Simplified vs Traditional Chinese: 1 Billion People Use Different Characters?!

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]One language, two completely different writing systems, >> [music] >> and over a billion people argue about which one is correct. Welcome to simplified versus traditional Chinese.

[00:00:11][music] Mainland China writes meaning love like this clean simple eight strokes, but Taiwan writes same word, same sound, but [music] 13 strokes and a tiny heart radical hidden inside. That little heart? Simplified Chinese removed it. [music] Controversial, right? In the 1950s, the Chinese government created simplified characters to help more people learn to read faster. [music] Traditional characters called had been used for thousands of years.

[00:00:47]Some characters got a serious glow up.

[00:00:51]Means dragon five strokes in simplified.

[00:00:54]The traditional version, >> [music] >> 16 strokes. Same dragon, way more effort. So, which should you learn? If you want to talk to the most people, 1.4 billion, go simplified. If you love history, calligraphy, or plan to visit Taiwan or Hong Kong, go traditional.

[00:01:10][music] Both are beautiful. Both are Chinese.

[00:01:14]Now, look up the traditional character [music] for dragon and count those strokes yourself. Follow for a new Chinese word every day.