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In Chinese 'black' is 黑 and in Japanese it's 黒, but the kanji are not the
same. In traditional Chinese it's exactly the same as in simplified so both
are 黑 but Japanese is different. Was 黒 simplified?
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2015-06-02T22:00:22.113
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question
kanji chinese kyūjitai-and-shinjitai
What's the story behind 黒 and 黑? Why are they different?
Yes, 黒 is the 新字体{しんじたい} (simplified) form of 黑, which took the two dots at
the top and turned them into a straight line. The same simplification can be
seen in 曾 -> 曽. This was all part of the 1945 simplification scheme in
Japanese.

黑 is still used in chinese though, both simplified and traditional, and has
the exact same meaning of "black", as you pointed out.

Without going too much into it for fear of being off-topic, Japan underwent
its simplification of characters in 1945 -- earlier than Chinese. Because of
this, it has a few different forms. Simplified chinese has a lot of the same
simplifications, but equally there are a few divergences every now and again.
黒 is an example where Japan changed the character from 黑, and Chinese never
did.
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2015-06-02T23:31:43.353
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answer
「黒」 came from a [clerical
script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script) shape which was adopted
as official in Japan. Both 「黒」 and 「黑」 co-existed in various locations, with
「黒」 being made obsolete in Chinese-language regions in recent times.

`[商](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty)  
[甲](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VRPBS.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VRPBS.png)  
[燕](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference)758  
[合集6976](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&bh=6976&jgwfl=)``[西周](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Zhou)  
[金](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/3c9qt.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/3c9qt.png)  
伯簋  
[集成4169](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=4169&jgwfl=)``[春秋](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_and_Autumn_period)  
金  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sjzDK.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sjzDK.png)  
鑄子叔黑簠  
[集成4571](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=4571&jgwfl=)`

  * `[秦](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty)  
[簡](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DNtB6.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DNtB6.png)  
封診式23  
[睡虎地秦簡](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts)  
``今  
[楷](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/D0Z2Y.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/D0Z2Y.png)  
  
`

  * `[戰國](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period)・[楚](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_\(state\))  
簡  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/gw6ie.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/gw6ie.png)  
174  
曾侯乙墓簡``[東漢](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty#Eastern_Han)  
[隸](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5wwn7.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5wwn7.png)  
史晨奏銘  
``[常用](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C5%8Dy%C5%8D_kanji)  
楷  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EARk3.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EARk3.png)  
  
`

> 「黑」 originally depicted a _person_ 「大」 drawn with an emphasised head and
> _facial tattoos_ as punishment for crimes. Dots 「丶」 were added around the
> person later, and the dots were eventually corrupted into 「火・灬」.
>
> As is common across characters when not the bottom-most component, 「大」 was
> eventually corrupted into 「土」.
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answer