Traditionally, in two-dimensional geometry , a rhomboid is a parallelogram in which adjacent sides are of unequal lengths and angles are non-right angled .
63-477: Nüshu ( 𛆁𛈬 ; simplified Chinese : 女书 ; traditional Chinese : 女書 ; pinyin : Nǚshū ; [ny˨˩˨ʂu˦] ; ' women's script ' ) is a syllabic script derived from Chinese characters that was used by ethnic Yao women for several centuries in Jiangyong , a county within the southern Chinese province of Hunan . From the early 21st century there have been official efforts to revitalise
126-464: A Nüshu museum, originally scheduled to open in 2007. However, with the line of transmission now broken, there are fears that the features of the script are being distorted by the effort of marketing it for the tourist industry. The title of a Nüshu transmitter is given to someone who is proficient in Nüshu writing and singing and needlework, knowledgeable on local customs, practices civil virtues, and loyal to
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
252-599: 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
315-464: 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 ,
378-466: A rhomboid that which has its opposite sides and angles equal to one another but is neither equilateral nor right-angled. And let quadrilaterals other than these be called trapezia. Euclid never used the definition of rhomboid again and introduced the word parallelogram in Proposition 34 of Book I; "In parallelogrammic areas the opposite sides and angles are equal to one another, and the diameter bisects
441-404: 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
504-440: 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,
567-460: Is called a rhombus but not a rhomboid. A parallelogram with right angled corners is a rectangle but not a rhomboid. Euclid introduced the term in his Elements in Book I, Definition 22, Of quadrilateral figures, a square is that which is both equilateral and right-angled; an oblong that which is right-angled but not equilateral; a rhombus that which is equilateral but not right-angled; and
630-454: 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
693-634: Is due to local customs of burning or burying Nüshu texts with their owners and the difficulty in textiles and paper surviving in humid environments. However, many of the simplifications found in Nüshu had been in informal use in other vernaculars of Chinese since the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties (1127–1368). Use seemingly reached its peak during the latter part of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Before 1949, Jiangyong operated under an agrarian economy and women had to abide by patriarchal Confucian practices such as
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#1732855331900756-606: Is in the Ideographic Symbols and Punctuation block. 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
819-439: Is not known when Nüshu came into being, but it seems to have reached its peak during the latter part of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). To preserve the script as an intangible cultural heritage , Chinese authorities established a Nüshu museum in 2002 and designated "Nüshu transmitters" starting in 2003. Fears that the features of the script are being distorted by the effort of marketing it for the tourist industry were highlighted by
882-809: 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
945-540: 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,
1008-473: 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
1071-490: 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
1134-542: 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
1197-500: The Three Obediences . Women were confined to the homes (through foot binding ) and were assigned roles in housework and needlework instead of fieldwork, which allowed the practice of Nüshu to develop. Specifically, unmarried women, also known as "upstairs girls", often gathered in groups in upstairs chambers to embroider and sing. The practice of singing nüge ( 女歌 ; 'women's song') allowed young women to learn Nüshu. One of
1260-520: 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,
1323-506: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Rhomboid The terms "rhomboid" and "parallelogram" are often erroneously conflated with each other (i.e, when most people refer to a "parallelogram" they almost always mean a rhomboid, a specific subtype of parallelogram); however, while all rhomboids are parallelograms, not all parallelograms are rhomboids. A parallelogram with sides of equal length ( equilateral )
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#17328553319001386-461: 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
1449-476: 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
1512-508: 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
1575-500: The 2022 documentary Hidden Letters . Nüshu was used to write a distinct Chinese variety known as Xiangnan Tuhua that is spoken by the sinicized Yao people of the Xiao River and Yongming River region of northern Jiangyong, Hunan. This dialect, which differs enough from those of other parts of Hunan that there is little mutual intelligibility , is known to its speakers as [tifɯə] 'Dong language'. There are differing opinions on
1638-519: The Center for Nüshu Cultural and Research Administration. As of 2010, they are paid a monthly stipend of CN¥100 (100 ( US$ 15.5) in 2023) in exchange for creating Nüshu works for the government and providing free copies of Nüshu works to local authorities. While recent academic interest in Nüshu has allowed for efforts in its preservation, it comes with the loss of women's agency over the presentation of their Nüshu works and their inability to directly control who
1701-470: 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
1764-540: 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
1827-678: The Southwestern Mandarin spoken in Hunan, or the local Yao language . Unlike standard written Chinese , where each Chinese character is logographic , representing a word or part of a word, Nüshu is phonetic , with approximately 600–700 characters representing Xiangnan Tuhua's spoken syllables . This is about half the number required to represent all the syllables in the language, as tonal distinctions are frequently ignored, making it "the most revolutionary and thorough simplification of Chinese characters ever attempted". Zhou Shuoyi, described as
1890-463: The areas." Heath suggests that rhomboid was an older term already in use. The rhomboid has no line of symmetry, but it has rotational symmetry of order 2. In biology, rhomboid may describe a geometric rhomboid (e.g. the rhomboid muscles ) or a bilaterally-symmetrical kite-shaped or diamond-shaped outline, as in leaves or cephalopod fins . In a type of arthritis called pseudogout , crystals of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate accumulate in
1953-417: The audience is. A large number of the Nüshu works were 'third day missives' ( 三朝书 ; 三朝書 ; sānzhāoshū ). They were cloth-bound booklets created by laotong , jiebai and mothers—and given to their jiebai counterparts or daughters upon marriage. They wrote down songs in Nüshu, which were delivered on the third day after the young woman's marriage. This way, they expressed their hopes for
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2016-444: 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
2079-447: 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
2142-477: The building of more intimate bonds through conversation, signing, and playing." Their poems and songs "embody their testimony to sisterhood". As they approached marriage, they wrote Nüshu wedding texts, also known as sanshaoshu , to the bride. Even after marriage, they kept in touch through letters. Su kelian ( 诉可怜 ; 訴可憐 ; 'lamenting the miserable') is a genre of writing that "gave voice to Jiangyong peasant women's existence as vulnerable beings". To combat
2205-432: The characters are phonetic. They are either modified characters, as above, or elements extracted from characters. They are used for 130 phonetic values, each used to write on average ten homophonous or nearly homophonous words, though there are allographs as well; women differed on which Chinese character they preferred for a particular phonetic value. It is not known when Nüshu came into being. The difficulty in dating Nüshu
2268-407: 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
2331-470: The classification of Xiangnan Tuhua, as it has features of several different Chinese varieties. Some scholars classify it under Xiang Chinese or Pinghua , and other scholars consider it a hybrid dialect. Most Jiangyong residents are bilingual in Xiangnan Tuhua and the Hunan dialect of Southwestern Mandarin . Xiangnan Tuhua was only written using Nüshu, and it was not used to write other languages, such as
2394-595: 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,
2457-638: 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
2520-592: The cultural practice of Nüshu into a visual art practice by and for women. Hong Kong based choreographer Helen Lai uses dance as a medium to critique the patriarchal media representation of Nüshu. She suggests that Nüshu is an innovative art form despite the media portrayal of it being a secret. Chinese composer Tan Dun has created a multimedia symphony entitled Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women for harp, orchestra, and 13 microfilms. Tan Dun spent five years conducting field research in Hunan Province, documenting on film
2583-447: 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
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2646-436: The entire character is adopted with little change apart from skewing the frame from square to rhomboid , sometimes reversing them (mirror image), and often reducing the number of strokes. Another hundred have been modified in their strokes, but are still easily recognisable, as is nü ( 女 ; 'woman') above. About 200 have been greatly modified, but traces of the original Chinese character are still discernible. The rest of
2709-415: The feelings of powerlessness and helplessness, they turned to writing poetry. These feelings were often the subject of the poems written by the Nüshu women. By creating Nüshu, they were now able to communicate their emotions. Expressing their feelings through folk stories, songs, prayers, and more, gave women an outlet. The poems and songs are "filled with examples of women's hardships and misfortune". During
2772-512: 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
2835-465: 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
2898-465: The form of dots, horizontals, virgules , and arcs. The script is traditionally written in vertical columns running from right to left, but in modern contexts it may be written in horizontal lines from left to right, just like modern-day Chinese. Unlike in standard Chinese, writing Nüshu script with very fine, almost threadlike, lines is seen as a mark of fine penmanship. About half of Nüshu are modified Chinese characters used logographically. In about 100,
2961-430: 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
3024-550: 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
3087-509: The last person proficient in this writing system, died on 20 September 2004, at the age of 98. To preserve Nüshu as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage , a Nüshu museum was established in 2002 and "Nüshu transmitters" were created in 2003. The language and locale has also attracted foreign investment for infrastructure surrounding possible tourist sites, including a $ 209,000 grant from the Ford Foundation in 2005 ($ 313,397 in 2023) to build
3150-487: The latter part of the 20th century, owing more to wider social, cultural and political changes than the narrow fact of greater Chinese character literacy, younger girls and women stopped learning Nüshu, and it began falling into disuse, as older users died. The script was suppressed by the Japanese during their invasion of China in the 1930s and 1940s, because they feared that the Chinese could use it to send secret messages. Nüshu
3213-528: 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,
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#17328553319003276-399: The only male to have mastered the script, compiled a dictionary listing 1,800 variant characters and allographs. It has been suggested that Nüshu characters derived from be italic variant forms of regular script Chinese characters, as can be seen in the name of the script, though some have been substantially modified to better fit embroidery patterns. The strokes of the characters are in
3339-433: The primary methods in which Nüshu use was perpetuated was through jiebai ( 结拜 ; 結拜 ; 'sworn sisters'). Jiebai formed a sisterhood, and enabled women to have companions. Unmarried girls often interacted with one another daily. Whether during group needlework, embroidering, or shoemaking, these girls worked together in an upstairs chamber. It was typical that they slept there together as well. "This arrangement led to
3402-430: 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
3465-443: The public domain. These ideas deemed Nüshu irrelevant in the public world due to its perceived importance only being relevant in personal contexts while also asserting that culture in the public sphere was dominated by men. Contemporary artists have attempted to commemorate Nüshu through its translation. Yuen-yi Lo, a Hong Kong–Macau artist, uses drawings as a way to critique the modern separation between writing and drawing and translate
3528-476: 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
3591-497: The script, as well as indications of renewed interest among the wider public. Nüshu is phonetic , with each of its approximately 600–700 characters representing a syllable . Nüshu works were a way for women to lament by communicating sorrows, commiserating over Chinese patriarchy , and establishing connections with an empathetic community. Typically a group of three or four young, non-related women would pledge friendship by writing letters and singing songs in Nüshu to each other. It
3654-461: 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
3717-817: 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
3780-786: The various songs the women use to communicate. Those songs become a third dimension to his symphony, and are projected alongside the orchestra and harp soloist. Lisa See describes the use of Nüshu among 19th-century women in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan . Nüshu was encoded in The Unicode Standard in version 10.0 published in June 2017, as part of the Nushu block (U+1B170–U+1B2FF). 396 syllabograms are defined. In addition, an iteration mark for Nüshu U+16FE1 𖿡 NUSHU ITERATION MARK
3843-424: The woman's happiness after leaving the village, and their sorrow for having to part with them. Other works, including poems and lyrics, were handwoven into belts and straps or embroidered onto everyday items and clothing. Other types of Nüshu works included ballads, autobiographies, biographies, and prayers. As Nüshu was often practised in the private sphere, patriarchal ideas prevented it from being acknowledged in
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#17328553319003906-461: 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
3969-526: Was further censored during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), where it was seen as occult. It is no longer customary for women to learn Nüshu, and literacy in Nüshu is now limited to a few scholars who learned it from the last women who were literate in it. However, after Yang Yueqing made a documentary about Nüshu, the Chinese government started to popularise the effort to preserve the increasingly endangered script, and some younger women are beginning to learn it. Yang Huanyi , an inhabitant of Jiangyong and
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