63-676: The Guangzhou–Kowloon through train ( simplified Chinese : 广九直通车 or 港穗直通车 ; traditional Chinese : 廣九直通車 or 港穗直通車 ; pinyin : Guǎngjiǔ Zhítōngchē or Găngsuì Zhítōngchē ) was an inter-city railway service between Hong Kong and Guangzhou jointly operated by the MTR Corporation of Hong Kong and the Guangzhou Railway Group of mainland China . Services operate along the East Rail line within Hong Kong territory, crossing
126-443: 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
189-434: 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
252-407: 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
315-599: 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
378-568: 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 ),
441-440: 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,
504-454: 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
567-809: 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
630-609: 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
693-540: 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,
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#1732856134346756-665: The Hong Kong–Chinese border at Lo Wu , and continuing along the Guangmao Railway and Guangshen Railway in Guangdong province . Twelve trains ran in each direction every day, with a journey time of 1 hour 40 minutes. The MTRC operates the KTT service on this route. The KTT service is provided by double-decker trains, usually comprising two Premium Class carriages and five First Class carriages. China Railway Guangzhou Group provides
819-1001: The Northern Expedition , and the Nationalists controlled most of China. On November 7, 1931, the Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was declared by the CCP in Ruijin within Communist-controlled areas of China and the CSR government moved north to Yan'an during the Long March until the CSR's dissolution. From 1937 to 1945, hostilities were put on hold, and the Second United Front fought the Japanese invasion of China with eventual help from
882-513: The State Council in June 2024. The customs citing the reason being that high-speed passenger trains have effectively met the travel needs of passengers between the mainland and Hong Kong. This service has now been replaced by high-speed rail services from Hong Kong West Kowloon to Guangzhou East . The original line of the Chinese section was called Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCR) and
945-733: The World War II Allies . The civil war resumed with the Japanese defeat, and the CCP gained the upper hand in the final phase of the war from 1945 to 1949, generally referred to as the Chinese Communist Revolution . Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the CCP in control of most of mainland China , and the Kuomintang retreating offshore , reducing its territory to only Taiwan (a former Japanese colony that
1008-694: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Proclamation of the People%27s Republic of China The proclamation of the People's Republic of China was made by Mao Zedong , the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing . The government of a new state under
1071-456: 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
1134-476: 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
1197-508: 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
1260-461: The British section was called Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR), which later stretched a rapid transit network in the other New Territories regions in Hong Kong. The engineering partnership Messrs Arthur John Barry and John Wolfe-Barry were Consulting Engineers to the project. The segment within Hong Kong, then a British Crown colony, was known as the British section. Construction began in 1906, and it
1323-484: The CCP, formally called the Central People's Government , was proclaimed by Mao at the ceremony, which marked the foundation of the People's Republic of China. Previously, the CCP had proclaimed the establishment of the Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) within the discontinuous territories of China they controlled, on November 7, 1931, in Ruijin . The CSR had lasted seven years until it was abolished in 1937. " March of
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#17328561343461386-470: 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
1449-705: The Commander of the Northern China Military Region and inspected by Zhu De , the Commander-in-Chief of the PLA, the parade involved around 16,000 PLA officers and personnel. The parade, which was approved in June 1949, was the first large-scale and modern Chinese military parade , with the country having never done a public review of troops before under previous governments. Liu Bocheng proposed to parade directors Yang Chengwu and Tang Yanjie be organized in
1512-402: The People's Republic of China (PRC), since October 1, 1949. The PRC officially claims Taiwan as its 23rd province as Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China in its constitution . The People's Republic of China on mainland China and Republic of China on Taiwan both officially claim to be the legitimate government of all China . No armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed over
1575-449: The People's Republic of China. This government is willing to establish diplomatic relations with any foreign government that is willing to observe the principles of equality, mutual benefit, and mutual respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty. Beijing, October 1, 1949 The first National Day military parade took place right after the proclamation of the PRC. Commanded by Nie Rongzhen ,
1638-680: The Soviet format, having personally witnessed a military parade on Red Square in Moscow . The Northern Military Region Band (now the Central Military Band of the PLA) provided musical accompaniment which included the Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army ’. The Republic of China retreated to the island of Taiwan by December 1949. The CCP remains the sole ruling party of China , officially
1701-599: The Tiananmen Gate, the date becoming the new country's first National Day . At exactly 3:00pm Beijing Time on October 1, 1949, Mao announced to the nation from the top of the Tiananmen Gate: 同胞们，中华人民共和国中央人民政府今天成立了！ Tóngbāo men, Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Zhōngyāng Rénmín Zhèngfǔ jīntiān chénglì le! Fellow countrymen, the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China was established today! After
1764-579: The Volunteers " was played as the new national anthem, and the new national flag of the People's Republic of China (the Five-starred Red Flag) was officially unveiled to the newly founded state and hoisted for the first time during the celebrations as a 21-gun salute fired in the distance. The first public military parade of the People's Liberation Army took place following the national flag raising with
1827-399: The capital and unanimously made the following decisions: and to charge them with the task of the speedy formation of the various organs of the government to carry out the work of the government. At the same time, the Central People's Government Council decided to declare to the governments of all other countries that this government is the sole legal government representing all the people of
1890-428: 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
1953-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant
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2016-465: 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
2079-472: 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
2142-616: 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
2205-463: 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
2268-465: 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
2331-454: 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
2394-466: 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
2457-494: The inter-city through trains, which already approved by the State Council in June 2024, marking the officially discontinuation of the service. The customs citing the reason being that high-speed passenger trains have effectively met the travel needs of passengers between the mainland and Hong Kong. The following shows the stations served by the through train in 1911 upon the commencement of service. Most of them became stops of Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway . The through train service
2520-459: 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,
2583-477: The majority of the people in the country have been liberated. On this foundation, the first session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, composed of delegates of all the democratic parties and people's organization of China, the People's Liberation Army, the various regions and nationalities of the country, and the overseas Chinese and other patriotic elements, has been convened. Representing
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2646-402: 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,
2709-525: The national anthem had been played, Chairman Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China that day on top of the Tiananmen Gate, declaring: The people throughout China have been plunged into bitter suffering and tribulations since the Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang reactionary government betrayed the fatherland, colluded with imperialists, and launched the counter-revolutionary war. Fortunately our People's Liberation Army , backed by
2772-634: The one-line railroad, the KCR network was expanded to three railway lines and a light railway system, with 32 railway stations and 68 light rail stations. At first trains on the British Section ran northwards from a temporary terminus at Kowloon Point through the eastern New Territories up to the border with China at Lo Wu . The permanent southern terminus, Kowloon station in Tsim Sha Tsui , opened later in 1914. A narrow gauge railway operating works trains
2835-530: 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
2898-545: The other trains on this route. Places served by the MTR Guangzhou–Kowloon Through Train include: Hong Kong , Dongguan , Guangzhou . The service had been suspended since the outbreak of COVID-19 , and officially discontinued in 31 July 2024, following an announcement by the General Administration of Customs on the closure of all four railway ports of the inter-city through trains, approved by
2961-586: The playing of the PRC national anthem. The Republic of China (ROC) had retreated to the island of Taiwan by December 1949. The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led Nationalist government of the ROC and the CCP lasting intermittently between 1927 and 1949. The war is generally divided into two phases with an interlude: from the August 1927 to 1937, the First United Front collapsed during
3024-430: 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
3087-465: 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
3150-476: 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
3213-461: 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
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#17328561343463276-582: The service was extended to Foshan , and to Zhaoqing on 28 March 1995. Starting from 8 October 1995, some trains stopped at Changping station in Dongguan. In 1996, the northern terminus was relocated from Guangzhou railway station to Guangzhou East station. Train service to Zhaoqing ended on 16 April 2017 due to renovation. Service to Foshan also stopped from 10 July 2019 following the opening of Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link . Both border crossings closed on 15 December 2021, ruling out any return of
3339-542: The through train service to the two cities. The through train service was suspended on 28 January 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. Sources in April 2022 said the train service would not resume due to the Express Rail Link service extending to Guangzhou east station . On 31 July 2024, the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement about the closure of all remaining four railway ports for
3402-488: 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
3465-817: 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
3528-516: 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
3591-472: The whole nation, has been fighting heroically and selflessly to defend the territorial sovereignty of our homeland, to protect the people's lives and property, to relieve the people of their sufferings, and to struggle for their rights, and it eventually wiped out the reactionary troops and overthrew the reactionary rule of the Nationalist government. Now, the People's War of Liberation has been basically won, and
3654-403: The will of the whole nation, [this session of the conference] has enacted the organic law of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, elected proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China and decided on Beijing as the capital of the People's Republic of China. The Central People's Government Council of the People's Republic of China took office today in
3717-415: 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
3780-464: Was opened on 1 October 1910 as a single-track system, roughly corresponding to the present-day East Rail line ). The complete railway between Kowloon in Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Canton (Guangzhou) was opened on 5 October 1911. With the Chinese section opened in 1911, through-trains ran from the southern terminus in Tsim Sha Tsui across the border to the southern Chinese city of Canton at Tai Sha Tau station. Trains were steam-hauled . From
3843-473: Was received in 1945), Hainan , and their surrounding islands. On 21 September 1949, CCP Chairman Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China with a speech at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference . This was followed by a mass celebration in Tiananmen Square on October 1, at which the proclamation was made publicly by Mao at
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#17328561343463906-507: Was suspended on 14 October 1949 after Communist China occupied Canton, and was only resumed on 4 April 1979. During this period, the through train service included new stops, such as in Tin Ho (天河), Wan Luk (雲麓), Sheung Shui (上水). Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language , with
3969-458: Was used in the construction of the standard gauge British Section. The narrow gauge materials were later used to build the now-defunct Sha Tau Kok Branch . After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, through-trains were initially unable to cross the border. On 4 April 1979, the through train service between Canton (Guangzhou) and Hung Hom resumed after agreement between Hong Kong and Chinese authorities. In January 1993,
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