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The Chinese characters of Empress Wu, or the Zetian characters (Chinese: 則天文字; pinyin: Zétiān wénzì), are Chinese characters introduced by EmpressWu Zetian, the only empress regnant in the history of China, in order to demonstrate her power. The characters were not created by the Empress herself, but were suggested by an official named Zong Qinke, the son of one of her cousins, in December, 689 AD. The number of characters varies between 12, 17, 19, or 30. Her subjects were forced to use them during her reign, but they fell into disuse immediately after her death, so they help to determine dates of printed materials.
A few of the surviving characters are preserved in the written histories of Wu Zetian, and a few have found themselves incorporated into modern-day computer standards, classified as either variant or dialect-specific characters.
The form of the characters varies depending on where they are printed. For instance, Empress Wu's own name 照zhào was replaced with one of two new characters created through her: 瞾 or 曌;[1] looking in the Kangxi Dictionary, one finds the description of the former, having two 目 ("eye") characters, being the proper character, rather than 明míng ("bright").
Wu was China's only empress, and she exercised her power by introducing many reforms. In addition to changing the way people dressed, she wanted to change the words people used.
Empress Wu's written reforms resulted in new characters, which were not created from scratch, but borrowed elements of older characters.
Although the characters quickly fell into disuse after the end of Wu's reign, they were recorded in large dictionaries and a few have occasionally appeared as variant characters used in proper names. For instance, 圀 ('country', 'state') is used to write the name of daimyōTokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川 光圀) in kanji. In this context, the character is given the kun'yomi reading kuni as a variant of orthodox characters 国/國 (in shinjitai and kyūjitai, respectively).
Anecdotes about the reign of Empress Wu and the creation of these characters can be read in the Old Book of Tang.
The empress's name, 照, here comprises ⿱⿰日月空, or "the sun and the moon in the sky above". The moon and sun symbolize the harmony of yin and yang.
瞾
U+77BE
The above character is sometimes written this way, as seen in the Kangxi dictionary. Some believe this version came about as a result of a naming taboo.
天
tiān "Providence, heaven"
𠑺
U+2047A
This character is based on the seal-script version of 天.
𠀑
U+20011
Version of the above character in which some lines are connected, as in handwritten script.
地
dì "earth"
埊
U+57CA
The character for "earth" is composed of a mountain, a water, and earth.
Also said to represent the rabbit or toad-shaped moon.
星
xīng "star"
〇
U+3007
An empty circle, used to represent the word for 'star', now used in Modern Chinese as a Chinese numeral, representing zero, or as a 'full stop'.
君
jūn "monarch"
𠺞
U+20E9E
Composed of the characters 天大吉, which symbolizes that the world is in a state of great fortune, due to the empress[2]
𠁈
U+20048
More commonly used variant of the above due to being easier to write.[3]
𠱰
U+20C70
臣
chén "vassal of the monarch"
𢘑
U+22611
"firstly loyalty" (一忠), represents the loyalty that a subject should have[4]
除
chú "eliminate, to be assigned to position"
𠀺
U+2003A
天兴, represents the fact that the Heaven has allowed the empress to rise up in order to get rid of the old, eradicate all tyranny and misgovernment and create a new world[5]
載
zài "forever, countless"
𡕀
U+21540
𠧋
U+209CB
初
chū "start, found"
𡔈
U+21508
年
nián "year"
𠡦
U+20866
千千万万 (lit. by the thousands and tens of thousands), symbolizing that the empress's empire will last thousands of years. The 力 character is likely a variant of 卐, which means the same as 万: ten thousand.[6]
𠦚
U+2099A
Simplification of the above, with one less stroke.
正
zhèng "fair, right"
𠙺
U+2067A
人
rén "human, people"
𤯔
U+24BD4
Consisting of the Chinese numeral "one" (一) above the character for "life" (生), the character carries a meaning that everyone only lives once.
國
guó "nation, country, nation-state"
圀
U+5700
Consisting of the Chinese numeral "eight" (八), above the character for "direction" (方), both within a "boundary" (or "mouth") (口).
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese March 2011 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the Chinese article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 242 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Chinese Wikipedia article at zh 则天文字 see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated zh 则天文字 to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation The Chinese characters of Empress Wu or the Zetian characters Chinese 則天文字 pinyin Zetian wenzi are Chinese characters introduced by Empress Wu Zetian the only empress regnant in the history of China in order to demonstrate her power The characters were not created by the Empress herself but were suggested by an official named Zong Qinke the son of one of her cousins in December 689 AD The number of characters varies between 12 17 19 or 30 Her subjects were forced to use them during her reign but they fell into disuse immediately after her death so they help to determine dates of printed materials A few of the surviving characters are preserved in the written histories of Wu Zetian and a few have found themselves incorporated into modern day computer standards classified as either variant or dialect specific characters The form of the characters varies depending on where they are printed For instance Empress Wu s own name 照 zhao was replaced with one of two new characters created through her 瞾 or 曌 1 looking in the Kangxi Dictionary one finds the description of the former having two 目 eye characters being the proper character rather than 明 ming bright Contents 1 History 2 Examples 3 See also 4 External links 5 ReferencesHistory EditWu was China s only empress and she exercised her power by introducing many reforms In addition to changing the way people dressed she wanted to change the words people used Empress Wu s written reforms resulted in new characters which were not created from scratch but borrowed elements of older characters Although the characters quickly fell into disuse after the end of Wu s reign they were recorded in large dictionaries and a few have occasionally appeared as variant characters used in proper names For instance 圀 country state is used to write the name of daimyō Tokugawa Mitsukuni 徳川 光圀 in kanji In this context the character is given the kun yomi reading kuni as a variant of orthodox characters 国 國 in shinjitai and kyujitai respectively Anecdotes about the reign of Empress Wu and the creation of these characters can be read in the Old Book of Tang Examples EditOriginal character Pinyin amp meaning New character Large version Unicode Explanation of meaning照 zhao shine illuminate see exactly 曌 U 66CC The empress s name 照 here comprises 日月空 or the sun and the moon in the sky above The moon and sun symbolize the harmony of yin and yang 瞾 U 77BE The above character is sometimes written this way as seen in the Kangxi dictionary Some believe this version came about as a result of a naming taboo 天 tian Providence heaven 𠑺 U 2047A This character is based on the seal script version of 天 𠀑 U 20011 Version of the above character in which some lines are connected as in handwritten script 地 di earth 埊 U 57CA The character for earth is composed of a mountain a water and earth 日 ri sun day 𡆠 U 211A0 Said to represent the three legged crow sun deity of Chinese mythology 月 yue moon month 囝 U 56DD Said to represent the rabbit or toad shaped moon 𠥱 U 20971 Also said to represent the rabbit or toad shaped moon 星 xing star U 3007 An empty circle used to represent the word for star now used in Modern Chinese as a Chinese numeral representing zero or as a full stop 君 jun monarch 𠺞 U 20E9E Composed of the characters 天大吉 which symbolizes that the world is in a state of great fortune due to the empress 2 𠁈 U 20048 More commonly used variant of the above due to being easier to write 3 𠱰 U 20C70臣 chen vassal of the monarch 𢘑 U 22611 firstly loyalty 一忠 represents the loyalty that a subject should have 4 除 chu eliminate to be assigned to position 𠀺 U 2003A 天兴 represents the fact that the Heaven has allowed the empress to rise up in order to get rid of the old eradicate all tyranny and misgovernment and create a new world 5 載 zai forever countless 𡕀 U 21540𠧋 U 209CB初 chu start found 𡔈 U 21508年 nian year 𠡦 U 20866 千千万万 lit by the thousands and tens of thousands symbolizing that the empress s empire will last thousands of years The 力 character is likely a variant of 卐 which means the same as 万 ten thousand 6 𠦚 U 2099A Simplification of the above with one less stroke 正 zheng fair right 𠙺 U 2067A人 ren human people 𤯔 U 24BD4 Consisting of the Chinese numeral one 一 above the character for life 生 the character carries a meaning that everyone only lives once 國 guo nation country nation state 圀 U 5700 Consisting of the Chinese numeral eight 八 above the character for direction 方 both within a boundary or mouth 口 See also EditA Book from the Sky Claudian lettersExternal links EditMore detailed information on these characters archive link References Edit Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine The Ascent of Woman Episode 2 YouTube 王三庆 论武后新字的创制与兴废兼论文字的正俗问题 成大中文学报 2005 12 13 新唐书 后妃传上 则天武皇后传 载初中 又享万象神宫 以太穆 文德二皇后配皇地祇 引周忠孝太后从配 作 𠁈 十又二文 字汇补 古文 臣 字 新唐书 后妃传上 则天武皇后传 载初中 又享万象神宫 以太穆 文德二皇后配皇地祇 引周忠孝太后从配 作 𠀺 十又二文 赵与时 宾退录 五 武后改易新字 如以山水土为地 千千万万为年 永主久王为证 长正主为圣 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chinese characters of Empress Wu amp oldid 1133205889, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
