Approaches to simplification

Simplification of the traditional Chinese writing system proceeds mainly in two ways. One is through reduction of the number of strokes per character. This is effected when a component of a character is replaced by another with fewer strokes, or when the whole character is represented by one of its components, or replaced by a homophonous character that is simpler in terms of graphic structure.

The other approach to simplification is through the reduction of the number of characters in common use. When a character was used in different geographical places, through different times and for different purposes, it often underwent changes in its graphic shape, giving rise to variant forms of the same character, which are called yìtizì ‘character in variant shape’ in Chinese linguistics. The number of yìtizì accumulated in Chinese is huge, accounting for 40 per cent of the total characters in Kāngxī zìdian. The writing system as a whole is simplified through choosing one of the variant forms of the same character, usually the one that is simplest in graphic structure, as the standard, and relegating all the others to disuse.

Simplification before the twentieth century

As two counteractive processes, complication and simplification have been at work throughout the evolution of Chinese script. The script passed through the process of complication more or less as a natural development in the course of being used in different times and places, and for increasingly complicated purposes.