<p>Quote:- "Is it because 內 and 内 are long-accepted variants of each other and the reformers just picked one to be the standard?"</p>

<p>For a definitive answer, we of course require a true expert.</p>

<p>However, just to get the ball rolling, here's my personal view.</p>

<p>You are right in that they are accepted variants. But why pick one and not the other because aesthetically, IMHO, the discarded one looks better, or more "Chinese" (Actually the Japanese retained it in their Kanji)</p>

<p>First of all let's look at the component parts of 內 and 内:-</p>

<p>It's made up of 冂,（Jiong)，(城外，郊外，野外), -- (outside the city, the wilds). </p>

<p>and 入，(Ru)，(into, to enter); (pictographically, an arrow head), </p>

<p>or 人, (Ren),  (people).</p>

<p>If you were to chose between:-</p>

<p>(a)   an arrow head, (入), "inside" the wilds, (冂), to denote "inside", or,</p>

<p>(b)   people, (人), "inside" the wilds to denote "inside",</p>

<p>which would you chose?</p>

<p>Obviously the people originally tasked to pick one made their choice.</p>

<p>This is just my wild guesses. I could be completely wrong of course.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-31T03:18:06.430Z
2019-12-31T03:18:06.430Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>They don't call this a &quot;Simplification&quot; in the PRC. Simplification is stroke-cutting achieved by various methods - if a character is standardised not by stroke cutting, it's not a Simplification.</p>
<p>Basically, the structure of「內」was already not clear by the time of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Han Dynasty</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">clerical script</a>, and famous calligraphers overwhelmingly wrote the inside with the same strokes as「人」. Most print forms and standardisation efforts (apart from the PRC) have reverted the inside back to「入」.</p>
<hr />
<h3>「內」(<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Baxter-Sagart OC</a>: <strong>/*nˤ[u]p-s/</strong>, <em>inside</em>) is comprised of simultaneously semantic and phonetic「入」(<strong>/*n[u]p/</strong>, <em>to enter</em>) and semantic「宀」(<em>building</em>).</h3>
<p>For reference, some character evolution sequences:</p>
<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">商</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">甲</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JOiaR.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JOiaR.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">鐵</a>・185.1<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=17299&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集17299</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Zhou" rel="nofollow noreferrer">西周</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">金</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/riBBQ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/riBBQ.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>大盂鼎<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=2837&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成2837</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">簡</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/WbUUD.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/WbUUD.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">日甲</a>146背<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">睡虎地秦簡</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty#Eastern_Han" rel="nofollow noreferrer">東漢</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">隸</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3ZUoX.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3ZUoX.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analects" rel="nofollow noreferrer">論語</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiping_Stone_Classics" rel="nofollow noreferrer">熹平石經</a>殘</kbd><kbd>今<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">楷</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/02W4g.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/02W4g.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>
<p><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bFZhG.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bFZhG.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">存</a>・812<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=14993&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集14993</a></kbd><kbd>西周<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/PEP9M.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PEP9M.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>公貿鼎・安<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=2719&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成2719</a></kbd><kbd>秦<br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/urPG6.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/urPG6.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">編</a>20・安<br>睡虎地秦簡</kbd><kbd>東漢<br>隸<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/5Caav.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5Caav.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>校官碑・寶<br>　</kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/U0YZm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/U0YZm.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>
<p><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/DnIgY.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DnIgY.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">前</a>・4.28.3<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=5560&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集5560</a></kbd><kbd>西周<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/B9Q34.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/B9Q34.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>豆閉簋<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=4276&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成4276</a></kbd><kbd>秦<br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/q4Rpu.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/q4Rpu.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦</a>・80<br>睡虎地秦簡</kbd><kbd>東漢<br>隸<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/BOrA0.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/BOrA0.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>衡方碑<br>　</kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/zMt6W.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/zMt6W.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Please carefully note the shapes of the corresponding timeframes of the character samples.「人」was <strong>never</strong> part of the structure of「內」.</p>
<p><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/SMZoQ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/SMZoQ.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">甲</a>・2940<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=18901&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集18901</a></kbd><kbd>西周<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/9JM9B.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/9JM9B.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>善鼎<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=2820&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成2820</a></kbd><kbd>秦<br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/fQDpM.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/fQDpM.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">日乙</a>17<br>睡虎地秦簡</kbd><kbd>東漢<br>隸<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/K47CM.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/K47CM.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>孔龢碑<br>　</kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/gBcYT.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/gBcYT.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>
</blockquote>
<p>What you're really seeing in the PRC standard「内」is the culmination of a change within <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">regular script</a> strokes using a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Qin</a>-Han shape as a basis.</p>
<p>Note in 東漢・衡方碑「內」, the top of the inner shape is still much more elongated than the top of 東漢・孔龢碑「人」. When regular script morphed characters into a roughly square shape (instead of the flattened rectangular shape as typical of clerical script characters), the top of「人」became elongated as well, so the inside of the regular script calligraphy style of「内」and「人」became indistinguishable.</p>
<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">隋</a>?・<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%99%BA%E6%B0%B8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">智永</a><br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/1khLi.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1khLi.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%99%BA%E6%B0%B8%E7%9C%9F%E8%8D%89%E5%8D%83%E5%AD%97%E6%96%87%E5%86%8A" rel="nofollow noreferrer">眞草千字文</a><br>　</kbd></p>
<hr />
<p><strong>References:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》</li>
<li><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">小學堂</a></li>
<li><a href="http://chinese-linguipedia.org/search_source.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中華語文知識庫・漢字源流</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">國學大師</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">郭沫若《甲骨文合集》</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》</a></li>
<li>孫雋《中國書法大字典》</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-06T18:06:26.473Z
To ensure I understood correctly: The older form of 内 had “入”, but due to various changes over time it became indistinguishable from "人". Then, most modern standardization programs picked the old/original form (入), while the PRC standardization program picked the common form at the time (人). Is this about right?
2ndQuantized
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-06T18:14:53.190Z
@2ndQuantized that's entirely correct. I hope my answer wasn't too long! Except that I wouldn't know whether 人 was really the **most** "common form" at the time, but it was common enough.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-07T16:34:51.547Z
Thanks! No, it wasn't too long - I like having the more detailed explanation and the references. Thanks for your help!
2ndQuantized
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-31T06:38:26.683Z
2020-01-01T02:20:33.650Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
dROOOze
<p>I am particularly looking for the rationale behind the change from 入 in the traditional character to 人 in the simplified version.</p>

<p>Given that the number of strokes are the same, I was surprised at the change. </p>

<p>Is it because 內 and 内 are long-accepted variants of each other and the reformers just picked one to be the standard? The choice could have been  because of aesthetics, frequency of use in the reformers' local region, etc.</p>

<p>Another thought I had is that there is some larger pattern that I have not recognized yet that effectively imposed this change. An example of the kind of pattern I am thinking of is changing all (or at least most) 貝 components to 贝 when simplifying the characters.</p>

<traditional-vs-simplified>
Why was the traditional character 內 simplified to 内?
# Why was the traditional character 內 simplified to 内?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-30)

I am particularly looking for the rationale behind the change from 入 in the traditional character to 人 in the simplified version.

Given that the number of strokes are the same, I was surprised at the change.

Is it because 內 and 内 are long-accepted variants of each other and the reformers just picked one to be the standard? The choice could have been because of aesthetics, frequency of use in the reformers' local region, etc.

Another thought I had is that there is some larger pattern that I have not recognized yet that effectively imposed this change. An example of the kind of pattern I am thinking of is changing all (or at least most) 貝 components to 贝 when simplifying the characters.

**Tags:** traditional-vs-simplified


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-12-31. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

They don't call this a "Simplification" in the PRC. Simplification is stroke-cutting achieved by various methods - if a character is standardised not by stroke cutting, it's not a Simplification.

Basically, the structure of「內」was already not clear by the time of [Han Dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty) [clerical script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script), and famous calligraphers overwhelmingly wrote the inside with the same strokes as「人」. Most print forms and standardisation efforts (apart from the PRC) have reverted the inside back to「入」.

---

### 「內」([Baxter-Sagart OC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese): **/\*nˤ[u]p-s/**, *inside*) is comprised of simultaneously semantic and phonetic「入」(**/\*n[u]p/**, *to enter*) and semantic「宀」(*building*).

For reference, some character evolution sequences:

`商  
甲  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/JOiaR.png)  
鐵・185.1  
合集17299``西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/riBBQ.png)  
大盂鼎  
集成2837``秦  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/WbUUD.png)  
日甲146背  
睡虎地秦簡``東漢  
隸  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/3ZUoX.png)  
論語  
熹平石經殘``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/02W4g.png)`

`商  
甲  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/bFZhG.png)  
存・812  
合集14993``西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/PEP9M.png)  
公貿鼎・安  
集成2719``秦  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/urPG6.png)  
編20・安  
睡虎地秦簡``東漢  
隸  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/5Caav.png)  
校官碑・寶``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/U0YZm.png)`

`商  
甲  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/DnIgY.png)  
前・4.28.3  
合集5560``西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/B9Q34.png)  
豆閉簋  
集成4276``秦  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/q4Rpu.png)  
秦・80  
睡虎地秦簡``東漢  
隸  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/BOrA0.png)  
衡方碑``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/zMt6W.png)`

> Please carefully note the shapes of the corresponding timeframes of the character samples.「人」was **never** part of the structure of「內」.
>
> `商  
> 甲  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/SMZoQ.png)  
> 甲・2940  
> 合集18901``西周  
> 金  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/9JM9B.png)  
> 善鼎  
> 集成2820``秦  
> 簡  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/fQDpM.png)  
> 日乙17  
> 睡虎地秦簡``東漢  
> 隸  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/K47CM.png)  
> 孔龢碑``今  
> 楷  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/gBcYT.png)`

What you're really seeing in the PRC standard「内」is the culmination of a change within [regular script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script) strokes using a [Qin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty)-Han shape as a basis.

Note in 東漢・衡方碑「內」, the top of the inner shape is still much more elongated than the top of 東漢・孔龢碑「人」. When regular script morphed characters into a roughly square shape (instead of the flattened rectangular shape as typical of clerical script characters), the top of「人」became elongated as well, so the inside of the regular script calligraphy style of「内」and「人」became indistinguishable.

`隋?・智永  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/1khLi.png)  
眞草千字文`

---

**References:**

* 何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》
* [小學堂](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/)
* [中華語文知識庫・漢字源流](http://chinese-linguipedia.org/search_source.html)
* [國學大師](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/)
  + [郭沫若《甲骨文合集》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/)
  + [中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/)
  + 孫雋《中國書法大字典》

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: To ensure I understood correctly: The older form of 内 had “入”, but due to various changes over time it became indistinguishable from "人". Then, most modern standardization programs picked the old/original form (入), while the PRC standardization program picked the common form at the time (人). Is this about right?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 that's entirely correct. I hope my answer wasn't too long! Except that I wouldn't know whether 人 was really the **most** "common form" at the time, but it was common enough.  
> **username_0**: Thanks! No, it wasn't too long - I like having the more detailed explanation and the references. Thanks for your help!  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-12-31. Score: 0

Quote:- "Is it because 內 and 内 are long-accepted variants of each other and the reformers just picked one to be the standard?"

For a definitive answer, we of course require a true expert.

However, just to get the ball rolling, here's my personal view.

You are right in that they are accepted variants. But why pick one and not the other because aesthetically, IMHO, the discarded one looks better, or more "Chinese" (Actually the Japanese retained it in their Kanji)

First of all let's look at the component parts of 內 and 内:-

It's made up of 冂,（Jiong)，(城外，郊外，野外), -- (outside the city, the wilds).

and 入，(Ru)，(into, to enter); (pictographically, an arrow head),

or 人, (Ren), (people).

If you were to chose between:-

(a) an arrow head, (入), "inside" the wilds, (冂), to denote "inside", or,

(b) people, (人), "inside" the wilds to denote "inside",

which would you chose?

Obviously the people originally tasked to pick one made their choice.

This is just my wild guesses. I could be completely wrong of course.


---

