In the early s it proposed a list of further simplifications. The widespread reaction to the new list of changes was revulsion at the thought of having to go through wrenching changes of script all over again, and the entire new list was rejected. Not surprisingly, a few unorthodox additions have actually achieved general currency.
One of the most common occurs in the word for restaurant. Another reaction to the simplification reform was resistance. Originally, that was probably almost as common a reaction as acceptance.
The change, as expected, was jarring. Further the objection could easily be made that severe changes in the writing system would cut China off from the immense treasure of its ancient literature. Fortunately, there are comparatively few such complete transformations. Thus the person who learns to read simplified characters is not IN FACT confronted with a totally foreign system when reading older Chinese.
If there is a comparison to be made with English, perhaps someone who is used to simplified Chinese can read traditional Chinese with about the same comfort as a person used to modern English can read Shakespeare, or at worst, Chaucer. It's a bit of a stretch, but it is by no means impossible. The various inconsistencies and many more seeming inconsistencies in the system were easily seized upon as the basis for heated objections to the whole project.
As one elderly Chinese friend of mine commented, "nearly every character in the scheme has something the matter with it. However the scheme was enforced by a government that controlled all printing and publishing, as well as by the school system. Those who objected to the forms taken by individual characters were listened to when the scheme was being developed and during a period of public discussion afterward.
But once it was finalized, the story came to an end. Those who prefer traditional characters have remained free to write them if they please, but find little audience, and no official sympathy. The system works. Simplified characters have been in official use for over half a century, everyone is accustomed to them, and all but the oldest people in China find it easier to read and write simplified characters than traditional ones.
Just as in Europe there is still a residual use of Roman numerals and Latin gravestones, so in China there is considered to be a certain elegance about the traditional characters. They are associated with tradition, with the status of the educated elite, and with internationalism, but few would care to read a whole book in traditional characters any more, and fewer still feel competent to write continuous text in them, any more than most Americans can correctly differentiate "thee" from "thou" or easily add XLIII to LXXVII to get CXX.
Because of the lingering sense of elegance, there is extensive use of traditional characters — sometimes incongruously mixed with simplified ones — for book titles, on shop signs, and in other places where they are thought to be more decorative. As time passes we can probably expect this nostalgia to fade. Just as Shakespeare's spelling is retained only in antiquarian editions of his works, traditional characters will be retained only in antiquarian reprints of old Chinese texts.
In Taiwan and Hong Kong, traditional characters are still the universal norm, although the retrocession of Hong Kong to China has increased the probability of simplified characters soon becoming more widespread. The vast majority of Chinese web sites are in simplified characters.
Overseas Chinese communities vary, with Singapore fully committed to simplified characters, and most other regions still using traditional characters. My local utility company in California finally changed from traditional to simplified characters only in The continued use of traditional characters outside of China means that some publishing intended for consumption in those areas and virtually all of the incredibly prolific publishing that takes place in Taiwan is still done in traditional characters.
Meanwhile anyone using both systems is in the position of having to make conversions. Use more widely: simplified Chinese is an inevitable trend of the development history of the Chinese characters. Now only in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan North America used traditional characters, and the number is about more than three thousand. Simplified Chinese used in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore and southeast Asian Chinese community, using the number of more than one billion three hundred million.
In addition, like Japan, South Korea also has some characters, simplified characters have been appeared in recent years.
Simplified decreases the number of Chinese character strokes and the number of Chinese characters, which reduces the difficulty of learning Chinese characters, accelerate the speed of writing at the same time, is beneficial to popularization education, and easy for public to communication. In computers, cell phones, PDA, digital equipment, limited size, simplified Chinese characters stroke are relatively simple, show more clearly. Disadvantage: It is not good for spreading the Chinese culture.
After characters simplified, lots of Chinese people cannot read the ancient classical literature. It also lost the original aesthetic of the traditional Chinese characters. After comparing the traditional or simplified Chinese, you may have a basic understanding about them. Choose the better one according to your specific learning needs:.
If you are a Chinese learning beginner and if you are going to use Chinese in mainland, you had better learn simplified Chinese.
It is easy to recognize and write. You can also sign in by : I agree to the terms. Join Forgot your password? Type your email and we'll send you a link to retrieve it. Login or Join. Updated on July 30, in Learn Chinese. Unfollow Follow. AliceZamani 10 0 on May 15, Please select Chinese Culture Learn Chinese. Liked by Reply. QinChen 0 3 on May 15, While Traditional uses a single character to express a word or part of a word, Simplified may represent multiple words or concepts using the same character.
Simplified and Traditional Chinese have some differences in word choice, vocabulary usage, and character sequences. Here are just a few examples that illustrate how the same word can be represented by completely different characters:. These examples show the same word, written with the same two characters, but with the sequence reversed:.
Simplified and Traditional have some punctuation differences. The majority of Simplified text only flows horizontally, and readers in China are used to a horizontal layout. Traditional Chinese, however, can be written either horizontally or vertically, and can even flow both ways on a single page.
Simplified Chinese is typically used when translating for mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, and international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. However, when translating for audiences in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and international immigrant communities, Traditional Chinese is the norm. The forms of Traditional Chinese used in Taiwan and Hong Kong have evolved over time, and each country has developed some of its own unique terms. While the forms of writing are mutually intelligible, Taiwanese text will not read as naturally to people from Hong Kong, and vice versa.
In translation, it is always best to select the form of a language that sounds most natural to the reader. Therefore, when translating specifically for Hong Kong, it is best to select Traditional Chinese for Hong Kong, while text for Taiwan is ideally translated into Traditional Chinese for Taiwan.
The Chinese represent the third largest immigrant group in the U. However, more recent influxes of Chinese immigrants have significantly diversified the Chinese populations across the country. Who do you want to be able to understand and communicate with?
Where do you plan on using your Chinese? If you have plans to do business in mainland China in the future, simplified Chinese will likely be more useful. On the other hand, if you have your sights set on living in Taiwan, traditional Chinese will serve you better. Some people are especially interested in ancient Chinese culture or calligraphy.
There are also some people who are passionate about the long history and culture attached to traditional Chinese, considering it to be aesthetically pleasing and meaningful. Some feel that because of changes like this, traditional characters better represents the meaning of words.
This is a debated topic, but it might play into your decision as well. Some learners also take difficulty into consideration, with many choosing simplified Chinese as a result.
Since the characters have less strokes, they are generally easier to remember and write.
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