that Liu "prefers to avoid" talking about politics. In the same article, Liu stated that democracy

854-440: 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,

915-719: Is also a winner of the Chinese Nebula Award . In English translations of his works, his name is given as Cixin Liu . He is a member of China Science Writers Association and the vice president of Shanxi Writers Association. He is sometimes called "Da Liu" ("Big Liu") by his fellow science fiction writers in China. Liu was born on 23 June 1963 in Beijing and raised in Yangquan , Shanxi, where his parents had been sent to work in

976-454: 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

1037-813: 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

1098-623: 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

1159-547: 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,

1220-670: 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

1281-577: The second highest-grossing film in the Chinese box office within 2 weeks. The science-fiction comedy film Crazy Alien , adapted from his science fiction short story The Village Teacher , had grossed 2.2 billion at the box office, making it the fifteenth film in Chinese film history with a box office exceeding 2 billion. US streaming platform Netflix announced in September 2020 that it had ordered an English-language series based on Liu's well-known trilogy The Three-Body Problem . Liu would serve as

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1342-533: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Crazy Alien An alien diplomat ( Xu Zheng ) is sent to Earth to establish intergalactic diplomatic relations. The superpower nation "Armenika" (a portmanteau of Armenia and the United States of America ) selfishly hide this contact with alien life, believing they are "the most advanced civilization on earth" and therefore have

1403-459: 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

1464-412: The "monkey". Geng wishes to sell it but Shen instead wishes to make it a successful performer. The alien regains access to its headband which gives it telekinetic powers and confronts the two men, turning the tables and forcing them to perform for its amusement. It demands Geng to sign the treaty by putting a new ball in his mouth, but he misunderstands and swallows the ball. They outsmart the alien, getting

1525-482: 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

1586-520: 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

1647-470: 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

1708-552: The alien very drunk, believing they have killed it, immerse its body in alcohol, planning to sell it. When the Armenikans arrive they hide the alien by dressing up their performing monkey in the alien's suit. They are taken with the disguised monkey to the Armenikan embassy, and the Armenikans interrogate them about the alien. They agree to help. Extracting the ball from his feces, Geng presents it to Stockton, who proceeds to sign

1769-463: The alien's headband. Having been in the circus monkey business their entire life, they do not know anything else, so they begin to train the alien as a performing monkey, much to the diplomat's disgust. Meanwhile, Armenika sends John Stockton ( Tom Pelphrey ), their top operative, to search for the alien. The alien manages to take photographs of its surroundings by gaining access to its headband for brief periods of time, one of its gadgets apparently being

1830-428: 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

1891-407: 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

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1952-473: 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

2013-410: The dog did fall into the water twice. They however contradicted PETA's account, arguing that the dogs were under the supervision and ownership of expert contractors and appropriate tents had been set up to dry the dogs with heating equipment. Several takes occurred without problem. On the final two takes the equipment failed resulting in the dog falling into the water. After the second failure the decision

2074-476: 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

2135-573: The first author from Asia to win Best Novel. The German translation (which included some portions of the original text not included in the English translation) followed in 2016. Ken Liu also translated the third volume of The Three-Body Problem series, Death's End , in 2016. Death's End was a 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel finalist and won a 2017 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel . Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy has been

2196-634: 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

2257-463: 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

2318-399: The flash as a sign of aggression. A satellite hits the alien spaceship, causing it to tumble out of orbit, landing in an amusement park. Two Chinese men working at the park, monkey trainer Geng Hao ( Huang Bo ) and his business-savvy wine merchant friend Shen Tengfei ( Shen Teng ), find the crashed alien spaceship, mistaking the alien diplomat for an exotic South American monkey, and remove

2379-475: 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

2440-459: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during

2501-540: The government is helping their economy and trying to lift them out of poverty." Liu's works (including some of his adaptations) contain various subtle and plot-wide criticisms of actions of the Chinese Communist Party . In one such case, Liu moved a brutal struggle session from where it was hidden in the middle of the book to the beginning of The Three Body Problem ' s English translation, when suggested by his translator, Ken Liu . In response to

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2562-466: 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

2623-465: 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,

2684-668: The mines. Due to the violence of the Cultural Revolution he was sent to live in his ancestral home in Luoshan County , Henan . Liu graduated from the North China University of Water Conservancy and Electric Power in 1988. He then worked as a computer engineer at a power plant in Shanxi province. Liu cites English authors George Orwell and Arthur C. Clarke as important literary influences. He

2745-402: 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,

2806-409: The project "was postponed indefinitely due to the company's internal shuffling and the rumored 'bad quality' of the film's first cut." In June 2019, it was reported that work had begun on an animated adaptation, and in 2020, October Media announced another adaptation in the works. The cinematic adaptation of his short story The Wandering Earth was released in China on 5 February 2019, which became

2867-1019: The prominently placed plot point, Liu Cixin acted positively and replied "That is how I wanted it originally!" The Netflix adaptation, where Liu Cixin was also a Consulting Producer , also starts with the struggle session. Liu Cixin's Chinese publishers chose to place the politically charged scene in the middle of the book instead of the beginning, in order to get past government censors . Polish science fiction critic Wojciech Orliński argued that Liu's works such as Remembrance of Earth's Past and The Wandering Earth represent endorsement of concepts of world government , consequentialism as well as tacit approval of "China's surveillance and control society ". 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2009 2010 2011 2014 2016 2018 2003 2004 2008 2014 2020 2024 2003 Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write

2928-430: 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

2989-465: 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

3050-481: 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

3111-467: 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

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3172-480: The sole right to do so. However, the alien resents its assignment due to the requirement to interact with lower life forms. The treaty must be signed by exchanging DNA which is performed by putting a ball into the mouth and coating it with saliva. Captain Zach Andrews ( Matthew Morrison ), through his own sense of self-importance, fumbles the signing of the treaty when he takes a selfie, and the alien interprets

3233-427: 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

3294-833: 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

3355-448: The treaty. The two men successfully pass off the monkey as the alien, performing their usual monkey show but with commentary explaining the fine points of intergalactic diplomatic etiquette and are let go. Stockton is told by a forensic scientist that the DNA they extracted from the ball was from a monkey, himself and an Asian man's feces. Discovering that he had been tricked, Stockton pursues

3416-468: The two men. Upon returning home, Geng and Shen discover the alien has resurrected. Stockton follows and arrives shortly after. A final battle ensues and ends with the two Chinese men getting drunk with the alien, signing the treaty with a third and final ball and the alien telekinetically taking all the alcohol home with it. Ning Hao stated that Crazy Alien is partly influenced by " The Village Teacher " written by Liu Cixin . He spent five years writing

3477-522: 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

3538-464: 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

3599-503: Was labeled the first cyberpunk Chinese author after his novel China 2185 was published in 1989. Liu's most famous work, The Three-Body Problem , was first published in 2006. It is the first book in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. American author Ken Liu 's 2014 translation (published by Tor Books ) won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel , and the book sold 1,200,000 copies in China before it won. Liu Cixin thus became

3660-406: Was made not to proceed but to use CGI. An empty cage was then repeatedly dropped into the water to be later combined with CGI. No animals sustained any injuries. Ning Hao purchased the dog from a canine training school, which he personally vetted before hiring them to ensure the dogs were treated well, and it now lives in his family home. He named the dog "August 1st" (Chinese: 八一), the anniversary of

3721-487: Was not appropriate for modern China . When probed by Fan about "individual liberty and freedom of governance", Liu said that this is "not what Chinese people care about", adding "If you were to loosen up the country a bit, the consequences would be terrifying." He expressed support for policies such as the one-child policy and China's Xinjiang policies , saying "Would you rather that they be hacking away at bodies at train stations and schools in terrorist attacks? If anything,

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