In 1977, China introduced a second set of simplified characters that was later abandoned
In a bold attempt to increase literacy, China introduced a second round of simplified characters in 1977, but the new system proved so confusing that it was eventually scrapped.
On December 20, 1977, China's major newspapers unveiled the Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme. This ambitious project aimed to make reading and writing even easier by further reducing the number of strokes in common characters. However, the new forms were often criticized for being unrecognizable or visually unappealing.
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