<p>@johan is correct.  翻 and 覆 are the same in traditional and simplified.  </p>

<p>What I was seeing is 飜, which is a variant that looks more complicated, so I assumed it was the traditional.</p>

<p>And  I was also looking at the wrong entry for 覆,   <a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&amp;wdrst=1&amp;wdqb=%E8%A6%86" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, which shows that 覆 is only used as a variant of 复 or 復 when it means  “to reply to a letter” and not as used in the idiom. </p>

<p>Just a noob making noob mistakes, which I apologize for.  Thanks for taking the time to answer my question :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-16T00:54:34.497Z
2019-03-16T00:54:34.497Z
SpringSpear
<p>The form is 翻天覆地。 </p>

<p>Other form is using simplified Chinese . Applicable to communications but when it comes to traditional form, only 翻天覆地</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-16T13:40:48.387Z
2019-04-16T13:40:48.387Z
Larry Lo
<p>Just a small correction, it should be written as "翻天覆地"</p>

<p>覆 has two meanings:</p>

<p>覆 is a variant of 复 (standard simplified)/復 (standard traditional) which means "to reply to a letter."</p>

<p>覆, in a more standard way, means "to overturn" "to cover" "to capsize." <em>In this definition</em>, it retains the same look in both Traditional and Simplified.</p>

<p>The idiom uses the latter usage. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-17T00:12:13.010Z
2019-04-17T00:12:13.010Z
Andrew Wang
<p>As asked, </p>

<p>Is the traditional form of 复 always used in “翻天復地" and why?</p>

<p>I assume it’s because the simplified form is one of those odd ones that isn’t a one to one mapping, so the traditional form is used for clarity?</p>

<p>If so, is there a rule about when the traditional character is preferred?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T19:50:05.207Z
It should be 翻天覆地
thyu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T20:38:31.677Z
submit wrong 翻天復地 to bkrs and get "no such word,复 return; repeat; repeatedly"
correction 翻天覆地 at top of 2nd of pair of 3-term columns (похожие, similar) https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E7%BF%BB%E5%A4%A9%E5%BE%A9%E5%9C%B0
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T21:19:43.620Z
@johan you’re right. Was using the handwriting keyboard and completely misspelled that！I think my original question still stands though?  Although there are a few examples of the simplified version being used when googling, the overwhelming majority  use the traditional character even when the 翻 is simplified,  so just wondering if there are times when the traditional character is preferred, even in a mostly simplified character context.
SpringSpear
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T22:21:51.130Z
I don’t use simplified Chinese. But I checked dictionary 翻 and 覆 is the same in traditional and simplified version. So what you see might just be an incorrect usage. 翻天覆地 can be found [here](https://dict.baidu.com/s?wd=翻天覆地)
thyu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-16T02:38:50.343Z
I just want to inform you Chinese orthography is way more than two strictly defined system called traditional and simplified. It basically consists of several local government defined standards(some of them are obsolete now) and tons of common writing mistake made by native Chinese speakers.
炸鱼薯条德里克
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-16T03:46:50.567Z
@炸鱼薯条德里克  Thanks! While I certainly believe that it is much more nuanced than “traditional” and “simplified”, I think viewing it in a binary fashion is the best I can do  as a beginner.  I really appreciate the idea that even native speakers will mess it up though.
SpringSpear
<traditional-vs-simplified>
Is the traditional form of 复 always used in “翻天復地" and why?
# Is the traditional form of 复 always used in “翻天復地" and why?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-15)

As asked,

Is the traditional form of 复 always used in “翻天復地" and why?

I assume it’s because the simplified form is one of those odd ones that isn’t a one to one mapping, so the traditional form is used for clarity?

If so, is there a rule about when the traditional character is preferred?

**Tags:** traditional-vs-simplified

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It should be 翻天覆地  
> **username_2**: submit wrong 翻天復地 to bkrs and get "no such word,复 return; repeat; repeatedly" correction 翻天覆地 at top of 2nd of pair of 3-term columns (похожие, similar) https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E7%BF%BB%E5%A4%A9%E5%BE%A9%E5%9C%B0  
> **username_0**: @johan you’re right. Was using the handwriting keyboard and completely misspelled that！I think my original question still stands though?  Although there are a few examples of the simplified version being used when googling, the overwhelming majority  use the traditional character even when the 翻 is simplified,  so just wondering if there are times when the traditional character is preferred, even in a mostly simplified character context.  
> **username_1**: I don’t use simplified Chinese. But I checked dictionary 翻 and 覆 is the same in traditional and simplified version. So what you see might just be an incorrect usage. 翻天覆地 can be found [here](https://dict.baidu.com/s?wd=翻天覆地)  
> **username_3**: I just want to inform you Chinese orthography is way more than two strictly defined system called traditional and simplified. It basically consists of several local government defined standards(some of them are obsolete now) and tons of common writing mistake made by native Chinese speakers.  
> **username_0**: @username_3  Thanks! While I certainly believe that it is much more nuanced than “traditional” and “simplified”, I think viewing it in a binary fashion is the best I can do  as a beginner.  I really appreciate the idea that even native speakers will mess it up though.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2019-03-16. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

@johan is correct. 翻 and 覆 are the same in traditional and simplified.

What I was seeing is 飜, which is a variant that looks more complicated, so I assumed it was the traditional.

And I was also looking at the wrong entry for 覆, [here](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=1&wdqb=%E8%A6%86), which shows that 覆 is only used as a variant of 复 or 復 when it means “to reply to a letter” and not as used in the idiom.

Just a noob making noob mistakes, which I apologize for. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question :)


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### Answer by username_4 on 2019-04-16. Score: 1

The form is 翻天覆地。

Other form is using simplified Chinese . Applicable to communications but when it comes to traditional form, only 翻天覆地


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### Answer by username_5 on 2019-04-17. Score: 0

Just a small correction, it should be written as "翻天覆地"

覆 has two meanings:

覆 is a variant of 复 (standard simplified)/復 (standard traditional) which means "to reply to a letter."

覆, in a more standard way, means "to overturn" "to cover" "to capsize." *In this definition*, it retains the same look in both Traditional and Simplified.

The idiom uses the latter usage.


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