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96-555: The Sixteen Kingdoms ( simplified Chinese : 十六国 ; traditional Chinese : 十六國 ; pinyin : Shíliù Guó ), less commonly the Sixteen States , was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states . The majority of these states were founded by the " Five Barbarians ", non- Han peoples who had settled in northern and western China during

192-710: A Jin prince who had moved to the South, continued the dynasty as the Eastern Jin from Jiankang (modern day Nanjing ). The collapse of Jin authority in the North led other leaders to declare independence. In 315, Tuoba Yilu , a Xianbei chieftain, founded the Dai in modern-day Inner Mongolia . In 318, Zhang Shi , the ethnic Chinese governor of Liangzhou founded the Former Liang in modern-day Gansu . After Liu Cong's death,

288-634: A Xiongnu chieftain, rebelled and founded the Xia in northern Shaanxi, and the Western Qin was revived in the southern Shaanxi. In 416, the Eastern Jin under General Liu Yu launched a northern expedition that captured Luoyang and Chang'an and extinguished the Later Qin. The Eastern Jin could not hold these cities as Liu Yu returned south to seize the Jin throne . The Xia kingdom quickly seized Chang'an. In

384-443: 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

480-434: 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

576-686: A descendant of Goguryeo royalty who was adopted into the Murong court, is considered either the last emperor of the Later Yan or the founding emperor of the Northern Yan . In 409, he was killed by Feng Ba, a Han Chinese assimilated to Xianbei culture, who took control of the Northern Yan. During its century-long rule of southern China, the Eastern Jin dynasty, though beset by local rebellions and insurrections, made several attempts to recapture

672-407: 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

768-662: A fratricidal succession struggle and the kingdom was ended in 350 by General Ran Min , an ethnic Chinese who seized the throne and founded the Ran Wei . Ran Min favored Han Chinese and massacred thousands of Jie. He was defeated and killed in 352 by the Murong Xianbei from Liaodong . In 337, Murong Huang founded the Former Yan in Liaodong, which by 356 had expanded into much of Hebei , Henan and Shandong . For

864-572: A magnificent tomb be built for her. The officials were all forced to weep for Empress Fu, with those who could not shed tears punished severely, so they put spicy food in their mouths to stimulate tear production. Eventually, Murong Xi accompanied Empress Fu's funeral procession out of Longcheng. After Murong Xi left Longcheng, Feng Ba and his brother Feng Sufu (馮素弗), who had hidden themselves since Murong Xi had previously wanted to have them executed, conspired with their cousin Feng Wani (馮萬泥) to start

960-610: 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

1056-573: 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 ),

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1152-566: A rebellion. They did so with the help of the general Zhang Xing (張興) and those who had previously conspired with the general Fu Jin (苻進) in a failed coup attempt earlier that year. Because Feng Ba was friendly with Murong Yun, he persuaded Murong Yun to become their leader, and they quickly captured the palace and closed the city gates. Murong Yun was declared the Heavenly King. Murong Xi returned to Longcheng and settled in outside his estate of Longteng Chateau (龍騰苑), preparing an assault on

1248-647: A time, the Former Yan vied for supremacy in northern China with the Former Qin . The Former Qin was founded in 351 by Fu Jian (317–355) , a Di general, who had served under the Later Zhao and surrendered to the Jin before declaring independence in Shaanxi . After his death in 355, the kingdom was briefly handed to his son Fu Sheng , before his nephew Fu Jian (337–385) took control of the leadership. Under

1344-440: 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,

1440-534: Is considered by some historians to be the founder of the Northern Yan, was an ethnic Han who had prominent Xianbei friends, as well as a Xianbei nickname. Gao Yun , considered by other historians to be the Northern Yan founder, was a member of the Goguryeo royal family who had been adopted by Xianbei nobility. Due to fierce competition among the states and internal political instability, the kingdoms of this era were mostly short-lived. For seven years from 376 to 383,

1536-454: 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

1632-813: 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

1728-623: 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

1824-547: 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,

1920-642: The Former Qin briefly unified northern China, but this ended when the Eastern Jin inflicted a crippling defeat on it at the Battle of Fei River , after which the Former Qin splintered and northern China experienced even greater political fragmentation. The fall of the Western Jin dynasty amidst the rise of non-Han regimes in northern China during the Sixteen Kingdoms period resembles the fall of

2016-733: The Hexi Corridor of western Gansu, the Later Liang splintered into the Northern Liang and Southern Liang in 397. The Southern Liang was founded by Tufa Wugu , a Xianbei, in Ledu , Qinghai. The Northern Liang was founded by an ethnic Chinese, Duan Ye in Zhangye , Gansu with the support of Juqu Mengxun , a Xiongnu, who then seized control of the kingdom in 401. In 400, Li Gao , the Chinese commander at Dunhuang broke away from

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2112-762: The Liu Song dynasty . In 423, he planned to launch an expedition against the Northern Wei, but died of illness. The Liu Song dynasty ruled southern China until 479. The ancestral home of the Tuoba Xianbei was the Greater Khingan range of Inner Mongolia. In 258, the clan migrated south to the Yin Mountains and spread into the Ordos Loop region. In 315, chief Tuoba Yilu was recognized as

2208-571: The Northern Liang and founded the short-lived Western Liang . The Western Liang was reabsorbed by the Northern Liang in 421. Li Gao's descendants would go on to found the Tang dynasty in the 7th century. The Southern Liang was conquered by the Western Qin in 414, and the Northern Liang lasted until 439, when it surrendered to the Northern Wei. The Later Yan conquered the Zhai Wei in 392 and

2304-557: The Rouran nomads to the north and began the conquest of Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu. In 427, he captured the Xia capital, Tongwancheng in modern-day Jingbian County , Shaanxi. The Xia under Helian Ding moved to Pingliang , Gansu and conquered the Western Qin at Jincheng (modern day Lanzhou ) in 431. Helian Ding sought an alliance with the Liu Song dynasty but was driven further west by

2400-695: The Western Yan in Shanxi. Yao Chang founded the Later Qin in eastern Gansu . Fu Jian was killed by Yao Chang, but the Former Qin survived by relocating from Shaanxi to Gansu and then Qinghai . In 385, Qifu Guoren , a Xianbei former vassal under Fu Jian, founded the Western Qin . In 386, Lü Guang , a Di general of the Former Qin, founded the Later Liang in western Gansu while Tuoba Gui revived

2496-569: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Gao Yun (emperor) Gao Yun's ancestors were from the Goguryeo royal house. When Murong Huang defeated Goguryeo forces and temporarily occupied its capital Hwando , he took many members of the Goguryeo royal house captive and moved them to Qingshan (青山, in modern Jinzhou , Liaoning ), and their descendants became Former Yan and Later Yan subjects. As of 397, Gao Yun

2592-459: 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

2688-482: 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

2784-520: 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

2880-511: 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

2976-470: 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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3072-641: The Dai as the Northern Wei . In 388, Zhai Liao , an ethnic Dingling leader in Henan founded the Zhai Wei , which was wedged between the Later Yan, Western Yan and Eastern Jin. As many as seven kingdoms coexisted for nine years. The Later Qin, which ended the Former Qin in 394, the Western Qin in 400, and Later Liang in 403, extended its control over much of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia . But in 407, Helian Bobo ,

3168-471: The Eastern Jin as their suzerain. Jin princes and military governors often recruited non-Chinese tribes into their armies in their suppression of rebellions and wars with each other. Also in 304, Liu Yuan , a Xiongnu chieftain, who had been fighting in the Jin civil war on the side of Prince Sima Ying , returned home to Shanxi where he reorganized the five tribes of the Xiongnu and declared independence as

3264-597: The Former Liang. Work on the Maijishan Grottoes began during the Later Qin. The Bingling Grottoes were started during the Western Qin. Numerous other grottoes were built in the Hexi Corridor under the Northern Liang. 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

3360-630: The Former Qin in 354 and Luoyang from Qiang chieftain Yao Xiang in 356. In 369, he led a large force across the Yellow River into Hebei but was defeated by the Former Yan. In 383, the Eastern Jin reclaimed Henan south of the Yellow River after turning back the Former Qin in the Battle of Feishui in 383, but lost that territory once the northern kingdoms strengthened. Huan Wen had pretensions to seize power and deposed Emperor Fei in favor of Emperor Jianwen in 371. His son Huan Xuan briefly took

3456-542: The Former Qin kingdom collapsed after the Battle of Feishui in 383. Lü Guang founded the Later Liang and held Kumārajīva captive in western Gansu for 18 years. In 401, the Later Qin ruler, Yao Xing conquered the Former Liang and Kumārajīva was able to settle in Chang'an and become one of the most influential translators of Buddhist sutras into Chinese. The earliest grottoes in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang were carved in

3552-692: The Great successfully invaded the kingdoms of Baekje , Silla , and Dongbuyeo . Riding its success, Goguryeo campaigned against the Later Yan , obtaining the Liao River region. King Murong Xi of Later Yan twice launched retaliatory attacks to reclaim the Liao River watershed territory, but was only partially successful. At Northern Yan's destruction by the Northern Wei , Yan king Feng Hong fled to Goguryeo to seek asylum. Although granted asylum, Hong

3648-577: The Murong ancestors. In winter 409, Gao Yun was assassinated—an event that is mysterious in its cause and scope. Traditional histories, including the Jin Shu and the Zizhi Tongjian , record that Li and Tao, despite Gao Yun's favors to them, were still not satisfied, and they assassinated Gao Yun out of that dissatisfaction. Yet, this does not appear to be a true reason for the assassination. Gao Yun's wife Empress Li appears to have also died in

3744-648: The North, and managed to make some inroads, but were ultimately unsuccessful. In 313, Sima Rui, the Yuan Emperor gave Zu Ti 1,000 men and 3,000 bolts of cloth for a northern expedition. Despite meager resources, Zu Ti managed to recapture a large swath of Henan south of the Yellow River and repeatedly defeated Shi Le's Later Zhao forces. Eastern Jin Emperors were wary of generals acquiring power and prestige from successful northern expeditions and threatening

3840-650: The Northern Wei (essentially the Tuoba Xianbei), held de facto rule over the entire Mongolian Plateau and the Liao River region. In the Western Regions (modern Xinjiang ) of the former Han Empire lay the kingdoms of Shanshan , Qiuzi , Yutian , Dongshi, and Shule . These kingdoms were often controlled or influenced by the various Liang kingdoms that existed during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Former Liang organized Gaochang Commandery (Chinese: 高昌郡 ) and Tiandi County ( Chinese : 闐地縣 ) in

3936-532: The Northern Wei's unification of northern China and marking the end of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Tuobas were eventually Sinicized , changing their name to Yuan, and held northern China through the 550s. Chinese history then entered the Northern and Southern Dynasties period as parallel series of dynasties in the North and South co-existed until the Sui dynasty united the country in 589. The Goguryeo kingdom

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4032-481: The Northern Wei. From near Hohhot, Tuoba Gui expanded southward, capturing Shanxi and Hebei from the Former Yan and Henan from the Liu Song dynasty . In 398, he moved the capital to Pingcheng (modern day Datong ) and declared himself the Emperor Daowu. In 423, Tuoba Gui's grandson Tuoba Tao took the throne as Emperor Taiwu and began the quest to unify the North. Under his leadership, the Northern Wei subdued

4128-514: The Northern Wei. Helian Ding wanted to invade the Northern Liang but was captured in a raid by the Tuyuhun nomads and executed by the Northern Wei. In 436, the Tuoba Tao, as Emperor Taiwu, led an expedition against the Northern Yan. Feng Hong, the younger brother of Feng Ba, fled to Goguryeo , where he was killed. The last ruler of the Northern Liang, Juqu Mujian , surrendered in 439, completing

4224-587: The Prince of Dai by the Jin Emperor. In 338, Tuoba Shiyiqian formally declared Dai's independence and built the capital at Shengle (modern day Horinger County , Hohhot ). In 376, the Former Qin attacked Shengle and drove the Tuoba into the northern steppes; Tuoba Shiyiqian was killed by his son. In 386, Tuoba Shiyiqian's grandson Tuoba Gui revived the kingdom, which he renamed Wei; it is known to historians as

4320-433: The Sixteen Kingdoms, the Eastern Jin dynasty to the south continued to insist on its status as supreme overlord and refused to treat any of the kingdoms as equals. For instance, when the Later Zhao sent a diplomatic mission to the south to establish equal relations, the Eastern Jin burnt the embassy's gifts and expelled the envoy. Some of the Sixteen Kingdoms such as Former Yan and Former Liang also agreed to nominally recognise

4416-509: The Western Jin in 317 and ruled southern China. The period ended with the unification of northern China in 439 by the Northern Wei , a dynasty established by the Xianbei Tuoba clan. This occurred 19 years after the Eastern Jin collapsed in 420, and was replaced by the Liu Song dynasty . Following the unification of the north by Northern Wei, the Northern and Southern dynasties era of Chinese history began. The term "Sixteen Kingdoms"

4512-635: The Western Roman Empire amidst invasions by the Huns and Germanic tribes in Europe, which also occurred in the 4th to 5th centuries. From the late Eastern Han dynasty to the early Western Jin dynasty , large numbers of non- Han peoples living along China's northern periphery settled in northern China. Some of these migrants such as the Xiongnu and Xianbei had been pastoralist nomads from

4608-485: The Western Yan in 394, but lost a series of engagements to the Northern Wei. In 397, the Northern Wei captured Hebei and splitting the Later Yan into two. Murong Bao moved the Later Yan capital north to Liaoning but Murong De refused to move north and founded the Southern Yan in Henan and Shandong. The Southern Yan was extinguished by the Eastern Jin in 410. The Later Yan lasted until 407 when General Feng Ba , killed Emperor Murong Xi and installed Gao Yun . Gao Yun,

4704-524: The Xiongnu confederation in the Han–Xiongnu War by Han General Dou Xian led to the Han dynasty deporting the Southern Xiongnu along with their Chanyu into northern China. In 167 AD, Duan Jiong conducted an anti-Qiang campaign and massacred Qiang populations as well as settled them outside the frontier in northern China. Cao Cao had a policy of settling Xiongnu nomads away from the frontier near Taiyuan in modern Shanxi province, where they would be less likely to rebel. The Xiongnu abandoned nomadism and

4800-451: The active roles played by non-Han ethnicities during this period. Even among the states founded by ethnic Han ( Former Liang , Western Liang , Ran Wei and Northern Yan ), several founders had close relations with ethnic minorities. For example, the father of Ran Min , who founded Ran Wei, was adopted by the ethnically Jie Later Zhao ruling family, though Ran Min ordered a genocidal massacre of Jie people after he seized power. Feng Ba , who

4896-428: 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

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4992-407: 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

5088-459: The city. At this time, the imperial guard soldier Chu Tou (褚頭) fled to him and informed him that the imperial guards were ready to turn against Murong Yun as soon as Murong Xi attacked. However, for reasons unknown, Murong Xi panicked at this news and fled. His general, Murong Ba (慕容拔), tried to maintain the assault against Longcheng and was initially successful, but as the troops began to realize that Murong Xi had fled, they collapsed, and Murong Ba

5184-406: 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

5280-462: The country. The numerous tribal groups in the north and northwest who had been heavily drafted into the military then exploited the chaos to seize power. In Sichuan region, Li Xiong , a Di chieftain, led a successful rebellion and founded Cheng-Han kingdom in 304. Thus began the creation of independent kingdoms in China as Jin authority crumbled. Most of these kingdoms were founded by non-Chinese tribal leaders who took on Chinese reign names. During

5376-426: 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

5472-465: The elite were educated in Chinese-Confucian literate culture, but they retained their distinct identity and resented the discrimination they received. The War of the Eight Princes (291–306) during the reign of the second Jin ruler Emperor Hui severely divided and weakened imperial authority. Hundreds of thousands were killed and millions were uprooted by the internecine fighting. Popular rebellions against heavy taxation and repression erupted throughout

5568-490: 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

5664-463: 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

5760-399: 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

5856-406: 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

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5952-448: The idea. In 383, after Wang Meng's death, Fu Jian launched a massive invasion of southern China, but was he was routed in a devastating defeat at the Battle of Feishui , in which Eastern Jin troops vanquished a much larger Former Qin force. After the Battle of Feishui, the power of the Former Qin quickly unraveled as various regimes in the North broke loose. In 384, Murong Chui founded the Later Yan in Hebei. Other Murong royals founded

6048-463: The incident. Feng Ba, upon hearing of the assassination, readied his troops and waited for the situation to become clear, but two of his soldiers, Zhang Tai (張泰) and Li Sang (李桑), advanced into the palace and beheaded Li and Tao. The officials all supported Feng Ba to take the throne, and so he did. (No reference was made to Gao Yun's son Gao Pengcheng.) Feng Ba later buried Gao Yun and Empress Li with imperial honors—but curiously used Gao Yun's name in

6144-466: 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

6240-434: The instigation of Murong Xi's wife Empress Fu Xunying , Murong Xi made a disastrous attack on Goguyreo in which many soldiers died not from battle but from exposure to the cold. Murong Yun himself suffered an arrow wound during the battle, and, because he feared Murong Xi's cruelty, used this as an excuse to resign his post and remain at home. In summer 407, Empress Fu died. Murong Xi mourned her so much that he ordered that

6336-516: The kingdom was split between Liu Yao and General Shi Le . Shi Le was an ethnic Jie who had worked as an indentured farm laborer before joining Liu Yuan 's rebellion and becoming a powerful general in Hebei . In 319, he founded a rival Zhao Kingdom, known as the Later Zhao and in 328 conquered Liu Yao's Han-Zhao. Shi Le instituted a dual-system of government that imposed separate rules for Chinese and non-Chinese, and managed to control much of northern China. After his death, his sons were locked in

6432-407: 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,

6528-402: 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,

6624-419: The northern steppes. Others such as the Di and Qiang were farmers and herders from the mountains of western Sichuan of southwest China . As migrants, they lived among ethnic Han and were sinified to varying degrees. Many worked as farm laborers. Some attained official positions in the court and military. They also faced discrimination and retained clan and tribal affiliations. The Han dynasty's defeat of

6720-422: The preceding centuries, and had launched a series of rebellions against the Western Jin dynasty in the early 4th century. However, several of the states were founded by the Han people, and all of the states—whether ruled by Xiongnu , Xianbei , Di , Jie , Qiang , Han, or others—took on Han-style dynastic names. The states frequently fought against both one another and the Eastern Jin dynasty , which succeeded

6816-430: 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

6912-465: 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

7008-481: 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

7104-467: 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

7200-581: The successor to the Han dynasty . His regime, later renamed Zhao, is designated by historians as the Han-Zhao . After Liu Yuan died in 310, his son Liu Cong killed older brother Liu He and claimed the throne. Liu Cong captured the Jin capital Luoyang and Emperor Huai in 311. In 316, Liu Cong's cousin Liu Yao seized Chang'an (modern day Xi'an ) and Emperor Min , ending the Western Jin dynasty. Sima Rui ,

7296-634: The throne from Emperor An in a palace coup in 403, but was defeated by general Liu Yu . Liu Yu also used northern expeditions to build up his power. In 409–10, he led Jin forces in the Battle of Linqu , defeating and destroying the Southern Yan in Shandong. In 416, he took advantage of the death of the Later Qin ruler, invaded Henan and captured Luoyang, and then turned toward Shaanxi and seized Chang'an. The last Later Qin ruler Yao Hong surrendered and

7392-685: The throne, he employed many skillful guards to protect him. He further began to favor two jesters named Li Ban (離班) and Tao Ren (桃仁), to have Li and Tao be in charge of security. He awarded them with great wealth, and their foods and clothes could match those of Gao Yun himself. As far as the government was concerned, important matters were largely in the hands of Feng Ba and his brothers Feng Sufu, Feng Ruchen (馮乳陳), and Feng Hong and cousins Feng Wani, as well as Sun Hu (孫護) and Wu Yinti (務銀提). In 408, Gao Yun made his wife, Lady Li , empress, and he made his son, Gao Pengcheng (高彭城), crown prince . He also buried Murong Xi and Empress Fu with imperial honors. It

7488-488: The throne. The Yuan Emperor did not entrust Zu Ti with the command of much larger expeditionary force in 321. A disappointed Zu Ti died of illness. The expeditionary force was called back to Jiankang to quell an insurrection, and Shi Le retook Henan. In 347, Jin general Huan Wen invaded Sichuan and ended the Cheng-Han kingdom. He then launched successive expeditions against northern kingdoms, briefly retaking Chang'an from

7584-666: The time including the Ran Wei , Zhai Wei , Chouchi , Duan Qi , Qiao Shu , Huan Chu , Tuyuhun and Western Yan . Nor did he include the Northern Wei and its predecessor Dai , because the Northern Wei is considered to be the first of the Northern Dynasties in the period that followed the Sixteen Kingdoms. Classical Chinese historians called the period the " Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarians " ( simplified Chinese : 五胡十六国 ; traditional Chinese : 五胡十六國 ; pinyin : Wǔhú Shíliù Guó ) because of

7680-497: 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

7776-833: 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

7872-574: 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

7968-603: The west, both under the administration of the Gaochang Governor. Day-to-day administration was run out of several forts: Western Regions Chief Clerk, Wu and Ji Colonel, and Jade Gate Commissioner of the Army. Other Liangzhou states generally followed this administrative system. In 382, the Former Qin ruler Fu Jian sent General Lü Guang on a military expedition to the Dayuan kingdom and promoted him to Protector General of

8064-457: The western border regions. After Qin collapsed and Lü Guang founded the Later Liang, the western border forts and the Shanshan kingdom all became parts of or vassals to the Later Liang. Several rulers of the northern kingdoms patronized Buddhism which spread across northern China during the Sixteen Kingdoms and flourished during the subsequent Northern Dynasties. The Former Qin ruler Fu Jian

8160-603: The younger Fu Jian, who was guided by Wang Meng , an ethnic Chinese advisor, the Former Qin strengthened rapidly. From 370 to 76, the Former Qin extinguished the Former Yan, Dai and Former Liang to unite all of northern China. Fu Jian also captured Sichuan from the Eastern Jin and wanted to conquer the rest of southern China. Wang Meng opposed this move, citing the need for the Former Qin to consolidate control over various ethnicities in northern China, while Qiang chieftain Yao Chang and Xianbei general Murong Chui both supported

8256-505: Was a mid-level official in the administration of Murong Bao (Emperor Huimin), when Murong Bao, under military pressure by Northern Wei , abandoned the capital Zhongshan (中山, in modern Baoding , Hebei ) and sought to take refuge at the old Former Yan capital of Longcheng (龍城, also in Jinzhou). On the way, his son Murong Hui , resentful that his younger brother Murong Ce (慕容策) was made crown prince over him, rebelled, and while Murong Bao

8352-524: Was a powerful and influential state in northern Korea and parts of northeastern China at the beginning of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Goguryeo was attacked by the Murong Xianbei numerous times, and in 342 Prince Murong Huang of Former Yan captured the Goguryeo capital Hwando (Wandu in Chinese). Under the powerful and dynamic leadership of feudal kings, Goguryeo during the reign of Gwanggaeto

8448-513: Was a strong patron of Buddhist scholarship. After capturing Xiangyang in 379, he invited the monk Dao An to Chang'an to catalogue Buddhist scriptures. When the teachings of the famed Kuchean monk, Kumārajīva , reached Chang'an, Dao An advised Fu Jian to invite the Kumārajīva. In 382, Fu Jian sent general Lü Guang to conquer the Western Regions ( Tarim Basin ) and bring Kumārajīva to Chang'an. Lü Guang captured Kucha and seized Kumārajīva, but

8544-464: 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

8640-455: Was able to reach Longcheng, Murong Hui put Longcheng under siege. During one night, Gao Yun led about 100 soldiers and made a surprise attack on Murong Hui's camp, causing Murong Hui's army to collapse. Murong Hui fled to Zhongshan and was killed there. For Gao Yun's contributions, Murong Bao made him the Duke of Xiyang and adopted him as his own son, and so his name was changed to Murong Yun. It

8736-406: Was also around this time that Gwanggaeto the Great , king of Goguryeo, sent messengers to him to try to establish peaceful relations as well as to ascertain the relationship between Gao Yun and the current Goguryeo royal line. Gao Yun also sent messengers to Goguryeo to affirm the relationship. He made Murong Gui (慕容歸) the Duke of Liaodong and had Murong Gui be in charge of continuing the worship of

8832-411: Was around this time that he befriended another general, Feng Ba , as Murong Yun was not looked upon favorably by others because he was a man of few words, but Feng Ba saw that he had wisdom and tolerance. Little is known about Murong Yun's life in the next few years. By 406, he was a major general under the reign of Murong Bao's cruel and arbitrary younger brother Murong Xi (Emperor Zhaowen), when, at

8928-481: Was first used by the 6th-century historian Cui Hong in the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms and refers to the five Liangs ( Former , Later , Northern , Southern and Western ), four Yans ( Former , Later , Northern , and Southern ), three Qins ( Former , Later and Western ), two Zhaos ( Han/Former and Later ), Cheng-Han and Xia . Cui Hong did not count several other kingdoms that appeared at

9024-417: Was killed by Feng Ba's soldiers. Later that day, Murong Xi was found, wearing civilian clothes, in a forest, and he was captured and delivered to Murong Yun. Murong Yun personally read him his crimes, and then beheaded him and his sons. After Murong Xi's death, Murong Yun reassumed his original family name Gao. Being insecure about how he felt he had little contributions to the people or to his own place on

9120-614: Was said to have acted as if he was still king, issuing orders and demanding respect, and was executed by King Jangsu of Goguryeo . The Yuwen Xianbei group Kumo Xi , who lived north of Youzhou , and the Khitan began increasing in strength. In 414, the Kumo Xi tribes sent a trade caravan to Northern Yan , then joined with the Khitan in declaring allegiance to Northern Yan, and then to Northern Wei after its destruction of Northern Yan. Thus,

9216-463: Was sent to Jiankang and executed. With the Later Qin destroyed, several smaller states in the northwest, Western Qin, Northern Liang and Western Liang, nominally submitted to Eastern Jin authority. But Liu Yu retreated back to Jiankang to plan his takeover of the Jin throne, and Chang'an was taken by the Xia forces. In 420, Liu Yu forced the Emperor Gong to abdicate and declared himself emperor of

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