<p>These two are completely the same, they are just two different writing systems. 起 without a stroke is the simplified Chinese which is used in mainland China and Singapore while the character with a stroke is the traditional Chinese form which is mainly used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/qjNlz.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/qjNlz.png" alt="Different forms of 起 in different regions"></a></p>

<p>Above is an image from Baidu, it illustrates the different forms of this character in different countries and regions. From left to right is: China mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the old form (which appears in 康熙字典, a very comprehensive Chinese dictionary compiled in Qing Dynasty).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-27T14:47:05.187Z
Interesting, what I'm wondering is why one character appears in the preview, whilst the other (with the extra stroke) appears in the textbox. Might be an inconsistency in the implementation on Macs.
Lewis T.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-27T20:18:38.443Z
@LewisT. It's because different fonts are used to show the characters. If you use a font such as PingFang SC (the PingFang fonts should be installed on most Macs), it shows the Mainland China version. If you use a font such as PingFang HK, it shows the Hong Kong version. You can try this out in your favourite word processor.
Sweeper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-26T17:20:07.877Z
2020-05-26T17:20:07.877Z
DONGHANG
<p>Whilst typing the character 起 on my Mac, I notice that the character appears differently, illustrated in the picture below.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/XuGke.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/XuGke.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>On some programs, the character appears with an extra stroke, on others it doesn't. I am more familiar with the character without the stroke, as I've seen in previously in textbooks.</p>

<p>What is the difference between the two characters (or are they the same), what is the reason for this difference and does its usage depend on different contexts?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-22T21:06:04.977Z
This is mostly a font issue, as others have mentioned. It's somewhat tricky, because some characters are different in simplified and traditional (say 买 and 買), but the character variants you list are technically the same character, rendered differently in different fonts. Mainland China prefers one style, Taiwan another, as indicated by others. I tried to sort out this mess for learners in two articles, which explains this case, among many others: https://www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-character-variants-and-fonts-for-language-learners/
Olle Linge
<difference><characters><simplified-characters><character-variant>
⿺走巳 or ⿺走己: Can 起 be written in two different ways?
# ⿺走巳 or ⿺走己: Can 起 be written in two different ways?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-26)

Whilst typing the character 起 on my Mac, I notice that the character appears differently, illustrated in the picture below.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/XuGke.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/XuGke.png)

On some programs, the character appears with an extra stroke, on others it doesn't. I am more familiar with the character without the stroke, as I've seen in previously in textbooks.

What is the difference between the two characters (or are they the same), what is the reason for this difference and does its usage depend on different contexts?

**Tags:** difference, characters, simplified-characters, character-variant

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is mostly a font issue, as others have mentioned. It's somewhat tricky, because some characters are different in simplified and traditional (say 买 and 買), but the character variants you list are technically the same character, rendered differently in different fonts. Mainland China prefers one style, Taiwan another, as indicated by others. I tried to sort out this mess for learners in two articles, which explains this case, among many others: https://www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-character-variants-and-fonts-for-language-learners/  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-05-26. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

These two are completely the same, they are just two different writing systems. 起 without a stroke is the simplified Chinese which is used in mainland China and Singapore while the character with a stroke is the traditional Chinese form which is mainly used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

[![Different forms of 起 in different regions](https://i.sstatic.net/qjNlz.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/qjNlz.png)

Above is an image from Baidu, it illustrates the different forms of this character in different countries and regions. From left to right is: China mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the old form (which appears in 康熙字典, a very comprehensive Chinese dictionary compiled in Qing Dynasty).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Interesting, what I'm wondering is why one character appears in the preview, whilst the other (with the extra stroke) appears in the textbox. Might be an inconsistency in the implementation on Macs.  
> **username_3**: @LewisT. It's because different fonts are used to show the characters. If you use a font such as PingFang SC (the PingFang fonts should be installed on most Macs), it shows the Mainland China version. If you use a font such as PingFang HK, it shows the Hong Kong version. You can try this out in your favourite word processor.  

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