Traditional

Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. more...

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The modern shapes of Traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han Dynasty, and have been more or less stable since the 5th century during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The term "traditional" is used to contrast Traditional characters with another standardized set — simplified Chinese characters, standardized by the government of the People's Republic of China since the 1950s.

Today traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and by some overseas Chinese communities, especially those originating from the aforementioned regions/countries or who emigrated before the widespread adoption of simplified characters in the People's Republic of China. In contrast, simplified characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, and in some overseas Chinese communities; especially those from aforementioned countries who emigrated after the widespread adoption of simplified Chinese characters. Debate over Traditional and Simplified Chinese is long-running among Chinese communities.

Controversy over Chinese name

Among Chinese speakers, traditional Chinese characters are referred to by several different names, each with different implications. The government of the Republic of China on Taiwan officially calls traditional Chinese characters Standard characters or orthodox characters (Traditional Chinese: 正體字; Simplified Chinese: 正体字; Hanyu Pinyin: zhèngtǐzì; Tongyong Pinyin: jhèngtǐzìh), which implies that traditional characters are the full and correct forms of the characters. Users of traditional characters may also call them complete-bodied characters (Traditional Chinese: 全體字; Simplified Chinese: 全体字; Hanyu Pinyin: quántǐzì; Tongyong Pinyin: cyuántǐzìh), which also has the same implication.

In contrast, users of simplified characters call them complex characters (Traditional Chinese: 繁體字; Simplified Chinese: 繁体字; Hanyu Pinyin: fántǐzì; Tongyong Pinyin: fántǐzìh), or, informally, old characters (Chinese: 老字; Hanyu Pinyin: lǎozì; Tongyong Pinyin: lǎozìh ), with the implication that traditional Chinese characters have been replaced and are obsolete.

Read more at Wikipedia.org