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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Different strokes for cross-strait folks
By Fu Shuangqi and Yang Shuyi |
July 15, 2009, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ZHONG GUO, the two characters for "China" in Chinese, are written using 12 brush strokes, as every Beijing primary student learns, whereas his counterpart in Taipei has to write 15 strokes to complete the word.
The Chinese language, with the same pronunciation in Mandarin, has largely two written forms, simplified and traditional, which are used by people in the mainland (simplified) and Taiwan (traditional). Many overseas Chinese people also use traditional characters.
A debate is underway about how to bridge the gap between the traditional and the simplified characters.
Traditional characters were used in all parts of China before the Kuomintang (KMT) troops fled the mainland in 1949. After that, the mainland developed a simplified set of characters, while overseas Chinese and the KMT-occupied Taiwan island continued using the old style.
Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou suggested in early June that the island and the mainland should reach an agreement on language - people may write simplified ones but should be able to read traditional characters.
In response to his remarks, the Beijing-based State Council Taiwan Affairs Office supported discussion between experts on both sides on how to make communication easier in the field of linguistics.
Some mainland linguists' views coincided with Ma's proposal, and a few moved even further. At the annual March session of China's top political advisory body, political adviser Pan Qinglin proposed the mainland should use traditional characters again.
Pan argued that many simplified characters lose delicate cultural connotation and, in the information age, many people use input software for computers based on pronunciation, through which traditional characters are no longer a barrier for learning and use.
Dong Kun, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Institute of Linguistics, supported the idea of Chinese reading traditional characters, as an effort to pass on the tradition.
"Characters are part of Chinese culture instead of simply a tool to express the culture. The design of Chinese characters reflected our ancestors' understanding of the universe and history," he told Xinhua in an interview.
He said many of today's readers are unable to read ancient books, written in traditional characters. "It's a great pity. Chinese is a rare continuous language, with which people can read books written 2,000 years ago."
However, he held that the trend to simplify the Chinese written language is irreversible and started long before 1949. In the early 20th century, the Chinese had already tried simplification to facilitate international exchanges. The KMT government, then ruling the country, adopted the policy but failed to implement it. "After 1949, the mainland simplified Chinese characters mainly in a bid to improve literacy," Dong said. "Fewer strokes would make it easier for farmers and workers who did not go to school from a young age."
Marvin C. Ho, founder of the Taipei Language Institute, told Xinhua, "Today, many people in Taiwan write simplified characters as well."
Ho made an interesting discovery when working on the 2006 dictionary - the words that the mainland has and Taiwan does not, or vice versa, only account for 4 percent of the total words in the dictionary.
"The difference is not as big as people thought," he said. "Language is a typical example on how the two sides share the same tradition."
"People on both sides have the same ancestors, speak the same language, follow the same customs and philosophy. These are treasures we share," said professor Xin-min Chu with the Taipei-based National Chengchi University. "Politics cannot change or damage it."
(The authors are writers at Xinhua news agency.)
The Chinese language, with the same pronunciation in Mandarin, has largely two written forms, simplified and traditional, which are used by people in the mainland (simplified) and Taiwan (traditional). Many overseas Chinese people also use traditional characters.
A debate is underway about how to bridge the gap between the traditional and the simplified characters.
Traditional characters were used in all parts of China before the Kuomintang (KMT) troops fled the mainland in 1949. After that, the mainland developed a simplified set of characters, while overseas Chinese and the KMT-occupied Taiwan island continued using the old style.
Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou suggested in early June that the island and the mainland should reach an agreement on language - people may write simplified ones but should be able to read traditional characters.
In response to his remarks, the Beijing-based State Council Taiwan Affairs Office supported discussion between experts on both sides on how to make communication easier in the field of linguistics.
Some mainland linguists' views coincided with Ma's proposal, and a few moved even further. At the annual March session of China's top political advisory body, political adviser Pan Qinglin proposed the mainland should use traditional characters again.
Pan argued that many simplified characters lose delicate cultural connotation and, in the information age, many people use input software for computers based on pronunciation, through which traditional characters are no longer a barrier for learning and use.
Dong Kun, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Institute of Linguistics, supported the idea of Chinese reading traditional characters, as an effort to pass on the tradition.
"Characters are part of Chinese culture instead of simply a tool to express the culture. The design of Chinese characters reflected our ancestors' understanding of the universe and history," he told Xinhua in an interview.
He said many of today's readers are unable to read ancient books, written in traditional characters. "It's a great pity. Chinese is a rare continuous language, with which people can read books written 2,000 years ago."
However, he held that the trend to simplify the Chinese written language is irreversible and started long before 1949. In the early 20th century, the Chinese had already tried simplification to facilitate international exchanges. The KMT government, then ruling the country, adopted the policy but failed to implement it. "After 1949, the mainland simplified Chinese characters mainly in a bid to improve literacy," Dong said. "Fewer strokes would make it easier for farmers and workers who did not go to school from a young age."
Marvin C. Ho, founder of the Taipei Language Institute, told Xinhua, "Today, many people in Taiwan write simplified characters as well."
Ho made an interesting discovery when working on the 2006 dictionary - the words that the mainland has and Taiwan does not, or vice versa, only account for 4 percent of the total words in the dictionary.
"The difference is not as big as people thought," he said. "Language is a typical example on how the two sides share the same tradition."
"People on both sides have the same ancestors, speak the same language, follow the same customs and philosophy. These are treasures we share," said professor Xin-min Chu with the Taipei-based National Chengchi University. "Politics cannot change or damage it."
(The authors are writers at Xinhua news agency.)
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