Jigsaw

This article was first published on Minority. Due to differences in editors, the version outside the blog does not contain the ending Easter egg.

Statement: This article will not discuss encoding methods for Chinese characters such as Unicode, GB18030, BIG5, JIS C 6226, etc. This article will not evaluate the merits of the first and second Chinese character simplification plans or any regional standards for Chinese characters. This article will inevitably mix various forms of Chinese characters, and readers are advised not to use any simplified-traditional conversion methods for a better reading experience.

Clarifying Definitions#

Recently, while watching animations on Bilibili, I came across a comment: "Why do Japanese people sometimes use traditional characters and sometimes simplified characters?" This made me feel the lack of education on character forms, hence this article.

Differences Between Simplified and Traditional#

To understand "traditional characters," one must first understand the definition of "simplified characters." Broadly speaking, simplified characters, also known as Simplified Chinese (zh-Hans), are the official script used in mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, and other regions. The latest standard is the “General Standard Chinese Character List (2013)” (hereinafter referred to as "General Standard"), which specifies 8,105 standard characters that we commonly refer to as simplified characters. In a narrower sense, simplified characters refer to the characters adopted and retained in the two Chinese character simplification plans.
In contrast, broadly speaking, traditional characters are referred to as Traditional Chinese (zh-Hant), which are the forms of characters that have not been simplified, such as the standard promoted in Taiwan, which is the “National Standard Character Form (1998),” and the standard promoted in Hong Kong, which is the “Commonly Used Character Form List (2012).” In a narrower sense, traditional characters are also known as "classic characters," referring to the original forms of simplified characters, as provided in the appendix of the General Standard, “Comparison Table of Standard Characters with Traditional Characters and Variant Characters.” For those characters that have not been simplified and exist in both simplified and traditional forms, they are referred to as heritage characters. It is particularly important to note that the number of strokes in simplified characters is not necessarily fewer than that in traditional characters; for example, the strokes in "沉" are not fewer than those in "沈."
The simplified characters and traditional characters mentioned later will use the broad definitions; if I refer to the narrow definitions, I will use simplified characters and classic characters.

Differences Between Standard and Variant#

The distinction between standard and variant characters has existed since ancient times, but due to the limitations of information dissemination in ancient times, it was not strictly enforced. After entering the industrial age, stricter standards for standard and variant characters began to be implemented in various places for the convenience of production and education.
Standard characters refer to the officially prescribed standard forms. You may have heard of "Taiwan Standard," which, as the name suggests, refers to the standard forms used in Taiwan. Note that outside of Taiwan, it should not be abbreviated as "standard." Currently, the mainland no longer uses the term "standard," and it is generally believed that the traditional characters specified in the General Standard are the mainland's standard forms. In contrast to standard characters are variant characters, which differ by region. For example, "裏" is the mainland standard, while "裡" is the Taiwan standard. Apart from regional differences, it can also be said that "裏" and "裡" are variants of each other.

Differences Between Old and New#

During the era of woodblock printing, the characters on the wooden boards were carved by craftsmen. Due to material limitations, the carved Chinese characters often differed significantly from handwritten regular script, and this type of printed form eventually evolved into what we now call Songti (Mingti). Compared to regular script, Songti has straighter and more robust strokes, and there is a poem that praises it: "Horizontal strokes thin, vertical strokes thick, slants like a knife, dots like melon seeds, and presses like a sweep."

The “General Standard Chinese Character Form List” launched in mainland China in 1963 was based on handwritten forms and made significant changes to the printed forms of both simplified and traditional characters. The forms after this are referred to as new forms. Here are a few notable features of the new forms: the "八" above "兌" is changed to "丷，" the "氵" in characters like "決沖" is changed to "冫，" and the second stroke of "入，" "㇝ (nà)," no longer has a hook... If you want to experience old forms on electronic devices, you can install Terry Wang's Jinghua Old Songti, which is restored from the 61-1 type of the Commercial Press.

Taiwan's national standard character forms have also made certain modifications to printed forms, such as the well-known new "⺼" radical representing the meat radical that has been mistakenly changed to "月."

Beyond Chinese#

Japan, as the first East Asian country to modernize, was the first to introduce standards for Chinese characters and their encoding. Its “List of Commonly Used Kanji (1923)” also has some new forms similar to the simplified characters promoted in mainland China, with the current standard being the “List of Commonly Used Kanji (2010).” Readers who frequently consume Japanese cultural works should be familiar with those seemingly familiar new Japanese characters, such as "沢" for "澤" and "図" for "圖."
Due to the alphabetical order of JP preceding SC and TC, if localization is not specified, CJK fonts often fallback to Japanese forms. Many European and American websites and video games still have this issue, and the most noticeable example should be the two characters "关门."

After French colonization, Vietnam has gradually abolished Chinese characters. The civil organization "Committee for the Revival of Han-Nom in Vietnam" (abbreviated as Han-Nom Revival Committee) is dedicated to restoring Han-Nom and has published the “Common Standard Han-Nom Character List” and accompanying open-source fonts in 2023.
Although I mentioned earlier that I would not evaluate the standards of various regions, I can't help but say a few words. Many Han-Nom characters are so confusing that even the Vietnamese who submitted them do not understand, yet they occupy space in Unicode (including the upcoming CJK-J), and developing a shape code for them is really exhausting.

Both Korea and North Korea still retain some Chinese characters, but their usage frequency is much lower than in Japan. Since neither country has changed the forms of Chinese characters, they have instead become the best reference for old forms.

Casual Talk: Learning and Using Traditional Characters#

Learning and Practicing#

As I mentioned in How to Create a Font Input Method, "In fact, nothing is important." Before learning, it might be worth considering what your purpose for learning is.

Currently, there are abundant resources online. I first recommend liuhl6's One-Stop Traditional Character Learning Manual, but note that some of the characters used in the text are actually the author's personal judgments. For more detailed information, you can check Han Dian; if you can't find it in Han Dian, you can check the most comprehensive Zi Tong Wang. If possible, I also recommend buying a physical book: the "Xinhua Dictionary," which everyone should have, goes without saying, and the "Wang Li Ancient Chinese Dictionary" is also very useful.
It is advisable to learn variant characters as well. After all, as mentioned earlier, the standard and variant characters may be exactly opposite in different regions. Moreover, many variant characters are merely structural differences; learning the standard characters may also help you learn the variant characters, with extreme examples like "鵝䳗䳘鵞."

Be sure not to use foreign language learning methods to learn traditional characters. Learning traditional characters is about learning writing rather than language, so the most useful environment for learning a language is actually not very useful here— even if you set the language of your electronic devices to traditional, a native speaker's instinct is sufficient to understand without recognizing a few traditional characters.
The most effective method is still writing; even if you are not learning traditional characters, practicing writing a little every day can effectively help modern people who often forget how to write. If you really don't want to write, you can also learn a font input method that supports both simplified and traditional characters, but compared to writing, it can be said to be "twice the effort for half the result," and is only recommended for casual users.

Using with Principle#

First of all, in formal occasions, it is better to use standard Chinese characters to avoid causing trouble for staff. Aside from that, there are no restrictions. Among Chinese character enthusiasts, there are all kinds of people, and various usages are not surprising.

My personal usage principles are still conservative, for reference only:

0. Non-usage suggestion: Use Songti as the default font for electronic devices and use Kaishu/Fang Song as the italic font for electronic devices.
1. Primarily use traditional characters as per the General Standard.
2. Do not use proper nouns from Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as using "服務器" instead of "伺服器."
3. Retain some simplified characters, using traditional characters for semantic differentiation, such as continuing to use "电，" with "電" only for natural phenomena.
4. Use variant characters with left-right structures first, but pay attention to compatibility in the CJK extension area.

Finally, what should you do when someone says "pretentious" or "Kong Yiji"?

Admit it. There are so many useless hobbies in this world, and traditional characters are just one of them.

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