In high schools and communities all over the U.S., there's a new trend going on. Many people want to learn Chinese or are already doing so. This could be a good thing, but it could also cause problems. This is especially true for people who don't know much about Chinese culture, history, or the way things are in China right now.
Traditional Chinese characters, which have a long history in China, are no longer used in mainland China. For some reason, the Chinese Communist Party decided to change the language and, by extension, the way that people write.
Over time, pictographs or small drawings turned into the traditional Chinese characters we use today. On the other hand, the Chinese Communist Party's simplified Chinese has watered down many of the traditional characters so much that they no longer have anything to do with old traditions.
Here's what I mean. In traditional Chinese, the character for the word "love" looks like a heart. This makes sense, since the heart is often linked to love. In Chinese that is not the case. In simplified Chinese, there is no heart in the word for "love." One might wonder how someone who doesn't have a heart can love.
As this example shows, the Chinese Communist Party has taken out many of the most important parts of the language and changed it so that it is not as strong as it used to be. On the other hand, traditional characters are still used in Taiwan.
So, if your community or your kids' school plans to teach Chinese, you might want to make sure they use the traditional version. It shows the rich history of China and the Chinese people in a more complete way. People from mainland China, on the other hand, teach our children simplified Chinese. Unfortunately, they will also teach our children the values and ideas of the Chinese Communist Party. The end result is the same whether they do it on purpose or because they have grown up in that environment. Only you can decide if you want your children to learn about the Chinese Communist Party.
Make sure to insist that traditional Chinese, not the simplified version, is taught to our children. This way, people can enjoy and appreciate the richness of traditional Chinese culture more fully. There will be a better basis for understanding the older Chinese customs.
