section_path: Structure/Variant characters
section_name: Variant characters
paragraph_text: Variant characters
  
  Over a character's history, variant character forms (异体字; 異體字; yìtǐzì) emerge via several processes. Variant forms have distinct structures, but represent the same morpheme; as such, they can be considered instances of the same underlying character. This is comparable to visually distinct double-storey | a | and single-storey | ɑ | forms both representing the Latin letter ⟨ A ⟩. Variants also emerge for aesthetic reasons, to make handwriting easier, or to correct what the writer perceives to be errors in a character's form. Individual components may be replaced with visually, phonetically, or semantically similar alternatives. The boundary between character structure and style—and thus whether forms represent different characters, or are merely variants of the same character—is often non-trivial or unclear.
  
  For example, prior to the Qin dynasty the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either ⽇ 'SUN' or 囧 'WINDOW' on the left, and ⽉ 'MOON' on the right. As part of the Qin programme to standardise small seal script across China, the 朙 form was promoted. Some scribes ignored this, and continued to write the character as 明. However, the increased usage of 朙 was followed by the proliferation of a third variant: 眀, with ⽬ 'EYE' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙. Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form.