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About the Chinese character: Chinese writing dates back to over 5000 years ago. Chinese characters evolved from pictographs to more abstract ideograms to the modern-day character, which bears a slight resemblance to its pictographic origins.
The characters are divided into 3 main categories : pictographs (象形)﹐ideograms (會意), phonograms(形聲). Each character is a word by itself, and is written in a flowing and balanced way.
You will notice that your browser has the option of viewing Chinese characters in Traditional or Simplified forms. Some other sites provide your translation in simplified characters which are abbreviated forms which might not be recognizable to all Chinese . This site provides you with standard traditional Chinese characters which are not only recognized by Chinese but also by Japanese and Koreans. More importantly, our site is determined to preserve the history and artistry of the traditional character.
Why are there traditional and simplified characters? Traditional characters are the standard characters with centuries of history and culture embodied in them. There is a true meaning and history behind each traditional character which is derived from centuries of usage as a pictogram, phonogram or ideogram. In an effort to wipe out illiteracy, the Communist government in China introduced in 1956 a system of simplified characters which were easier to remember than the intricate traditional characters. The intention was good, but the result is devastating. Over 2000 Chinese traditional characters have been changed by the government into the simplified form by reducing the number of strokes, and thus changing the entire form and balance of the character. (see example to the right) In some cases, even the meaning of the butchered character has been changed. This type of "short-hand" writing has utterly no regard for the Chinese art, culture and history.
We are against this mutilation of the Chinese character and annihilation of our Chinese culture. The characters provided by this site are all traditional characters so that the form, beauty and essence of THE CHINESE CHARACTER can be fully appreciated.
Now that the Chinese government has effectively eliminated illiteracy, it is our sincere hope that the present leaders will take on the task of reinstating traditional characters as the official writing system, and simplified characters as a supplementary system. Only then will our beautiful heritage be continued and chinese culture be preserved.
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