Libian

*Libian*
Libian
Traditional Chinese	隸變
Simplified Chinese	隶变
Literal meaning	clerical change
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	lìbiàn
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	dai6 bin3

Qin-era seal script (c. 200 BC)

Han-era clerical script (c. 200 AD)

Comparison of historical forms for 馬うま 'horse'. The clerical form more closely resembles modern regular script.

Libian refers to the gradual, systematic simplification of Chinese character forms during the 2nd century BC, by which the Chinese writing system transitioned from the seal script character forms to clerical script characters during the early Han dynasty period, through the process of making omissions, additions, or transmutations of the graphical form of a character to make it easier to write. Libian was one of two conversion processes towards the new clerical script character forms, with the other being liding, which involved the regularisation and linearisation of character shapes.

Process

The earlier seal script characters were complicated and inconvenient to write; as a result, lower-level officials and clerics 隸; lì gradually simplified the strokes, and transitioned from writing with bowed ink brushes to using straight ink brushes, which both improved ease of writing.

The complexity of characters can be reduced in one of four ways:^[1]

Modulation (調しらべ變へん): The replacement of character components with an unrelated component. For example, the ancient bronze script form of 射い 'to shoot arrows' was written as , however the left-side component became replaced with 身み 'body' during the transition to clerical script writing.
Mutation (突變): Some characters undergo modulation so suddenly that no clue hinting at the original form can be found in the new form. For example, the transition from the seal script character 'spring' to the clerical (and by extension, modern) form 春はる completely drops any hints of the original 芚 component, instead replacing it with 𡗗 which seemingly has zero basis in relation to the original component.
Omission (省しょう變へん): The complete omission of a character component. For example, the clerical script form of 書しょ 'to write' (Old Chinese: *hlja) completely omits the phonetic component 者もの *tjaːʔ at the bottom of the seal script form .
Reduction (簡變): Simplifies character components to a form with fewer strokes. For example, the ancient form of / 僊 *sen 'celestial being' had the complex phonetic component 䙴 *sʰen simplified into 山やま *sreːn, creating the clerical form 仙せん.

One consequence of the libian transition process is that many radicals formed as a result of simplifying complex components within seal script characters—for example, characters containing 'heart' / 心しん on the side had the component simplified into 忄, as seen in 情じょう and 恨, and these newly-formed radicals are still used in modern-day Chinese writing as the fundamental basis for constructing and sorting Chinese characters.

Examples of *libian*
Gloss	Old	New	Pinyin	Details
year, harvest	秊	年とし	nián	Originally 秂 in ancient bronze forms, the character was an ideogrammic compound of a man 人ひと carrying grain 禾 on his back, e.g. a harvest; 人ひと also functioned as the phonetic marker for OC njin. After the Western Zhou period, the ancient bronze form had an additional stroke added to 人ひと to give 千せん, which continued to function as a phonetic marker for sn̥ʰiːn, creating , forming the basis for the seal script form 秊. After libian simplification, the resulting clerical script form became 年とし.^[A]
thunder	靁	雷かみなり	léi	Originally semantic 雨あめ 'rain' + phonetic 畾 ruːl, the bottom component became reduced into 田た during libian*.^[B]
to offer for the dead		奠	diàn	Originally a pictogram of an alcohol vessel 酉とり placed upon a mat 一いち, two strokes 八はち were added to later forms to represent overflowing alcohol, and a further two strokes 八はち were subsequently added to the mat to form a table with two legs 丌. During libian, the 丌 mutated into 大だい, resulting in the clerical form.^[C]
because	㠯	以	yǐ	Originally a pictogram of a person 人ひと carrying an object, the seal script form was modulated during libian to create the clerical form 以.^[D]
to obtain	𢔶	得とく	dé	Seal script form , the 貝かい initially simplifies into 目め during libian into earlier clerical variants; later variants further corrupt this component into 旦だん, and this clerical form is inherited by the modern character form.^[E]
to include	圅	函はこ	hán	Seal script form .^[F]
to change	㪅	更さら	gèng	Seal script form , consisting of phonetic 丙へい *pqraŋʔ + semantic 攴 'to tap'.^[G]
board game	棊	棋	qí	Seal script form , consisting of semantic 木き 'tree' + phonetic 其 kɯ, ɡɯ. The 木き component was relocated to the left side during libian.^[H]
without	橆	無む	wú	Ancient bronze form originally a pictogram of a man holding two objects in both hands while dancing, the seal script form became . During libian, the 木き components were modulated and resulted in the character becoming 無む. This character is a phonetic borrowing for 'without', while / 舞まい consisting of phonetic 無む *ma + semantic 舛ます 'steps' retains the original meaning of 'dance'.^[I]
thought	恖	思おもえ	sī	Seal script form consisting of phonetic 囟 snɯns + semantic 心しん 'heart', the 囟 component corrupted into the completely unrelated character 田た during libian*.^[J]^[2]
forward	歬	前まえ	qián	Seal script form originally depicting a foot 止とめ on a boat 舟ふね moving forward. During libian, 止とめ was reduced to 䒑, as was 舟ふね to 月つき. The addition of 刂 'knife' within 前まえ was originally used to represent the meaning of 'to cut' *ʔslenʔ, as seen in / 𣦃 / 𠝣; however, because 前まえ became used to represent 歬 instead, an additional 刀かたな 'knife' was added to 剪 for the purpose of representing the character for "to cut".^[K]
side by side	竝なみ	並なみ	bìng	Seal script form was a duplication of 立だて 'standing person'; underwent modulation during libian transition.^[L]
hill	丠	丘おか	qiū	Seal script form ; compare with representing 北きた 'north'.^[M]
to ascend	椉	乘の	chéng	Seal script form originally representing climbing a tree 木き with visible feet / 舛ます, which was later simplified to 禾 + 北きた during libian.^[N]
to revolve around	𠄢	亘わたる	xuān	Seal script form consisted of an ideogrammic compound 二に 'two' + 囘 'turns'.^[O]
fourth earthly branch	戼	卯う	mǎo	Originally depicted a Shang dynasty ritual of splitting a sacrificial body in half, as seen in seal script form .^[P]
death	𣦸	死し	sǐ	Originally an ideogrammic compound consisting of / 歹 'human remains' + / 人ひと 'man', as seen in seal script .^[Q]
to rid	㚎	去さ	qù	Seal script form . Top component simplified to 土ど, bottom component simplified to 厶. Origin highly contested; Shuowen Jiezi suggests a phono-semantic compound with semantic 大だい 'man' + phonetic 𠙴 kʰaʔ or kʰas,^[R] while Axel Schuessler suggests that it depicts an anus beneath a man, representing 'to get rid of'.^[3] Alternate interpretations include a man departing from a cave, lips departing from one another—re-borrowed from 呿 'to open one's mouth', or the 大だい representing a cover atop an object re-borrowed from 盍 'to cover'.
also		也	yě	The Shuowen Jiezi describes this character as a pictogram of a female vulva. Libian form is significantly simplified from the original shape.^[S]
summer	夓	夏なつ	xià	The libian form removes the 𦥑 component and the legs of 頁ぺーじ 'head' from the seal script form .^[T]
what	𠥄	甚	shèn, shén	The libian form modulates the upper component of the seal script form , originally an ideogrammic compound of 甘あま + 匹ひき.^[U]
to live	𤯓	生せい	shēng	Seal script form represents a sprout 屮 emerging from the ground.^[V]
to use	𤰃	用よう	yòng	Seal script form loŋs; variants 𠂦, 𤰆, 𠂵 originally depicted a pictogram of a water bucket; compare with 桶おけ l̥ʰoːŋʔ 'bucket'.^[W]
alliance	𥂗	盟めい	méng	Seal script form , with 囧 'window' simplified to 日ひ 'sun' during libian.^[X] 朙 was an ancient form of 明あきら *mraŋ 'bright'.^[Y]
flower	𠌶	花はな	huā	Seal script form . The characters 𠌶 and 華はな / 𦻏 were originally the same character, however were erroneously split into two separate entries within the Shuowen Jiezi.^[Z] 華はな ɡʷraː 'to flower' is a derivative of 𠌶 hʷraː 'a flower'.^[AA]
Malva verticillata Livistona chinensis Basella alba	𦮙	葵あおい	kuí	Seal script form 𦮙.^[AB]
west	㢴	西にし	xī	Seal script form originally represented a pictogram of a bag or basket, which was then borrowed phonetically to mean 'west'.^[AC]
edge	𨘢	邊あたり	biān	The earlier bronze inscription form consisted of 辵, 自じ, 丙へい and 方ほう; the lower right component within the seal script form is the result of 方ほう becoming corrupted. As the clerical variant later took form, the 方ほう component made a reappearance in texts.^[AD]
to eat	𠊊	食しょく	shí	Seal script form . The bottom component of the modern libian form is a simplification of 皀 'food vessel', and is not cognate to the unrelated 良りょう or 艮うしとら .^[AE]
fantasy	𠄔	幻まぼろし	huàn	Seal script form was originally an inversion of 予よ 'to give'.^[AF]
hometown		鄉さと	xiāng	Originally an ideogrammic compound consisting of 𠨍 'two people facing each other' + 皀 'food vessel' within bronze inscriptions, representing 'to feast'. During the transition to the seal script form, 𠨍 became corrupted into 𨙨 and 邑 . Following libian simplification, 邑 became simplified into the etymologically cognate 阝 radical, 𨙨 simplified into the unrelated 乡 radical—cognate to / 幺, and 皀 was replaced with the unrelated 良りょう component. The meaning of 'hometown' was acquired via phonetic borrowing, while 饗きょう *qʰaŋʔ was adopted to represent 'feast'.^[AG]
fragrant		香こう	xiāng	Seal script form consisted of 黍きび 'proso millet' + 甘あま 'sweet'; the libian form simplifies 黍きび into 禾 'cereal plant', and replaces the bottom 甘あま component with the unrelated character 曰 'to say'.^[AH]
fish	𤋳	魚さかな	yú	Seal script form .^[AI]
night	𡖍	夜よる	yè	Seal script form consisted of phonetic 亦また laːɡ + semantic 夕ゆう 'crescent moon'; the bottom-right component of 夜よる is a corruption of 夕ゆう following libian*, while the 亠 + 亻 is a reduction of 亦また.^[AJ]
stomach		胃い	wèi	The pictographic component that visually represented a stomach was simplified into 田た.^[AK]
excrement	𦳊	屎	shǐ	Seal script form consisted of an ideogrammic compound 艸そうこう 'grass' + 胃い 'stomach'. The form that gained widespread use in literature following the transition to clerical script is based on the bronze script form from the Warring States period.^[AL]
to migrate		徙	xǐ	The 止とめ portion of the left 辵 component was relocated to the right during libian, resulting in two 止とめ on top of one another, coincidentally becoming unified with the same structure as 歨 ; the Shang dynasty form of 步ふ 'to walk'.^[AM]

References

Citations

^ "Learning and Teaching of Chinese Characters" (PDF). Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (in Chinese).
^ Li 2016.
^ Schuessler, Axel (2007). ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 978-0-824-82975-9.

Example lexemes

漢語かんご多功たこう能のう字じ庫こ [Multi-function Chinese Character Database] (in Chinese), Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014
異體いたい字じ字典じてん [Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants] (in Chinese), Academica Sinica, 2017

Works cited

Li Shiow-Linn (李り綉玲) (2016). 從したがえ隸變看み秦はた簡記號ごう化か現象げんしょう (PDF). 27th International Academic Symposium on Chinese Philology (in Chinese). Feng Chia University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2020.
——— (2017), 秦はた簡牘和わ《張ちょう家山いえやま漢かん簡》文字もじ構形比較ひかく析論──以秦簡牘「簡化」、「繁しげる化か」及「異化いか」 [A Comparative Analysis of the Form and Structure of the Characters in the Qin Bamboo Slip Manuscripts and Zhangjiashan Bamboo Slips – With the Phenomena of “Complication,” “Simplification,” and “Differentiation” as the Foci of Examination] (PDF), 漢學かんがく研究けんきゅう集しゅう刊かん第だい (in Chinese), vol. 25, pp. 41–88, ISSN 1819-4427

[1] "Learning and Teaching of Chinese Characters" (PDF). Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (in Chinese).

[FOOTNOTELi2016-12] Li 2016.

[21] Schuessler, Axel (2007). ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 978-0-824-82975-9.

[2] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01194
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 年とし

[5] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01194

[6] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 年とし

[3] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04472
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 雷かみなり

[8] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04472

[9] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 雷かみなり

[4] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00872
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 奠

[11] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00872

[12] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 奠

[5] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00078
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 以

[14] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00078

[15] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 以

[6] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01291
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 得とく

[17] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01291

[18] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 得とく

[7] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00327
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 函はこ

[20] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00327

[21] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 函はこ

[8] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01833
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 更さら

[23] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01833

[24] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 更さら

[9] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01966
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 棋

[26] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01966

[27] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 棋

[10] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02416
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 無む

[29] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02416

[30] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 無む

[11] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01330
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 思おもえ

[32] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01330

[33] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 思おもえ

[13] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00355
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 前まえ

[35] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00355

[36] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 前まえ

[14] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00018
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 並なみ

[38] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00018

[39] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 並なみ

[15] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00015
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 丘おか

[41] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00015

[42] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 丘おか

[16] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00037
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 乘の

[44] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00037

[45] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 乘の

[17] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, N00001

[47] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, N00001

[18] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00448
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 卯う

[49] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00448

[50] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 卯う

[19] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02077
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 死し

[52] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02077

[53] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 死し

[20] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 去さ

[22] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00040
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 也

[56] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00040

[57] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 也

[23] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00837
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 夏なつ

[59] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00837

[60] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 夏なつ

[24] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02621
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 甚

[62] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02621

[63] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 甚

[25] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02623
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 生せい

[65] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02623

[66] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 生せい

[26] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02627
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 用よう

[68] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02627

[69] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 用よう

[27] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02749
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 盟めい

[71] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A02749

[72] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 盟めい

[28] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01784
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 明あきら

[74] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01784

[75] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 明あきら

[29] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A03503-018
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 花はな

[77] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A03503-018

[78] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 花はな

[30] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 華はな

[31] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A03522
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 葵あおい

[81] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A03522

[82] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 葵あおい

[32] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A03762
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 西にし

[84] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A03762

[85] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 西にし

[33] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04196
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 邊あたり

[87] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04196

[88] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 邊あたり

[34] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04581
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 食しょく

[90] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04581

[91] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 食しょく

[35] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01197
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 幻まぼろし

[93] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01197

[94] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 幻まぼろし

[36] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04217
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 鄉さと

[96] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04217

[97] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 鄉さと

[37] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04616
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 香こう

[99] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04616

[100] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 香こう

[38] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04691
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 魚さかな

[102] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A04691

[103] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 魚さかな

[39] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00843
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 夜よる

[105] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A00843

[106] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 夜よる

[40] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A03311
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 胃い

[108] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A03311

[109] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 胃い

[41] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01086
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 屎

[111] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01086

[112] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 屎

[42] 
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01292
Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 徙

[114] Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, A01292

[115] Multi-function Chinese Character Database, 徙

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