<p>As with many simplified characters, cursive scripts (Caoshu) can be informative.</p>

<p>In "Chuyue tie" by the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi, 報 is written as follows:</p>

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

<p>As @dROOOze mentioned in the comment, the radical 幸 came from the character for handcuffs, which could indicate that the use of 扌(手) might related; but I can't find any source for this so far.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-20T13:38:27.987Z
Nice one! I'm surprised they didn't just simplify it to: 扖 or (⿰扌人).
Mou某
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2020-04-20T14:15:43.377Z
@user3306356 I wouldn't be surprised if they tried that for 二简字.
xngtng
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2020-04-20T22:19:34.967Z
The real tricky part is to find whether or not the Simplification Committee chose it because of the cursive form. (I think 草書 is what it’s based on too, as 執 looks like the same idea in cursive)
dROOOze
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2020-04-20T13:34:49.453Z
2020-04-20T13:34:49.453Z
xngtng
<p>Simplified Chinese is created with simplicity in mind, and one side effect is that words lose meaning. That's a mass generalization on overall language structures between Simplified and Traditional Chinese.</p>

<p>To put in simple, there isn't a particular reason why 幸 goes into 扌, as 幸(ㄒㄧㄥˋ/Xìng) means luckily (likely referring to 報 as "report, I see it as reporting good/幸 news); and 扌 isn't a word in itself, but an extension of other prefixes.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-20T13:41:13.683Z
If you look at @zhantongz's answer it would seem that there is a reason: cursive scripts (草書).
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-20T13:44:03.293Z
¯\_(ツ)_/¯  If he's got a source, I have nothing to say.
SG pro
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-20T13:39:40.060Z
2020-04-20T13:39:40.060Z
SG pro
<p>The simplification of 報(⿰幸) to 报(⿰扌) is slightly peculiar. The particularly intriguing area is in the simplification of the left-hand side, with 幸 being simplified into 扌.</p>

<p>There is another similar instance with 執 being simplified to 执. Another 幸 to 扌simplification. </p>

<p>There must be a method to this madness but it isn't immediately evident in the characters themselves.</p>

<p>Ideas?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-19T11:34:22.037Z
I'm struggling to find if this was actually a simplification (cursive abbreviation) rather than a variant choice. Anyway, the full story is 㚔 (handcuffs) corrupted into 幸, rather than starting from 幸.
dROOOze
<simplified-characters>
Why was 幸 simplified to 扌in 報(⿰幸) to 报(⿰扌)?
# Why was 幸 simplified to 扌in 報(⿰幸) to 报(⿰扌)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-19)

The simplification of 報(⿰幸) to 报(⿰扌) is slightly peculiar. The particularly intriguing area is in the simplification of the left-hand side, with 幸 being simplified into 扌.

There is another similar instance with 執 being simplified to 执. Another 幸 to 扌simplification.

There must be a method to this madness but it isn't immediately evident in the characters themselves.

Ideas?

**Tags:** simplified-characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm struggling to find if this was actually a simplification (cursive abbreviation) rather than a variant choice. Anyway, the full story is 㚔 (handcuffs) corrupted into 幸, rather than starting from 幸.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-04-20. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

As with many simplified characters, cursive scripts (Caoshu) can be informative.

In "Chuyue tie" by the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi, 報 is written as follows:

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

As @username_1 mentioned in the comment, the radical 幸 came from the character for handcuffs, which could indicate that the use of 扌(手) might related; but I can't find any source for this so far.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Nice one! I'm surprised they didn't just simplify it to: 扖 or (⿰扌人).  
> **username_2**: @user3306356 I wouldn't be surprised if they tried that for 二简字.  
> **username_1**: The real tricky part is to find whether or not the Simplification Committee chose it because of the cursive form. (I think 草書 is what it’s based on too, as 執 looks like the same idea in cursive)  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2020-04-20. Score: -1

Simplified Chinese is created with simplicity in mind, and one side effect is that words lose meaning. That's a mass generalization on overall language structures between Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

To put in simple, there isn't a particular reason why 幸 goes into 扌, as 幸(ㄒㄧㄥˋ/Xìng) means luckily (likely referring to 報 as "report, I see it as reporting good/幸 news); and 扌 isn't a word in itself, but an extension of other prefixes.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: If you look at @zhantongz's answer it would seem that there is a reason: cursive scripts (草書).  
> **username_3**: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  If he's got a source, I have nothing to say.  

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