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125-542: Emperor Wu of Jin ( simplified Chinese : 晋武帝 ; traditional Chinese : 晉武帝 ; pinyin : Jìn Wǔ Dì ; Wade–Giles : Chin Wu-Ti ; 236 – 16 May 290), personal name Sima Yan ( Chinese : 司馬炎 ; pinyin : Sīmǎ Yán ), courtesy name Anshi (安世), was a grandson of Sima Yi , nephew of Sima Shi and son of Sima Zhao . He became the first emperor of the Jin dynasty after forcing Cao Huan , last emperor of

250-597: A détente with Lu and treated the Eastern Wu border residents well, causing them to view Jin favorably. When Emperor Wu ascended the throne in February 266, he honored his mother Wang Yuanji as empress dowager. In 266, he also honored his aunt Yang Huiyu ( Sima Shi 's wife) an empress dowager, in recognition of his uncle's contributions to the establishment of the Jìn Dynasty. He made his wife Yang Yan empress

375-526: A breakthrough as they crossed the Yellow River to march on Luoyang. As the coalition forces approached, officials and generals in the capital began to turn on Lun and Sun Xiu despite their attempts to suppress reports of their losses. The defeat at Huangqiao left Sun Xiu's camp greatly alarmed as they struggled to devise a plan in response. On 30 May 301, the general of the Left Guard led troops into

500-443: 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

625-434: 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

750-470: A county magistrate to seize public land for themselves, Emperor Wu refused to punish the high level officials while punishing the county magistrate harshly. Emperor Wu faced two major military issues almost immediately—incessant harassment from the rival Eastern Wu 's forces, under emperor Sun Hao , and tribal rebellions in Qin (秦) and Liang (涼) provinces (modern Gansu ). Most officials were more concerned about

875-535: A disturbance occurred in Sun Fu's camp, causing him to flee back to Luoyang and claim that Zhang Hong was defeated. Lun recalled a segment of his army to defend Luoyang, but when news of Zhang Hong's recent victories reached him, he sent them out again to attack Sima Ying. However, by this time Jiong had reversed his early defeats and repelled Zhang Hong back to his camp. Sun Hui led the main army against Ying at Huangqiao (黃橋, in present-day Wen County, Henan ), defeating

1000-423: A few days later. On 2 November, Ai's forces defeated Ying's army again outside of Luoyang. The next day, Ai brought with him Emperor Hui and personally confronted Lu Ji's army at the city gates. Ai's officers had several thousand cavalry equipped with double-ended halberds charge Lu Ji's forces, heavily defeating them. Many of Lu Ji's officers were killed, and the dead on his side reportedly laid in piles and clogged

1125-407: 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

1250-610: 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

1375-573: 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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1500-409: A particularly fateful choice on Crown Prince Zhong's behalf—in 272, he selected Jia Nanfeng , the strong-willed daughter of the noble Jia Chong , to be Crown Prince Zhong's princess. Crown Princess Jia would, from that point on, have the crown prince under her own tight control. Before Empress Yang died in 274, she was concerned that whoever the new empress would be, she would have ambitions to replace

1625-612: A proclamation to campaign against Sima Lun. The most important figure to accept his call was Sima Ying. Ying was described as beautiful but dull in the mind and did not read books, but he heeded his advisor Lu Zhi 's advice to rally the people to his cause. Some 200,000 troops, including the forces of the Prince of Changshan (later known as the Prince of Changsha), Sima Ai , were thus assembled near his base in Ye . In Chang'an , Sima Yong initially dispatched troops to support Lun but later sided with

1750-481: A relatively smooth process. After the fall of Eastern Wu, Emperor Wu ordered that provincial governors no longer be in charge of military matters and become purely civilian governors, and that regional militias be disbanded, despite opposition by the general Tao Huang and the key official Shan Tao . This would also eventually prove to create problems later on during the upheaval of the Five Barbarians , as

1875-433: A result, Yang Jun became fearful of Sima Liang and had him posted to the key city of Xuchang . Several other imperial princes were also posted to other key cities in the empire. By 290, Emperor Wu resolved to let Yang and Sima Liang both be regents, but after he wrote his will, the will was seized by Yang Jun, who instead had another will promulgated in which Yang alone was named regent. Emperor Wu died soon thereafter, leaving

2000-845: A subordinate army on his way to Chang'an. On his way back, Zhang Fang seized over 10,000 slave women in Luoyang and cut them into mince meat to feed to his men. Liu Chen defeated Yong in succession, and 5,000 of his soldiers were able to break into Chang'an. However, he was slow to capitalize on his success, and the soldiers in Chang'an were eventually killed while Zhang Fang arrived just in time to defeat and capture him. After Sima Ai's death, Sima Ying appointed himself Prime Minister and promoted Sima Yue to President of State Secretariat. Despite his new position, Ying kept Emperor Hui at Luoyang , leaving behind an army of 50,000 under Shi Chao while he returned to his base in Ye . On April 304, he imprisoned

2125-470: A text that said, amongst other things, that Emperor Hui should abdicate in favor of him. Empress Jia then presented the copied text to Emperor Hui, who then decided to place him under house arrest. Sima Lun was tutor to the prince at the time and had climbed his way into Empress Jia's inner circle during his time in Luoyang. He also commanded some troops in the capital as general of the Right Army and

2250-440: 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,

2375-454: 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

2500-813: 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

2625-574: 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

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2750-547: 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,

2875-518: The Book of Jin and Wenxian Tongkao record another embassy from " Da Qin " appearing in China during the reign of Emperor Wu. These histories assert that it arrived in 284 and presented tributary gifts to the emperor. As Emperor Wu grew ill in 289, he considered whom to make regent. He considered both Yang Jun and his uncle Sima Liang the Prince of Ru'nan, the most respected of the imperial princes. As

3000-670: 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

3125-556: The War of the Eight Princes and the loss of northern China, would remain in place as a Jin institution for the duration of the dynasty's existence, and would be adopted by the succeeding Southern dynasties as well. Another problem that Emperor Wu saw with Cao Wei's political system was its harshness in penal law, and he sought to reform the penal system to make it more merciful—but the key beneficiaries of his changes turned out to be

3250-527: The Xianbei , Qiang and other tribes in northwestern China and also with the Xiongnu in modern Shanxi , who were resettled there after the dissolution of their state by Cao Cao in 216 under the watchful eyes of Chinese officials, and were feared for their military abilities. These officials advised Emperor Wu to try to suppress the tribes before considering conquests of Eastern Wu. Under the encouragement of

3375-567: The de facto rulers of Wei. In February 266, Sima Zhao's eldest son, Sima Yan , also known as Emperor Wu of Jin, forced the Wei emperor Cao Huan to abdicate the throne and established the Jin dynasty . Sima Yan sought to learn from the mistakes that led to the Cao Wei's downfall. Previously, the Wei regime had discouraged their princes from holding government and military offices, instead sending them away to live in their fiefs. Thus, Sima Yi, with

3500-540: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : War of the Eight Princes The "War of the Eight Princes" is somewhat of a misnomer : rather than one continuous conflict, the War of the Eight Princes saw intervals of peace interposed with short and intense periods of internecine conflict. At no point in the whole conflict were all of

3625-459: 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

3750-482: 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

3875-520: 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

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4000-655: The Army of Readiness. Li Han was afraid to accept the appointment due to enmity between himself and Huangfu Shang , one of Jiong's advisers. Li Han fled back to Yong and conspired with him to rebel against Jiong. Yong was told to align himself with Sima Ying, offering him the role of Crown Prince due to his public support. He was also told to force Sima Ai, who was in Luoyang , into joining so that Jiong would execute him and provide justification to overthrow him. In January 303, Yong rebelled while Ying, despite opposition from Lu Zhi,

4125-470: 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

4250-476: The Empress Dowager. Empress Jia enlisted the help of Sima Liang and the Prince of Chu, Sima Wei to overthrow Yang Jun. Liang was reluctant to help her, but Wei agreed and left his fief for the capital, Luoyang with his troops. On the night of 23 April 291, Empress Jia and her allies sent out an imperial edict calling for the deposal of Yang Jun and occupied the gates leading to his residence. Yang Jun

4375-495: The Jia clan was beset with widespread corruption and bribery. Rumors began to spread of Empress Jia's personal debauchery and tyrannical behavior, laying the seeds of discontent that would surface by the end of the decade. Empress Jia also carried out a series of transfers that would influence the next stage of the War of the Eight Princes. In 296, a major tribal rebellion led by Qi Wannian broke out in Qin and Yong provinces under

4500-678: The King of Jin by the next day. On 4 February 266, he forced Cao Huan to abdicate, ending the state of Cao Wei. Four days later, on 8 February 266, he declared himself emperor of the Jin dynasty. Emperor Wu immediately sought to avoid what he saw as Cao Wei's fatal weakness—lack of power among the imperial princes. In February 266, immediately after taking the throne, he made princes of many of his uncles, cousins, brothers, and sons, each with independent military commands and full authority within their principalities. This system, while it would be scaled back after

4625-573: The Prince of Changsha, Sima Ai , discovered the plan, he prompted Jiong to reject it and have Wang Bao executed. Shortly after Lun's defeat in May 301, the court issued an edict ordering refugees in Yi province to return north. However, many of them, including Li Te , refused to comply with the edict. In winter 301, the provincial inspector, Luo Shang declared war against Li Te. Jiong wanted to appoint Li Han, one of Sima Yong 's chief of staff, to be colonel of

4750-464: The Prince of Huainan, Sima Yun rebelled against Lun with only 700 men in Luoyang. Lun was nearly killed in the fighting, but one of his supporters pretended to defect to Yun and killed him, ending his rebellion. The rebellion provided Lun and Sun Xiu with pretext to purge their court rivals and oppositions. Meanwhile, the Prince of Qi, Sima Jiong , who played a vital part in Empress Jia's arrest,

4875-518: The Qianjin Dam (千金堨), effectively cutting off Luoyang's water supply. In response, Ai convinced the Inspector of Yong province , Liu Chen , to defect from Yong's side and attack Chang'an . He also sent Huangfu Shang out with an edict from the emperor to get the generals attacking Huangfu Zhong to disband, thus allowing him to send reinforcements to Luoyang. However, along the way, Huangfu Shang

5000-625: The Simas' takeover of power, thought it might be appropriate to return power to his branch of the clan. However, a number of high level officials favored Sima Yan, and Sima Zhao agreed. After Sima Zhao was created the King of Jin on 2 May 264 (thus reaching the penultimate step towards usurpation), Sima Yan was created the Crown Prince of Jin in June 265. On 6 September 265, Sima Zhao died without having formally taken imperial authority. Sima Yan became

5125-516: The Yang clan’s defeat, Sima Wei was notorious for his violent temperament. They attempted to strip him of his military power and send him back to his fief in Jing province , but Wei retaliated by conspiring with Empress Jia to depose them, claiming to her that the two were planning to overthrow her. Soon, Empress Jia produced an edict from the emperor calling for the removal of Liang and Wei Guan. However, Wei

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5250-528: The Yangtze and clearing the river of Eastern Wu fleets. The Eastern Wu chancellor Zhang Ti (張悌) made a last-ditch attempt to defeat Wang Hun's force, but was defeated and killed. Wang Hun, Wang Jun, and Sima Zhou each headed for Jianye, and Sun Hao was forced to surrender in spring 280. Emperor Wǔ made Sun Hao the Marquess of Guiming. The integration of former Eastern Wu territory into Jin appeared to have been

5375-514: The advice of Lu Zhi , Ying withdrew to Ye to care for his ailing mother and handed over all major responsibility to Jiong. At Ye, Ying carried numerous popular policies to win over the people. He arranged for grain to be transported to the famine-stricken region of Yangdi, which had been devastated by war. He then had over 8,000 coffins constructed for high-ceremony funerals of those who had fallen in battle and over 14,000 of Sima Lun's soldiers to be buried. These were all Lu Zhi's ideas. In May 302,

5500-627: The backing of the powerful gentry clans, was able to take control over the Wei government with minimal resistance. Identifying this issue, Sima Yan bolstered the power of the Sima clan by enfeoffing his uncles, cousins, and sons. Those with large enfeoffments were entitled to an army of five thousand, those with medium enfeoffments were entitled to an army of three thousand, and those with small enfeoffments were entitled to an army of one thousand five hundred. As time passed, these princes and dukes were given administrative powers over their lands and were granted

5625-522: The capital Luoyang ; Sima Yan went to Ye to receive Cao. After his father was created the Duke of Jin on 9 December 263 in light of the army's conquest of Shu Han , he was named heir. However, at times Sima Zhao hesitated as to whether Sima Yan or his brother Sima You would be the more appropriate heir—as Sima You was considered talented and had also been adopted by Sima Shi, who had no biological sons of his own, and Sima Zhao, remembering his brother's role in

5750-428: 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

5875-407: 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

6000-621: The coalition after learning that they were larger in size. Due to their strategic bases and command over vast armies, Jiong, Ying and Yong were collectively referred to as the "Three Princes" (三王) in records. Another notable participant of the coalition was the Duke of Xinye, Sima Xin . Lun sent Zhang Hong (張泓) and Sun Fu (孫輔) with 24,000 men to secure the passes and 30,000 under Sun Hui (孫會) to confront Ying. Zhang Hong fought Jiong at Yangdi (陽翟, modern Yuzhou, Henan ) and defeated him several times before Jiong retreated and made camp at Yingyin (潁陰; in present-day Xuchang , Henan ). However, one night,

6125-473: 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

6250-458: The crown prince, and therefore Empress Yang asked Emperor Wu to marry her cousin Yang Zhi . He agreed. In 273, Emperor Wu would undertake a selection of beautiful women from throughout the empire—a warning sign of what would eventually come. He looked most attentively at the daughters of high officials, but he also ordered that no marriages take place across the empire until the selection process

6375-656: The destabilization of the Western Jin, as the princes engaged in an internecine struggle known as the War of the Eight Princes soon after his death, and then the " Five Barbarians " uprisings that destroyed the Western Jin and forced its successor, Eastern Jin, to relocate to the region south of the Huai River . Sima Yan was born to Sima Zhao and his wife Wang Yuanji , daughter of the Confucian scholar Wang Su , in 236, as their oldest son. At that time, Sima Zhao

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6500-476: 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

6625-424: The edict's authenticity among his soldiers. Deserted by his followers, Wei was captured and executed. His full-brother Sima Ai the Prince of Changsha, who provided support, was demoted to the lesser title of Prince of Changshan as punishment. For the next nine years, Empress Jia ruled Jin in the emperor's name while entrusting power to her closest family members, most notably Jia Mi , and Guo Zhang . From now on,

6750-628: The eight princes on one side of the fighting (as opposed to, for example, the Rebellion of the Seven States ). The initial conflicts prior to the coalition against Sima Lun in 301 also cannot be considered as wars, but rather a series of political intrigues and coups d'état . The literal Chinese translation, Disorder of the Eight Kings , may be more appropriate in this regard. While initial conflicts were relatively minor and confined to

6875-413: The emperor's final decree appointing him and Sima Liang as co-regents while his daughter, the empress Yang Zhi , issued another edict making her father the sole regent. Emperor Wu was aware of Yang Jun's manipulations, but was too ill to stop him. On 16 May 290, Emperor Wu died, and Sima Zhong, posthumously known as Emperor Hui of Jin, ascended the throne. Yang Jun was instated as his regent while Yang Zhi

7000-459: The empire in the hands of a developmentally disabled son and nobles intent on shedding each other's blood for power, and while he would not see the disastrous consequences himself, the consequences would soon come. Consorts and Issue: SGZ has: "On the day renchen (September 7), the Crown Prince of Jin, Sima Yan, succeeded to his enfeoffment and inherited his rank; he assumed the Presidency of

7125-591: The empire left Jin vulnerable to rebellions. In 304, the Ba-Di -led Cheng-Han and the Xiongnu -led Han-Zhao broke away from Jin, beginning the Sixteen Kingdoms period. In the south, there were also the rebellions of the Man leader, Zhang Chang , between 303 and 304 and Han Chinese general, Chen Min between 305 and 307. However, unlike their Ba-Di and Xiongnu contemporaries, they were eventually suppressed in

7250-533: The empire. In the southwest, Li Te 's rebellion raged on despite his death. Along the Changjiang , rebels consisting of refugees and draft evaders led by the Man leader, Zhang Chang took up arms. When the court ordered Sima Yong to campaign against Zhang Chang, he refused to move his troops. Later, when the Prince of Xinye, Sima Xin (son of Sima Jun , Prince Wu of Fufeng), asked for permission to send his troops out, Ai rejected his request, believing that Xin

7375-520: The empress, Yang Xianrong , and depose his nephew, Sima Tan from the position of Crown Prince . On 1 May, Ying was installed as Crown Prince and his power was described as being equal to that of Cao Cao during the end of the Han dynasty . Sima Yong was also appointed the Grand Governor and Grand Commander. As Crown Prince, Ying was said to have become more brazen and extravagant in his actions and

7500-603: The empress, Lun's actions would only lead to the accession of Yu, who would then exact revenge on Lun himself. With Lun's encouragement, the empress had Yu assassinated. Lun then produced an edict allegedly from Emperor Hui calling for her removal. On 7 May 300, he arrested Empress Jia and put her under house arrest, and later forced her to commit suicide by drinking gold powered wine. He also executed many of her partisans, including Jia Mi, Zhang Hua and Pei Wei. Sima Lun assumed regency over Emperor Hui , but delegated most of his power over to Sun Xiu . Lun and Sun Xiu plotted to take

7625-432: The end. In late 289, Emperor Wu developed a deadly illness and considered appointing his father-in-law, Yang Jun , and his uncle, the Prince of Ru'nan, Sima Liang , as Sima Zhong's regent. As the emperor's health declined, Yang Jun sought to monopolize his control over Zhong as consort kin , first by sending away Sima Liang to Xuchang and then by forcing his court rival, Wei Guan , into retirement. Yang Jun also hid

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7750-483: The enemy forces. However seeing how few of the opposing army remained, the capital troops regretted surrendering and secretly plotted to free Ai. Fearing the consequences should Ai escape, Yue sent Ai to Zhang Fang, who put Ai to the torch. Although Ai was defeated, Yong was still threatened by Liu Chen, while Huangfu Zhong continued to resist in his city of Jicheng (冀城; in present-day Gangu County , Gansu ). Yong recalled Zhang Fang to deal with Liu Chen, who had defeated

7875-634: 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

8000-463: 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

8125-475: 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

8250-459: 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

8375-435: The general Ma Long having finally put down Tufa's rebellion, Emperor Wu concentrated his efforts on Eastern Wu, and commissioned a six-pronged attack led by his uncle Sima Zhou , Wang Hun , Wang Rong , Hu Fen (胡奮), Du Yu, and Wang Jun , with the largest forces under Wang Hun and Wang Jun. Each of the Jin forces advanced quickly and captured the border cities that they were targeting, with Wang Jun's fleet heading east down

8500-540: The generals Yang Hu and Wang Jun and the strategist Zhang Hua , however, Emperor Wu, while sending a number of generals to combat the tribes, prepared the southern and eastern border regions for war against Eastern Wu throughout this part of his reign. He was particularly encouraged by reports of Sun Hao's cruelty and ineptitude in governing Eastern Wu; indeed, the officials in favor of war against Eastern Wu often cited this as reason to act quickly, as they argued that Eastern Wu would be harder to conquer if and when Sun Hao

8625-406: The government system was such that first all matters are reported to the empress, then all important or minor decisions are made by the empress's appointees, and then they are given to her to accept or reject the decisions, and she issued decrees in the name of the emperor. Despite the efforts of ministers like Zhang Hua and Pei Wei to uphold the government's functionality, the imperial court under

8750-496: The imperial capital of Luoyang and its surroundings, the scope of the war expanded with each new prince who entered the struggle. The civil wars opened the empire to rebellions, most notably by tribal subjects that had resettled into the Central Plains . At its conclusion, the war devastated the Jin heartlands in northern China, and ushered in the Sixteen Kingdoms era in northern China, causing centuries of warfare between

8875-466: 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

9000-510: The interests of their dynasty. However, after Zhong took the throne and became a mere figurehead, the princes later proved themselves self-serving and willing to undermine one another for real control over the empire. The War of the Eight Princes coincided with the upheaval of the " Five Barbarians "; tribal people who had been resettling into the Chinese interior since the Eastern Han dynasty . The princes' infighting and mismanagement of

9125-625: The last of Sima Yu 's lineage died, throwing the line of succession into confusion. Sima Jiong designated the Emperor's nephew, Sima Tan (司马覃), as crown prince. At the same time, Sima Yue , Prince of Donghai, was appointed to direct the Central Secretariat. Throughout his regency, Jiong alienated many of his ministers due to his arrogant and extravagant personality. He rarely visited the emperor and attended court meetings, and despite multiple attempts to get him to change his ways, he

9250-465: 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,

9375-463: The military. Immediately following the deaths of Sima Liang and Wei Guan , he was advised to utilize his military authority to execute Empress Jia's powerful relatives, Jia Mi and Guo Zhang . However, Wei was hesitant in accepting this plan. In Empress Jia's camp, the minister, Zhang Hua urged her to punish Wei for killing the emperor's regents. Just one day after Liang's death, Empress Jia deployed her troops against Wei and spread doubt regarding

9500-402: 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,

9625-562: The myriad officials and had gifts and documents of appointments conferred upon him, all in conformity with ancient institutions". Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang. Jin shu, Chronicle of Wudi states: "In the second year of Xianxi, in the fifth month, Sima Yan was appointed Crown Prince of Jin. Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write

9750-480: The night. Ai thought that Zhang Fang had been dealt with, but after realizing that the ramparts had been completed, he attacked them unsuccessfully. Ai's officials attempted to negotiate peace with Ying, seeing that the two were brothers. However, when offered to split the empire between him and Ai, he rejected it. Ai personally wrote a letter to Ying to persuade him, but Ying would only accept it if Ai executed Huangfu Shang, which Ai refused to do. Zhang Fang severed

9875-607: The noble families' (世族 or 士族, a political/bureaucratic landlord class from Eastern Han to Tang dynasty ) corruption and wastefulness, which drained the people's resources. Further, when Emperor Wu established the Jin Dynasty, he was concerned about his regime's stability, and, believing that the predecessor state, Cao Wei, had been doomed by its failures to empower the princes of the imperial clan , he greatly empowered his uncles, his cousins, and his sons with authority, including independent military authority. This ironically led to

10000-445: The nobles, as it quickly became clear that the mercy was being dealt out in an unequal manner. Nobles who committed crimes often received simple rebukes, while there were no meaningful reductions in penalties for commoners. This led to massive corruption and extravagant living by the nobles, while the poor went without government assistance. For example, in 267, when several high level officials were found to have worked in conjunction with

10125-463: The numerous short-lived dynasties in the north and the Eastern Jin dynasty in the south. While many princes participated in the conflict, the eight major players in this conflict were: Other people of note included Emperor Hui of Jin , co-regent Yang Jun , Empress Dowager Yang , Empress Jia Nanfeng , and the senior minister Wei Guan . It is also important to note that the fiefdom titles of

10250-518: The officials, still concerned with Tufa's rebellion, were opposed, but Yang was supported by Du Yu and Zhang. Emperor Wu considered their counsel seriously but did not implement it at this time. Also in 276, pursuant to his promise to the deceased Empress Yang, Emperor Wu married his cousin Yang Zhi and made her empress. The new Empress Yang's father, Yang Jun , became a key official in the administration and became exceedingly arrogant. In 279, with

10375-430: The palace and arrested Lun. Sun Xiu and many of Lun's supporters were also captured and executed. Lun spent the next few days denouncing his own conduct before he was forced to commit suicide. Emperor Hui was reinstated and celebrated the occasion with a five-day non-stop drinking binge. Ying was the first to reach the capital on 1 June, followed by Yong on 7 June. Jiong was still fighting Zhang Hong's forces at Yangdi at

10500-509: The palace that he did not know whom he should have sexual relations with; he therefore rode on a small cart drawn by goats, and wherever the goats would stop, he would stop there, as well. Because of this, many of the women planted bamboo leaves and salt outside their bedrooms—both items said to be favored by goats. Empress Yang's father Yang Jun and uncles Yang Yao (楊珧) and Yang Ji (楊濟) became effectively in power. Emperor Wu also became more concerned about whether his brother Prince You would seize

10625-418: The paramount authority in the Wei government. Sima Yan's first important appearance in history was in 260, when forces loyal to his father, led by Jia Chong , defeated an attempt by the Wei emperor Cao Mao to take back power and killed Cao Mao. At that time, as a mid-level army general, he was commissioned by his father to escort the new emperor Cao Huan (then still known as Cao Huang) from his dukedom to

10750-426: The power to levy taxes and employ central officials. Emperor Wu’s reign was troubled by a succession crisis due to his heir, Sima Zhong, being developmentally disabled. Some ministers wanted Wu’s brother, the abled Sima You , to replace Zhong as the Crown Prince, but Wu was adamant in upholding the traditional succession law. Zhong was the son of Wu’s first empress, Yang Yan , and married to Jia Nanfeng , so he had

10875-472: The prince's vanguard and killing 10,000. Ying planned to retreat back to Zhaoge , but Lu Zhi advised him to carry out a surprise attack during the early morning. Sun Hui and his contemporaries were complacent by their recent victory and did not prepare any defense. Ying rallied his troops and returned with a counterattack, smashing Hui's forces north of the Yellow River . Ying's army was the first to make

11000-555: The princes do not reflect their base of operation. For example, although Sima Ying was the Prince of Chengdu , he mostly operated in Ye throughout the war and was never near his fief. Sima Yi , an official, general, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, effectively seized control of Wei in early 249 after instigating a successful coup against his co-regent, Cao Shuang . Sima Yi and two of his sons, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao , came to serve as

11125-430: 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

11250-465: 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

11375-421: The regional governors were not able to raise troops to resist quickly enough. He also rejected advice to have the non-Han gradually moved outside of the empire proper. In 281, Emperor Wu took 5,000 women from Sun Hao's palace into his own, and thereafter became even more concentrated on feasting and enjoying the women, rather than on important matters of state. It was said that there were so many beautiful women in

11500-459: The river. Lu Ji managed to escape but was arrested and executed on Ying's orders. Meng Jiu (孟玖) replaced him as head of military operations. Ai then moved west to face Zhang Fang. The emperor's presence caused panic within Zhang Fang's army, so he was badly defeated and lost 5,000 soldiers. Zhang Fang rejected his subordinates' advice to retreat and instead secretly constructed ramparts during

11625-481: 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

11750-512: The same year. In 267, he made her oldest living son, Sima Zhong crown prince—based on the Confucian principle that the oldest son by an emperor's wife should inherit the throne—a selection that would, however, eventually contribute greatly to political instability and the Jin Dynasty's decline, as Crown Prince Zhong appeared to be developmentally disabled and unable to learn the important skills necessary to govern. Emperor Wu further made perhaps

11875-467: 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

12000-403: The self-abdication of Emperor Hui and usurped the throne on 3 February 301. During Lun's regency, the Inspector of Yi Province , Zhao Xin , a relative of Empress Jia, rebelled in his province. In early 301, his rebellion was quelled after his subordinate, the Ba-Di refugee leader, Li Te , betrayed and ousted him from Chengdu . Not long after his usurpation, Sima Jiong rebelled and sent out

12125-431: The situation by recalling Li Han to Luoyang and ordering Zhong to disperse his troops, but Zhong refused. Finally, Yong secretly ordered Li Han to have Ai assassinated. Huangfu Shang discovered their plot and informed Ai, and so the prince had Li Han executed. After the failed assassination attempt, Yong prepared his troops for war. At the time, Sima Ying was setting out to quell Zhang Chang's rebellion, but hearing about

12250-508: The situation in Luoyang and Guanzhong, he took his troops to join Yong instead, once again ignoring Lu Zhi's advice. In fall 303, Yong sent an army of 70,000 under Zhang Fang to attack the capital. Ying also sent an army 200,000 strong under Lu Ji against the capital. Uncharacteristically, Emperor Hui commanded his own troops to help Sima Ai defend Luoyang. On 21 September 303, Ai sent 10,000 men under Huangfu Shang to oppose Zhang Fang, but he

12375-454: The start of his reign, was recaptured by Eastern Wu . In 272, the Eastern Wu general Bu Chan , in fear that Sun Hao was going to punish him on the basis of false reports against him, tried to surrender the important city of Xiling (西陵, in modern Yichang , Hubei ) to Jin, but Jin relief forces were stopped by the Eastern Wu general Lu Kang , who then recaptured Xiling and killed Bu. In light of these failures, Yang took another tack—he started

12500-501: The state of Cao Wei , to abdicate to him. He reigned from 266 to 290, and after conquering the state of Eastern Wu in 280, was the emperor of a reunified China. Emperor Wu was also known for his extravagance and sensuality, especially after the unification of China; legends boasted of his incredible potency among ten thousand concubines. Emperor Wu was commonly viewed as generous and kind, but also wasteful. His generosity and kindness undermined his rule, as he became overly tolerant of

12625-513: The strong backing of the influential Yang and Jia clans. Another factor for choosing Zhong was that Wu saw great potential in his grandson, Sima Yu , should he succeed Zhong. By empowering the princes, Emperor Wu intended for them to act as a safeguard for his successors against the gentry clans should they overstep their boundaries, even more so considering Sima Zhong's disability. Wu had likely hoped that his family members, by virtue of their familial ties, would cooperate with each other to protect

12750-461: The throne by following the precedent of the Jin dynasty's foundation. They awarded their family members and allies with high-ranking positions and noble titles, while also posthumously honoring Sima Yu and recruiting famed individuals into their administration to win the people's support. Yang Xianrong , a distant relative of Sun Xiu, was installed as the new empress of Emperor Hui. In autumn 300, after Lun attempted to take his military authority away,

12875-488: The throne if he died. In January 283, he sent Prince You to his principality, even though there was no evidence that Prince You had such ambitions. Princess Jingzhao and Princess Changshan kow-towed and begged Emperor Wu to rescind his order, but he merely grew angry and demoted Princess Changshan 's husband in retaliation. Prince You, in anger, grew ill and died in April. Following previous Roman embassies in 166 and 226,

13000-471: The time, so Ying had to send his soldiers to assist him. After Zhang Hong and his peers surrendered, Jiong entered the capital with "several hundred thousand armored soldiers, before whom the capital trembled in awe" on 23 July. On 11 August 301, Sima Jiong received the Nine Bestowments and was made regent of Emperor Hui . Jiong had intention to share his regency with Sima Ying , but through

13125-497: 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

13250-833: 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

13375-522: 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

13500-615: The watch of the Prince of Zhao, Sima Lun . Due to his failure to quell the uprising, Lun was recalled back to Luoyang . Later on, the Prince of Chengdu, Sima Ying was assigned away to Ye following a heated argument he had with Jia Mi over the latter's treatment of the Crown Prince , Sima Yu . The Prince of Hejian, Sima Yong , was garrisoned in Guanzhong through the endorsement of the gentry families. The rebellion in Qin and Yong coincided with famines and plagues, and although it

13625-691: Was a mid-level official in the government of Cao Wei and a member of a privileged clan, as the son of the general Sima Yi . After Sima Yi seized power from the regent Cao Shuang in February 249 in the Incident at the Gaoping Tombs , Sima Zhao became more influential in the state. After his father's death in September 251, Sima Zhao became the assistant to his brother, the new regent Sima Shi . After Sima Shi died in March 255, Sima Zhao became regent and

13750-464: 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

13875-460: Was captured and killed. Sima Ai seized control of the capital but deferred authority to his half-brother, Sima Ying . The outcome of the conflict put a halt to Sima Yong and Ying's plans, which frustrated the two princes. Ying in particular was unhappy with his restricted control over the state as he shared power with Ai, and the relationship between the brothers deteriorated over time. Ai's administration failed to deal with rebel movements in

14000-459: Was captured and killed. Ai held out in Luoyang until March 304, and by this point, Zhang Fang had given up hope of taking Luoyang and was planning to withdraw. Despite this fact, the Minister of Works , Sima Yue feared that Ai would not succeed in the long run. On March 17, he and a group of officials kidnapped and put Ai under house arrest. The next day, they opened the gates and surrendered to

14125-447: Was caught by surprise and was unable to decide on his next move. Empress Dowager Yang Zhi tried to get the soldiers to turn on Empress Jia, but failed and implicated herself in the process. Soon, the soldiers advanced and set fire to the residence. Yang Jun's soldiers were routed, and he was killed while trying to escape. His families, supporters were all rounded up and executed as the extermination of all third degree relatives . Yang Zhi

14250-557: Was colluding with Ying, who he had good relations with, and plotting to rebel. Xin was killed in battle by the rebels, and Zhang Chang's rebellion spread throughout the southern provinces. Ai also employed Huangfu Shang as an advisor, putting Li Han at unease. Shang had a brother, Huangfu Zhong , who was the Inspector of Qin province , which placed him in a position to threaten Sima Yong's rear in Guanzhong . Yong and Li Han conspired to have him arrested, but he saw through their plans and led his troops to attack Li Han. Ai tried to defuse

14375-404: Was defeated in a surprise attack. Zhang Fang momentarily broke through the city walls and carried out a mass plundering before withdrawing. Meanwhile, Emperor Hui was constantly on the move and shifting his base before he defeated Ying's troops at Goushi (緱氏; in present-day Yanshi District , Henan ) on 22 October. However, when Shi Chao threatened his position at Goushi, he returned to the palace

14500-546: Was done. In 276, Emperor Wu suffered a major illness—which led to a succession crisis. Crown Prince Zhong would be the legitimate heir, but both the officials and the people hoped that Emperor Wu's capable brother, Sima You, the Prince of Qi, would inherit the throne instead. After Emperor Wu became well, he divested some military commands from officials that he thought favored Prince You, but otherwise took no other punitive actions against anyone. Later that year, Yang Hu reminded Emperor Wu of his plan to conquer Eastern Wu. Most of

14625-400: Was known to be "avaricious and false" as well as "simple and stupid," heeding only the advice of Sun Xiu . Yu's arrest sparked outrage among many officials, and a few of them approached Lun for his military strength to overthrow Empress Jia. Lun had long wished to betray the empress, but Sun Xiu convinced him to wait until Yu was out of the way, arguing that because of Lun's reputed loyalty to

14750-401: Was promoted to Empress Dowager . However, Yang Jun was not well-received by his ministers due to his apparent attempts at consolidating power and refusal to take advice. He also tried to assassinate Sima Liang without success and rejected suggestions to cooperate with him. Meanwhile, the new empress, Jia Nanfeng , was unhappy with the little control she has over state affairs due to Yang Jun and

14875-432: Was reluctant to follow through his supporters' advices. The minister, Wang Bao , was concerned about the various princes' military power, believing that they would one day use it against Jiong just as they did with his predecessors. In a letter to Jiong, Wang Bao urged him to send the princes back to their respective fiefs and to divide control over the state between him and Sima Ying. Jiong was initially convinced, but when

15000-724: Was replaced. However, after a major revolt by the Xianbei chief Tufa Shujineng started in 270 in Qin Province, Emperor Wu's attention became concentrated on Tufa, as Tufa was able to win victory after victory over Jin generals. In 271, the Xiongnu noble Liu Meng rebelled in Bing province as well, and while his rebellion did not last long, this took Emperor Wu's attention away from Eastern Wu. In 271, Jiao Province (交州, modern northern Vietnam ), which had paid allegiance to Jin ever since

15125-492: Was spared but confined inside the palace, where she remained until her death in 292. On 4 May 291, Sima Liang and Wei Guan were installed as the new regents of Emperor Hui . Now that he was in power, Liang asserted his authority by freely handing out new appointments and titles to around 1,081 people to garner support. At the same time, Empress Jia began placing her relatives and allies into positions of power. Liang and Wei Guan were wary of Sima Wei . Despite his role in

15250-481: Was tempted to join him. Yong sent Li Han and Zhang Fang to campaign against Jiong, and they sent a proclamation to ordering Ai to attack Jiong. Believing that Ai was involved, Jiong sent troops to kill him, who fled to the imperial palace for protection. There, using both imperial guards and his own personal forces, Ai defended the palace against Jiong within Luoyang for three days, bringing Emperor Hui along with him. On 27 January, Jiong's own officers betrayed him and he

15375-425: Was ultimately put down in 299, it sparked an influx of refugees fleeing south to Yi province . It also allowed a Di leader, Yang Maosou to set up the state of Chouchi south of Tianshui in 296. Empress Jia deemed the Crown Prince , Sima Yu as a threat to her power should he ascend the throne, since he was not her biological son. In early 300, she orchestrated his arrest by convincing him while drunk to copy

15500-466: Was unhappy with the positions he received under Lun's administration. Sensing his discontent, Lun had Jiong assigned away to Xuchang . After Yun's rebellion, Lun was granted the Nine Bestowments . The following year, he claimed in a report that the spirit of his father, Sima Yi , had ordered him to move into the Western Palace (西宮), the residence of Emperor Hui. He then forged an edict stating

15625-503: Was unsatisfied with the content of the original edict, as he was not included among the princes who had to raise their troops. Without the empress's knowledge, Wei forged an edict which made him Commander over all military forces and granted himself full control over the operation. On 26 July 291, he sent his subordinates and soldiers to arrest Liang and Wei Guan in Luoyang . Both men gave no resistance and were put to death. The forged edict meant that Sima Wei held significant control over

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