104-485: " Devourer " ( Chinese : 人和吞食者 ; pinyin : rén hé tūnshízhě ) is a science-fiction short story by Chinese writer Liu Cixin , first published in Science Fiction World ( Chinese : 科幻世界 ; pinyin : kēhuàn shìjiè ) in Chengdu in Sichuan Province in November 2002. The short story was included in the collection The Wandering Earth published by Head of Zeus in October 2017. An alien crystal from Eridanus reaches Earth and warns humanity of
208-525: A Portuguese colony, the territory of Portuguese Macau was first leased to Portugal by the Ming dynasty as a trading post in 1557. Portugal paid an annual rent and administered the territory under Chinese sovereignty until 1887. Portugal later gained perpetual colonial rights in the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking . The colony remained under Portuguese rule until the 1999 handover to China. Macau
312-434: 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
416-530: A four-year term: 14 are directly elected , 12 indirectly elected , and 7 appointed by the Chief Executive. Indirectly elected assemblymen are selected from limited electorates representing sectors of the economy or special interest groups. All directly elected members are chosen with proportional representation . Twelve political parties had representatives elected to the Legislative Assembly in
520-507: A large portion of nonresident workers to live in Zhuhai. Macau has a capitalist service economy largely based on casino gaming and tourism. It is the world's 83rd-largest economy , with a nominal GDP of approximately MOP433 billion (US$ 53.9 billion). The GDP per capita was US$ 69,430 in 2023. Although Macau has one of the highest per capita GDPs, the territory also has a high level of wealth disparity . Macau's gambling industry
624-593: A major warehouse during the late 16th century, providing a crucial connection in exporting Chinese silk to Japan during the Nanban trade period. Although the Portuguese were initially prohibited from fortifying Macau or stockpiling weapons, the Fortaleza do Monte was constructed in response to frequent Dutch naval incursions . The Dutch attempted to take the city in the 1622 Battle of Macau , but were repelled successfully by
728-468: A much greater role in governing the territory during this period; Chinese residents were subject to Qing courts and new construction had to be approved by the resident mandarin beginning in the 1740s. As the opium trade became more lucrative during the 18th century, Macau again became an important stopping point en route to China. Following the First Opium War and the establishment of Hong Kong by
832-599: 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
936-547: A population density of 21,340 people per square kilometre, Macau is the most densely populated region in the world. The overwhelming majority (88.7 per cent) are Chinese , many of whom originate from Guangdong (31.9 per cent) or Fujian (5.9 per cent). The remaining 11.6 per cent are non ethnic Chinese minorities, primarily Filipinos (4.6 per cent), Vietnamese (2.4 per cent), and Portuguese (1.8 per cent). Several thousand residents are of Macanese heritage, native-born multiracial people with mixed Portuguese ancestry. Of
1040-464: A practice which has always been present as 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 ,
1144-451: A share of GDP peaked in 2013 at over 60 per cent, and continues to account for 49.1 per cent of total economic output. The vast majority of casino patrons are tourists from mainland China, making up 68 per cent of all visitors. Casino gaming is illegal in both the mainland and Hong Kong, giving Macau a legal monopoly on the industry in China. Revenue from Chinese high rollers has been falling and
SECTION 10
#17328527723911248-404: 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 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
1352-544: A test run for some of those ideas." External links 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 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
1456-406: A trading post from China by paying annual lease of hundreds of silver taels to Ming China. Luso-Canton trade relations were formally reestablished in 1554, and Portugal soon after acquired a permanent lease for Macau in 1557, agreeing to pay 500 taels of silver as annual land rent. Macau became a stopover on the sea lane that connected Japan with the wider world. The Portuguese could avoid
1560-437: Is Coloane Alto , 170.6 m (560 ft) above sea level. Urban development is concentrated on peninsular Macau, where most of the population lives. The peninsula was originally a separate island with hilly terrain, which gradually became a tombolo as a connecting sandbar formed over time. Both natural sedimentation and land reclamation expanded the area enough to support urban growth. Macau has tripled its land area in
1664-515: Is a special administrative region of China, which maintains separate governing and economic systems from those of mainland China under the principle of " one country, two systems ". The unique blend of Portuguese and Chinese architecture in the city's historic centre has resulted in its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005. Originally a sparsely populated collection of coastal islands, Macau, often referred to as
1768-669: Is a complicated question, since like the Galicia region in Spain , it is not an independent country, but only a part of China. However, the Instituto Internacional de Macau ( 澳門國際研究所 ) and the University of São José are Consultative Observers of the CPLP. The territory is divided into seven parishes. Cotai , a major area developed on reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane , and areas of
1872-440: 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,
1976-473: Is also heavily subsidised. Migrant workers living in Macau account for over 25 per cent of the entire workforce. They largely work in lower wage sectors of the economy, including construction, hotels, and restaurants. As a growing proportion of local residents take up employment in the gaming industry, the disparity in income between local and migrant workers has been increasing. Rising living costs have also pushed
2080-454: 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
2184-415: Is dual season dominant – summer (May to September) and winter (December to February) are the longest seasons, while spring (March and April) and autumn (October and November) are relatively brief periods. The summer monsoon brings warm and humid air from the sea, with the most frequent rainfall occurring during the season. Typhoons also occur most often then, bringing significant spikes in rainfall. During
SECTION 20
#17328527723912288-809: 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
2392-598: Is the largest in the world, generating over MOP195 billion (US$ 24 billion) in revenue and about seven times larger than that of Las Vegas . Macau's gambling revenue was $ 37 billion in 2018. Taxes from gambling revenues fund a robust welfare system and an annual cash payment to Macau's citizens. The regional economy is heavily reliant on casino gaming. The vast majority of government funding (79.6 per cent of total tax revenue) comes from gaming. Local taxes on personal income, residential property, and retail sales range from non-existent to negligible. Gambling as
2496-540: 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,
2600-551: Is very similar to Hong Kong's. The regional government is composed of three branches: The Chief Executive is the head of government, and serves for a maximum of two five-year terms. The State Council (led by the Premier of China ) appoints the Chief Executive after nomination by the Election Committee, which is composed of 400 business, community, and government leaders. The Legislative Assembly has 33 members, each serving
2704-559: The Haijin policies. It was limited only to Macau on a lesser scale while the new dynasty focused on eliminating surviving Ming loyalists . While the Kangxi Emperor lifted the prohibition in 1684, China again restricted trade decades later under the Canton System in 1757. Foreign ships were required to stop first at Macau before further proceeding to Canton . Qing authorities exercised
2808-473: 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 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
2912-634: The 2017 election . These parties have aligned themselves into two ideological groups: the pro-establishment (the current government) and pro-democracy camps. Macau is represented in the National People's Congress by 12 deputies chosen through an electoral college, and 29 delegates in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference appointed by the central government . Macau has generally congenial relations with China's central government. Chinese national law does not generally apply in
3016-562: The Chinese Communist Party in exchange for continued administration of Macau. Following the 1974 Carnation Revolution , Portugal formally relinquished Macau as an overseas province and acknowledged it as a "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration". After China first concluded arrangements on Hong Kong's future with the United Kingdom , it entered negotiations with Portugal over Macau in 1986. These concluded with
3120-490: 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 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
3224-631: The Macau New Urban Zone do not have defined parishes. Historically, the parishes belonged to one of two municipalities (the Municipality of Macau or the Municipality of Ilhas ) that were responsible for administering municipal services. The municipalities were abolished in 2001 and superseded by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau in providing local services. Macau is located on China's southern coast, 60 km (37 mi) west of Hong Kong , on
Devourer - Misplaced Pages Continue
3328-542: 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 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
3432-401: The Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking . This agreement also prohibited Portugal from ceding Macau without Chinese approval. Despite occasional conflict between Cantonese authorities and the colonial government, Macau's status remained unchanged through the republican revolutions of both Portugal in 1910 and China in 1911 . The Kuomintang further affirmed Portuguese jurisdiction in Macau when
3536-483: The Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau . This licence was renegotiated and renewed several times before ending in 2002 after 40 years. The government then allowed open bidding for casino licences to attract foreign investors. Along with an easing of travel restrictions on mainland Chinese visitors, this triggered a period of rapid economic growth; from 1999 to 2016, Macau's gross domestic product multiplied by 7 and
3640-650: The Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), it was under the jurisdiction of the new Xiangshan County . In 1277, approximately 50,000 refugees fleeing the Mongol conquest of China settled in the coastal area. The first European visitor to reach China by sea was the explorer Jorge Álvares , who arrived in 1513. Merchants first established a trading post in Hong Kong waters at Tamão , present-day Tuen Mun , beginning regular trade with nearby settlements in southern China. Military clashes between
3744-749: The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress can also override territorial judicial processes. In 2021, after similar actions were taken in Hong Kong following the protests associated with the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, 21 candidates running for office in the territorial elections were disqualified as a result of allegedly failing to support the Basic Law, although no specific violations were noted by
3848-581: The State Council . Further reclamation is underway to develop parts of the Macau New Urban Zone . The territory also has control over part of an artificial island to maintain a border checkpoint for the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge . Despite being located south of the Tropic of Cancer , Macau has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cwa ), characteristic of southern China. The territory
3952-612: The World Trade Organization and United Nations . The regional government maintains trade offices in Greater China and other nations. Public political demonstrations in Macau are generally rare. Macau is not a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries , despite Portuguese being one of its official languages. This is due to it not being a sovereign nation, but a subnational division of China. In 2006, during
4056-440: The ants so that life on Earth can begin anew. "Devourer" was also translated into German (2018), Korean (2019) and Spanish (2019). Jaymee Goh wrote on Strange Horizons , that the "expository paragraphs [....] are particularly tedious in first contact stories such as 'Mountain,' 'Devourer,' and 'The Micro Era,' where there is barely any human drama and the protagonists are flat." In particular for "Devourer", she remarks that
4160-410: The fourth-highest life expectancy in the world. The territory is highly urbanised, holding the status of the most densely populated territory on Earth; two-thirds of the total land area is built on land reclaimed from the sea . The first known written record of the name "Macau", rendered as "A Ma Gang" ( 亞/阿-媽/馬-港 ), is found in a letter dated 20 November 1555. The local inhabitants believed that
4264-525: The handover , resulting in an executive-led governing system largely inherited from the territory's history as a Portuguese colony. Under these terms and the " one country, two systems " principle, the Basic Law of Macao is the regional constitution . Because negotiations for the Joint Declaration and Basic Law began after transitional arrangements for Hong Kong were made, Macau's structure of government
Devourer - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-476: The matchlock musket arquebuses , which they named bird guns , and breech-loading swivel guns , which they named as Folangji ( Frankish ) cannon because the Portuguese were known to the Chinese under the name of Franks at this time. The Portuguese later returned to China peacefully and presented themselves under the name Portuguese instead of Franks in the Luso-Chinese agreement (1554) . They rented Macau as
4472-542: The right of abode in Macau and are subject to immigration controls. Public finances are handled separately from the national government, and taxes levied in Macau do not fund the central authority. The Macao Garrison is responsible for the region's defence. Although the Chairman of the Central Military Commission is supreme commander of the armed forces, the regional government may request assistance from
4576-430: The simplified characters used on the mainland. English is considered an additional working language and is spoken by over a quarter of the population (27.5 per cent); 2.8 per cent are native speakers, and 24.7 per cent speak English as a second language. Macanese Patois , a local creole generally known as Patuá , is now spoken only by a few in the older Macanese community. Religion in Macau (2012) According to
4680-520: The states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what 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,
4784-404: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China . With a population of about 710,000 people and a land area of 32.9 km (12.7 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly
4888-520: The "Las Vegas of the East", since the late 20th century has become a major resort city and a top destination for gambling tourism. Its gambling industry is seven times larger than that of Las Vegas . The city has one of the highest GDPs per capita and GDPs per capita by purchasing power parity in the world. It has a very high Human Development Index of 0.925, as calculated by the Government of Macau , and
4992-480: The "ridiculousness can paper over the ethical questions raised" since "the text is asking the reader to identify and recognize the humanity of an alien", who is "a genocidal colonizer" and "a giant thirty-foot-tall dinosaur". Liz Comesky wrote on International Examiner , that the short story was a "personal favorite." Gareth D Jones wrote on SF Crowsnest : "There were several concepts here that reminded me of parts of ‘Three-Body’ and I wondered whether this had been
5096-634: The 17th century. The 1911 reform of Portuguese orthography standardised the spelling as Macau ; however, the use of Macao persisted in English and other European languages. The Macau Peninsula had many names in Chinese, including Jing'ao ( 井澳/鏡澳 ), Haojing ( 濠鏡 ), and Haojing'ao ( 濠鏡澳 ). The islands Taipa , Coloane , and Hengqin were collectively called Shizimen ( 十字門 ). These names would later become Ou mún ( 澳門 ), Aomen in Mandarin and translating as "bay gate" or "port gate", to refer to
5200-461: The 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see 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
5304-476: 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
SECTION 50
#17328527723915408-508: 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
5512-695: The British, Macau lost its role as a major port. Firecracker and incense production, as well as tea and tobacco processing, were vital industries in the colony during this time. Portugal was able to capitalise on China's postwar weakness and assert its sovereignty; the Governor of Macau began refusing to pay China annual land rent for the colony in the 1840s, and annexed Taipa and Coloane , in 1851 and 1864, respectively. Portugal also occupied nearby Lapa and Montanha . But these were returned to China by 1887, when perpetual occupation rights over Macau were formalised in
5616-470: 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
5720-458: The Earth. Biter then reveals that it is descended from the dinosaurs . This also shows why their similarities to humans were more strange than their differences. Although a colony of humans now lives on the world destroyer as planned and in such luxury that they look back on their old life as completely primitive, the last humans still want to stay on Earth, die a peaceful death and then serve as food for
5824-492: The Government Information Bureau, 80 per cent of the population practices Buddhism , 6.7 per cent follow Christianity and 13.7 per cent follow other religion. Folk practices are also common among the citizens. According to Pew Research Center , Chinese folk religions have the most adherents (58.9 per cent) and are followed by Buddhism (17.3 per cent) and Christianity (7.2 per cent), while 15.4 per cent of
5928-573: The Greek president. Biter justifies this as a taste test, because people do not have to face extinction, but can be kept for their delicious meat on board of the World Destroyer and can live a luxurious life until they are slaughtered at the age of sixty. The condition for this, however, is that the troublesome moon must be removed from orbit before the World Destroyer arrives, which is to be done by blasting rock with nuclear weapons. Two hundred years later,
6032-765: The II Ministerial meeting between China and Portuguese Speaking Countries, the CPLP Executive Secretary and Deputy ambassador Tadeu Soares invited the Chief Executive of the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region, Edmund Ho, to request the Associate Observer status for Macau. The Government of Macau has yet to make this request. In 2016, Murade Murargy, then executive secretary of CPLP said in an interview that Macau's membership
6136-710: The Ming and Portuguese navies followed the expulsion of the Tamão traders in 1521. Despite the trade ban, Portuguese merchants continued to attempt to settle on other parts of the Pearl River estuary, finally settling on Macau. In their first attempts at obtaining trading posts by force, the Portuguese were defeated by the Ming Chinese at the Battle of Tunmen in Tamão (or Tuen Mun ) in 1521, where
6240-461: The Pearl River and inched towards Quanzhou and Ningbo . But as they failed to establish trading relationships with the Chinese, the Portuguese focused on trade with Japan. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau was created in 1576, and by 1583 the Municipal Council of Macau had been established to handle municipal affairs for the growing settlement. Macau was at the peak of its prosperity as
6344-538: The People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during 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
SECTION 60
#17328527723916448-514: The Philippines, Australia, Vietnam and the Russian Far East led in 2019 to the lowest revenues in three years. Export-oriented manufacturing previously contributed to a much larger share of economic output, peaking at 36.9 per cent of GDP in 1985 and falling to less than 1 per cent in 2017. The bulk of these exports were cotton textiles and apparel, but also included toys and electronics. At
6552-489: The Portuguese lost two ships. They were also defeated at the Battle of Sincouwaan around Lantau Island , where the Portuguese lost two more ships. Other defeats include Shuangyu in 1548, where several Portuguese were captured, and near Dongshan County in 1549, where two Portuguese junks and Galeote Pereira were captured. During these battles the Ming Chinese captured weapons from the defeated Portuguese which they reverse engineered and mass-produced in China. These included
6656-528: The Portuguese. Macau entered a period of decline in the 1640s following a series of catastrophic events for the burgeoning colony: Portuguese access to trade routes was irreparably severed when Japan halted trade in 1639, and after the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640, Portuguese Malacca fell to the Dutch in 1641. Maritime trade with China was banned in 1644 following the Qing conquest under
6760-571: The Treaty of Peking was renegotiated in 1928. During the Second World War , the Empire of Japan did not occupy the colony and generally respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau. However, after Japanese troops captured a British cargo ship in Macau waters in 1943, Japan installed a group of government "advisors" as an alternative to military occupation. The territory largely avoided military action during
6864-487: The arrival of the "World Destroyer". Shortly afterwards, a spaceship belonging to the World Destroyer reaches Earth as a vanguard , and a several-meter-tall and unusually reptilian-looking alien emerges from it, which humans call "Biter". At a reception with other heads of state, Biter explains that all the raw materials of the planets in the Solar System will be plundered by the World Destroyer when it arrives, and then eats
6968-444: The body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to 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
7072-447: The broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ), 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
7176-407: 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
7280-422: The colony expanded its clothing and textiles manufacturing industry, developed its tourism industry, and legalised casino gaming. However, at the height of the Cultural Revolution , residents dissatisfied with the colonial administration rioted in the 1966 12-3 incident , in which 8 people were killed and more than 200 were injured. Portugal lost full control over the colony afterwards, and agreed to cooperate with
7384-595: 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 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,
7488-638: The country. In 1935, 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
7592-447: The economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of 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
7696-403: The economy and taxes corporations at very low rates. Post-handover administrations have generally been more involved in enhancing social welfare to counter the cyclical nature of the gaming industry. Economic growth has been attributed in large part to the high number of mainlander visits to Macau, and the central government exercises a role in guiding casino business growth through its control of
7800-512: 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, 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
7904-465: 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
8008-430: The founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across 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
8112-566: The garrison. Macau residents are not required to perform military service and the law also has no provision for local enlistment, so its defence force is composed entirely of nonresidents. The State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle diplomatic matters, but Macau retains the ability to maintain separate economic and cultural relations with foreign nations . The territory negotiates its own trade agreements and actively participates in supranational organisations, including agencies of
8216-405: The handover in 1999, manufacturing, financial services, construction and real estate, and gaming were the four largest sectors of the economy. Macau's shift to an economic model entirely dependent on gaming caused concern over its overexposure to a single sector, prompting the regional government to attempt re-diversifying its economy. The government traditionally had a non-interventionist role in
8320-550: The history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from 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
8424-460: The last century, increasing from 10.28 km (3.97 sq mi) in the late 19th century to 32.9 km (12.7 sq mi) in 2018. Cotai , the area of reclaimed land connecting Taipa and Coloane, contains many of the newer casinos and resorts established after 1999. The region's jurisdiction over the surrounding sea was greatly expanded in 2015, when it was granted an additional 85 km (33 sq mi) of maritime territory by
8528-477: 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 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,
8632-520: The population profess no religious affiliation at all. Small minorities adhering to other religions (less than 1 per cent), including Hinduism , Judaism , and Islam , are also resident in Macau. Life expectancy in Macau was 81.6 years for males and 87.7 years for females in 2018, the fourth highest in the world. Cancer , heart disease , and respiratory disease are the territory's three leading causes of death. Most government-provided healthcare services are free of charge, though alternative treatment
8736-550: The population, 80.1 per cent as a first language and 7.5 per cent as a second language. Only 2.3 per cent can speak Portuguese , the other official language; 0.7 per cent are native speakers, and 1.6 per cent use it as a second language. Increased immigration from mainland China in recent years has added to the number of Mandarin speakers, making up about half of the population (50.4 per cent); 5.5 per cent are native speakers and 44.9 per cent are second language speakers. Traditional Chinese characters are used in writing, rather than
8840-430: 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
8944-426: The region, and Macau is treated as a separate jurisdiction. Its judicial system is based on Portuguese civil law , continuing the legal tradition established during colonial rule. Interpretative and amending power over the Basic Law and jurisdiction over acts of state lie with the central authority, however, making regional courts ultimately subordinate to the mainland's socialist civil law system. Decisions made by
9048-428: The ring-shaped world destroyer is enclosing the Earth, but a secret plan has been devised to blow up the moon to push it onto a collision course with it. The world destroyer is badly damaged by the evasive maneuver and the repairs delay the destruction of the Earth. After the world destroyer leaves, the last humans to have awakened from cryogenic sleep turn to Biter in anger, asking what right his civilization had to devour
9152-426: 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
9256-478: The sea goddess Matsu (alternatively called A-Ma) had blessed and protected the harbour and referred to the waters around A-Ma Temple by her name. When Portuguese explorers first arrived in the area and asked for the place name, the locals thought they were asking about the temple and told them it was "Ma Kok" ( 媽閣 ). The earliest Portuguese spelling for this was Amaquão . Multiple variations were used until Amacão / Amacao and Macão / Macao became common during
9360-461: 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
9464-554: The signing of the 1987 Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau , in which Portugal agreed the handover of the colony in 1999 and China guaranteed Macau's political and economic systems for 50 years after the handover. In the waning years of colonial rule, Macau rapidly urbanised and constructed large-scale infrastructure projects, including the Macau International Airport and a new container port . The handover of Macau
9568-518: The territory's electoral commission. The territory's jurisdictional independence is most apparent in its immigration and taxation policies. The Identification Department issues passports for permanent residents which differ from those issued by the mainland or Hong Kong, and the region maintains a regulated border with the rest of the country. All travellers between Macau and China and Hong Kong must pass border controls, regardless of nationality. Chinese citizens resident in mainland China do not have
9672-470: The total population (excluding migrants), 49.4 per cent were born in Macau, followed by 43.1 per cent in mainland China. A large portion of the population are Portuguese citizens , a legacy of colonial rule; at the time of the handover in 1999, 107,000 residents held Portuguese passports. The predominant language is Cantonese , a variety of Chinese originating in Guangdong. It is spoken by 87.5 per cent of
9776-817: 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
9880-480: The unemployment rate dropped from 6.3 to 1.9 per cent. The Sands Macao , Wynn Macau , MGM Macau , and Venetian Macau were all opened during the first decade after liberalisation of casino concessions. Casinos employ about 24 per cent of the total workforce in the region. "Increased competition from casinos popping up across Asia to lure away Chinese high rollers and tourists" in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Nepal,
9984-438: The very small size of a 'microstate' helps central authorities to exercise political control, stifle political pluralism, and monopolize opinions, all of which strengthen regime persistence." Macau is a special administrative region of China , with executive, legislative, and judicial powers devolved from the national government . The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration provided for economic and administrative continuity through
10088-590: The war except in 1945, when the United States ordered air raids on Macau after learning that the colonial government was preparing to sell aviation fuel to Japan. In 1950 the US paid Portugal more than US$ 20 million in compensation for the damage during the war. Refugees from mainland China swelled the population as they fled from the Chinese Civil War . Access to a large workforce enabled Macau's economy to grow as
10192-570: The western side of the Pearl River estuary. It is surrounded by the South China Sea in the east and south, and neighbours the Guangdong city of Zhuhai to the west and north. The territory consists of Macau Peninsula , Taipa , and Coloane . A 1 km (0.39 sq mi) parcel of land in neighbouring Hengqin island that hosts the University of Macau also falls under the regional government's jurisdiction. The territory's highest point
10296-523: The whole territory. During the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), the region was under the jurisdiction of Panyu County , Nanhai Prefecture of the province of Guangdong . The region is first known to have been settled during the Han dynasty . It was administratively part of Dongguan Prefecture in the Jin dynasty (266–420 AD), and alternated under the control of Nanhai and Dongguan in later dynasties. In 1152, during
10400-471: The winter, northern winds from the continent bring dry air and much less rainfall. The highest and lowest temperatures recorded at the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau are 38.9 °C (102.0 °F) on both 2 July 1930 and 6 July 1930 and −1.8 °C (28.8 °F) on 26 January 1948. The Statistics and Census Service estimated Macau's population at 667,400 at the end of 2018. With
10504-425: The world on a per capita basis. Political debates have centred on the region's jurisdictional independence and the central government's adherence of " one country, two systems ". While issues such as national security legislation have been controversial, Macanese residents generally have high levels of trust in the government. Kwong and Wong explain this by comparing Macau to Hong Kong: "The case of Macau shows that
10608-461: 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
10712-404: Was at midnight on 20 December 1999, after 442 years of Portuguese rule. Following the handover, Macau liberalised its casino industry (which previously operated under a government-licensed monopoly) to allow foreign investors, starting a new period of economic development. The regional economy grew by a double-digit annual growth rate from 2002 to 2014, making Macau one of the richest economies in
10816-520: Was forecast to fall as much as 10% more in 2019. Economic uncertainty may account for some of the drop, but alternate Asian gambling venues do as well. For example, Chinese visitors to the Philippines more than doubled between 2015 and 2018, since the City of Dreams casino opened in Manila. Casino gambling was legalised in 1962 and the gaming industry initially operated under a government-licensed monopoly granted to
#390609