Character reform - Mojikaikaku (English spelling)

Japanese: 文字改革 - もじかいかく（英語表記）Wén zì gǎi gé

In China, Chinese characters have been used from the time of oracle bone script to the present day, and their character as ideograms and logograms has not changed. As a result, the number of Chinese characters has increased enormously, and their shapes have inevitably become complicated. Moreover, according to legend, Chinese characters were invented by Cangjie, a historian to the Yellow Emperor, and from the meaning of the inscriptions on tortoise shell and animal bones, Chinese characters have been the exclusive property of rulers from the beginning, and have had nothing to do with the common people. However, with the beginning of the Qing Dynasty and more frequent contact with European civilization, intellectuals began to reflect on the old Chinese civilization, and eventually, with the collapse of the Qing Empire and the subsequent development of the May Fourth Movement, they realized that Chinese characters were the cause of the stagnation of Chinese civilization.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中国では，甲骨文の時代から今日に至るまで漢字を用い，その表意文字･表語文字としての性格を変えることはなかった。そのために，漢字はおびただしい数にのぼり，その形も複雑にならざるをえなかった。しかも伝説によれば，漢字は黄帝の史官蒼頡（そうけつ）の考案になるといわれ，亀甲獣骨に刻まれた文意から察しても，漢字はその初めから統治者の専有物であり，庶民とは何のかかわりもないものであった。ところが，清代に入って，ヨーロッパ文明との接触が頻繁となるにつれて，知識人のあいだに，中国旧文明に対する反省が始まり，やがて清帝国の崩壊，続いて五･四運動へと進展するとともに，中国文明の停滞が漢字にあることに気がついた。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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