3 ms·

but some time after WWII (I don't remember the exact dates) Japan and Mainland China adopted a simplified form. I lived in Taiwan when I was younger and studie

but some time after WWII (I don't remember the exact dates) Japan and Mainland China adopted a simplified form. I lived in Taiwan when I was younger and studied Mandarin there, and can read a limited vocabulary of traditional Chinese characters. I don't know enough about the history of simplified characters in Japan, but it doesn't seem to me that they are as widely used (with a few exceptions like 国) as traditional forms. Maybe someone knows the history? Also, regarding this statement: 臺 (Korea/Taiwan) 台 (Japan/China) In Taiwan, the latter form of tai (台) is used 99% of the time in colloquial, news, and signage. The complex form (臺) AFAIK is used almost exclusively in certain government situations (e.g. the name of a central government bureau) or on money. Street signs for famous buildings all use 台, i.e. 台北101, 台北松山機場, etc.

lifthrasiir 6y ago
Simplified forms have been common in handwriting for centuries. Korean hanja was also simplified in handwriting when it was in use, even though it never got standardized. The "adoption" thus mostly means the standardization of such established glyphs even in print. (This also partly explains why the second reform in the mainland China [1] wasn't received well and retracted at the end.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_round_of_simplified_Chinese_characters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_round_of_simplified_Chi...
spongepoc 6y ago
>Maybe someone knows the history? You'll need to look up shinjitai, which consists of the simplified characters adopted in Japan, which are different to the ones used in China.
AlchemistCamp 6y ago
That's a pretty extreme exaggeration. 臺 is on many, many famous buildings: https://tnimage.s3.hicloud.net.tw/photos/2020/CNA/20200229/20200229000054.jpg https://tnimage.s3.hicloud.net.tw/photos/2020/CNA/20200229/2...
- ilamont 6y ago
  The example you cited is operated by a central government entity, the Taiwan Railways Administration, and is used in a few places inside and outside the station, just as every other central government building uses the traditional form. On every other map and sign it's 台北車站. The tickets printed by the TRA even use 台北 or 台北車站.

lifthrasiir 6y ago

Simplified forms have been common in handwriting for centuries. Korean hanja was also simplified in handwriting when it was in use, even though it never got standardized. The "adoption" thus mostly means the standardization of such established glyphs even in print. (This also partly explains why the second reform in the mainland China [1] wasn't received well and retracted at the end.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_round_of_simplified_Chinese_characters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_round_of_simplified_Chi...

spongepoc 6y ago

>Maybe someone knows the history? You'll need to look up shinjitai, which consists of the simplified characters adopted in Japan, which are different to the ones used in China.

AlchemistCamp 6y ago

That's a pretty extreme exaggeration. 臺 is on many, many famous buildings: https://tnimage.s3.hicloud.net.tw/photos/2020/CNA/20200229/20200229000054.jpg https://tnimage.s3.hicloud.net.tw/photos/2020/CNA/20200229/2...

ilamont 6y ago
The example you cited is operated by a central government entity, the Taiwan Railways Administration, and is used in a few places inside and outside the station, just as every other central government building uses the traditional form. On every other map and sign it's 台北車站. The tickets printed by the TRA even use 台北 or 台北車站.