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Xin zixing

standardized form (xin zixing) of Chinese ideographs (hanzi) used in mainland China since 1965

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ8044489 ↗
Source-derived summary

The xin zixing (Chinese: 新字形; pinyin: xīn zìxíng; Jyutping: san1 zi6jing4; lit. 'new character forms') are a set of standardized Chinese character forms. It is based on the 1964 "List of character forms of Common Chinese characters for Publishing" (印刷通用汉字字形表; Yìnshuà Tōngyòng Hànzì Zìxíngbiǎo) as compared to jiu zixing. The standard is based on regular script and popular characters, and changes are made to the printed version of Song (Ming) typefaces. This standard covers the simplified and traditional characters, which separates it from other standards. SimSun font uses this standard, which shows variation with other regional standards such as MingLiU and Taiwan's KaiU, and with the regular script version of SimKai, which is the written character standard for China.

Taiwan's Standard Form of National Characters made changes to the printed version of Mingsong typefaces, varying greatly from the Table of Common Chinese character in printing press and featuring drastic changes to the Ming typefaces, e.g. changing ⻍ and 辶 to ⻎. The usage of calling the Standard Form of National Characters the xin zixing is more common in areas using traditional characters.

Characteristics

The xin zixing adopted various popular forms of its characters.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Xin zixing” is standardized form (xin zixing) of Chinese ideographs (hanzi) used in mainland China since 1965. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through zixing, standardized and form, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1964—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1965. For this dossier, zixing, standardized and form is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “standardized form (xin zixing) of Chinese ideographs (hanzi) used in mainland China since 1965” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8044489. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1964.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Xin zixing”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Xin zixing primary sources, Xin zixing archive and zixing research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Xin zixing”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Xin zixing” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.