Simplified vs. Traditional Chinese
After clearing up some confusion about the difference between Mandarin and Chinese last time, let's look at another common source of confusion that a lot of people encounter when they start out on their Chinese learning journey: Simplified vs. Traditional Chinese. Where do they come from? What's the difference between the two? And which one should you learn first? Let's get to it!
Why is there simplified and traditional Chinese?
Simplified and traditional Chinese refer to two different sets of Chinese characters. In general, there was no such thing as simplified Chinese characters until the 20th century. The Chinese script was simply using Chinese characters, that had been around for thousands of years. They often have complex structures and consist of a lot of strokes.
In the early 20th century, the Chinese government began exploring ways to increase literacy and modernize the nation. Although the existing Chinese characters looked pretty cool and also carried a lot of history, they were deemed too hard to learn. Thus started a simplification initiative.
Mainland China officially adopted simplified Chinese characters in the 1950s and 1960s. The government released lists of simplified characters, which gradually replaced the traditional script in education, media, and official documents. However, other Chinese-speaking places, like Taiwan and Hong Kong kept the original characters. That's why both simplified and traditional characters are actively used today.
How did characters get simplified?
Simplification in Chinese characters can be broadly categorized into a few types, each with its own approach and rationale.
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Simplification of radicals: Many Chinese characters are composed of common components called radicals. Simplifying these radicals automatically simplifies a large number of characters. For example, the radical 言 (speech) in characters like 語 (language) was simplified to 讠, resulting in characters like 语. Similarly, the radical 馬 (horse) was simplified to 马, affecting characters like 騎 (ride), which became 骑.
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Reduction of strokes: This is the most straightforward method, where the number of strokes in a character is reduced. A prime example is the character for "dragon," which in traditional script is 龍 and in simplified script becomes 龙. The simplified form has fewer strokes, making it quicker to write and easier to learn.
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Adoption of existing simplified forms: Some characters already had simplified forms that were widely used in handwriting. These simpler forms were officially adopted in the simplified script. For instance, the character 體 (body) was commonly written as 体 in informal contexts, and this simpler form became the standard in simplified Chinese.
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Merging of characters: In some cases, two or more traditional characters with the same pronunciation and similar meanings were merged into a single simplified character. For example, the traditional characters 只 (only) and 隻 (only, but also a measure word) were merged into 只.
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Complete redesign: Some characters underwent a complete overhaul, resulting in a simplified form that looks quite different from its traditional counterpart. An example is the character for "turtle", which is 龜 in traditional Chinese and was simplified to 龟.
Also check out this full list of simplifications with more examples.
Criticism
Not everyone was immediately on board with how the characters were simplified. I don't think anybody in China really wants to go back to the traditional script, but there are a few points of contention that are still a thing today.
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Loss of cultural heritage: Some critics argue that a lot of historical and etymological (referring to how characters developed) meaning has gotten lost during the simplification process. For example, the traditional character “愛” (love), which includes the component “心” (heart), was simplified to “爱,” omitting the heart component. Some argue that this change removed a core component of the character's meaning.
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Aesthetic diminishment: Traditional characters are often considered more elegant and balanced. Put simply, some people find simplified characters uglier. Have a closer look at the above examples for 龍 / 龙 and 龜 / 龟. The traditional characters fill their quadratic frame more completely and do not look as asymmetric as their simplified versions. This makes traditional characters better suited for calligraphy.
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Intelligibility issues: The coexistence of simplified and traditional characters has led to challenges in mutual intelligibility. This is especially the case in global contexts where diaspora communities might use different scripts. Furthermore, there is now a generational divide in some countries with a large Chinese community (like Malaysia and Singapore) with the older generation using traditional characters while the younger generation learns simplified characters.
Should you learn simplified or traditional Chinese?
Here are a few points for you to consider if you are asking yourself whether you should learn simplified or traditional characters:
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What's your geographic focus? You should definitely learn simplified characters first if you want to go to mainland China. You should learn traditional characters if you plan on going to Taiwan or Hong Kong.
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Do you plan on reading classical literature in its original form or do you want to conduct studies on maritime trade in the South China Sea during the 18th century? You will have to learn traditional characters for that. (Why you would want to do that, you're asking? No idea, but I have actually met a Westerner doing exactly that. He reads official documents from a few hundred years ago for his research, which I find extremely impressive.)
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Are you into Chinese calligraphy? Traditional characters are usually considered better for the job.
If none of the above are important to you, don't worry too much about which of the character sets to learn first. Most characters were simplified in a very systematic way, so it's not that hard to switch from one to the other. Just pick one character set and learn the other one later, if you need to. Once you know both, you'll be unstoppable 😉
Conclusion
To sum it up: Simplified Chinese refers to a set of simplified Chinese characters introduced in mainland China in the 1960s. Hong Kong and Taiwan still use traditional characters. Simplified characters were introduced to increase literacy and modernize the nation, but they also sparked debates around cultural heritage and aesthetic value. A little known fact is that there was a second round of simplification in the 70s that ultimately failed, but that's a topic for another day.
Luckily, the times when choosing one script over the other was a major political statement are over. As a Chinese learner, your choice should depend more on your personal goals and interests. Ultimately, learning either script is a rewarding journey into one of the world's oldest and most dynamic languages. Also, once you casually read a Chinese book on the bus, the person sitting next to you will be impressed regardless of whether you are reading traditional or simplified characters.
Happy learning, until next time! 📖🌟
