Simplified or Traditional Chinese
Chinese writing has evolved over thousands of years. The first written Chinese characters were like pictures. Over the years, these picture-like characters changed in shape to make them easier to write and to give them symmetry. Today the two prevalent systems of Chinese writing are Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
What is the difference? The traditional Chinese characters are those which have been in use for over a thousand years and still are used officially in Taiwan and are common in overseas Chinese communities. On the other hand, the government of the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) has promoted Simplified Chinese characters for use in printing in an attempt to increase literacy, shortening the number of strokes of many of the characters. These Simplified Chinese characters are officially used in Mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. However, The Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Common Language and Characters acknowledges Traditional Chinese as pertaining to certain aspects and purposes, such as ceremonies, cultural purposes (e.g. calligraphy), decoration, publications and books on ancient literature and poetry, and for purposes of research.
As an example, huanying [huan1 ying2] , meaning "welcome," is expressed 歡迎 in the traditional style of writing, while the simplified version is 欢迎. Notice that while the second of the two characters, 迎, remains unchanged, the first character, 歡, has been simplified to 欢, with the number of strokes used to write the left side of this character considerably reduced.
For someone looking to study Chinese, this complicates matters a little, as some simplified characters are unlike their traditional ancestors. One must decide whether to study the simplified forms or the traditional ones, or both, and this should be discussed with the teacher before beginning any course of Chinese language study. For the most part, the answer will be determined by the student's unique needs. Those looking to live in Taiwan, work with a Taiwanese company, or explore traditional Chinese culture and literature would probably want to study traditional Chinese writing, while those with business, travel plans or other interests in mainland China will find Simplified Chinese more useful.
Keep in mind this distinction pertains to written Chinese, and has no bearing on spoken or conversational Mandarin Chinese. Also, we offer instruction in either or both styles of writing.
The links below from Wikipedia may offer further insight and information. Also on these pages, further links for exploration can be found.
- Chinese Language
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language
- Simplified Chinese
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_chinese
- Traditional Chinese
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_chinese