What is the status of this 异体 form of 重?

[anonymoose]

I came across this old boarding pass for a Beihai to Chongqing flight:

 

 

I'm not sure of the exact date, but I would estimate 1980s or 1990s. As can be seen, an unusual form of the 重 character is used.

 

Was this a simplification in the second round of character simplifications? And if not, isn't it strange to use an unconventional form on a semi-official document? I also recently noticed another item where the 场 in 机场 was written as 伤 but with the 亻 replaced with 土.

[abcdefg]

Could it just be a typo? 

[Lu]

That version of 重 is not even the only strange thing going on on that ticket. It has traditional 機 on top but simplified 机 further down.

 

The 重 is not a typo, because that character doesn't even conventionally exist (to my knowledge), so it can't be typed. Also, it's stamped, not written or typed.

 

I have no idea what's going on there! My best bet is that whoever was in charge of designing this loved characters and their variants and had the space to do this.

[Guest realmayo]

Ah I see, they've replaced the 車 with 车!

Not etymologically correct I suppose*, and can't see it in the list of second-round simplifications.

Could it possibly be that the red felt stamps would stuggle to show the 重 clearly? Which would be ironic given the rather long history of seal stamps....

 

*unless 车 (rather than just 东)  is established shorthand for 東.

[889]

How about thinking of it as a security measure? Stamping a boarding pass like that pretty much says it's genuine, if the boarding pass checkers know what to look for.

[abcdefg]

Your boarding pass is probably a printer's mistake. One of a kind. Worth a fortune to the right collector. Similar to an "error stamp" in which something goes wrong in the production a few postage stamps. You should list it on E-Bay.

 

[anonymoose]

On 10/4/2021 at 10:49 PM, abcdefg said:

Could it just be a typo?

 

This is stamped on, so definitely not accidental.

 

On 10/5/2021 at 11:36 AM, realmayo said:

Could it possibly be that the red felt stamps would stuggle to show the 重 clearly?

 

Interesting theory. That may have been the intention, but I suspect using an unconventional character would cause more confusion than a blotch of black ink given the very limited number of possible interpretations for the destination with 庆 as the second character.

 

 

[889]

Can we move back into the real world, please. "More confusion"? That stamp wouldn't create any confusion at the airport, none whatsoever.

[carlo]

it's from an alternative timeline in which Hong Xiuquan overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1870. The Heavenly Kings promulgated the first round of simplified characters long before seizing power  -- eg 太平天国 was written with 玉 also in our universe. This is the last set of changes that became standard in the '80s.

[Guest realmayo]

On 10/6/2021 at 2:04 AM, anonymoose said:

given the very limited number of possible interpretations for the destination with 庆 as the second character

 

Yes, searching "*庆机场" doesn't seem to throw up any other _庆 airport names with a first character that could easily be confused with 重.

 

Perhaps it was simply that whoever Beihai airport hired to make the stamps accidentally or intentionally 'simplified' 重.

 

If this dated to when the second round of simplification was in effect (late 70s/early 80s) that perhaps wouldn't be so surprising: 懂, 董 and 踵 were all changed (e.g. 懂 to 㤏). A lot of other characters/components that are similarly busy-in-the-middle (for want of a better description) were changed too (e.g. 事, 童, 慢 etc etc). And of course 種, 動, 衝, 鍾 had all lost their 重s in the first round.

 

 

 

 

[NinKenDo]

I tend to favour the primitive anti-counterfeiting measure explanation, probably inspired by second-round simplification. I'd be interested if anyone could turn up this simplification anywhere else, I wouldn't be surprised if you could.

[Publius]

On 10/6/2021 at 3:42 PM, realmayo said:

 

Perhaps it was simply that whoever Beihai airport hired to make the stamps accidentally or intentionally 'simplified' 重.

Yes. It was just a simplification form invented by ordinary people but not sanctioned by the government. You don't think the simplified characters whether round 1 or round 2 were dreamed up by experts, do you. Look at the cursive forms on this page, especially the middle one by Mao Zedong, and you'll see where it came from.

[Adrakaris]

Not official, certainly. Don't think it was in 2nd round either (can't be sure). Cool though.