TYPOGRAPHY 排印

This page contains brief notes on Chinese character variants and different typesetting conventions used in print.

Character Variants 繁體與簡體

Simplified characters 簡體字 were introduced in the People's Republic of China in the 20^th century, and are in official use there and in Singapore.

Traditional characters 繁體字 are still going strong in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, and across much of the global diaspora. There can be slight variations in the written forms of certain characters across these locations, but in general the differences are insignificant and will not cause issues if they are even noticed by the reader.

Due to the PRC's population size and political influence, today most foreign students of Chinese learn to read and write simplified characters if they study in the PRC or at an overseas educational institution.

I recommend learning traditional characters to get the most out of the written language in its intended form, and for the access it provides to writers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even mainland Chinese writers whose work is censored in the PRC. Much of the most interesting writing in Chinese today is simply not printed in simplified form.

That said, the best situation would be to understand both forms and enjoy the broadest set of options for what to read.

Fortunately, far less effort is required for someone who understands simplified characters to learn traditional characters — or vice versa — than to learn either variant in the first place.

Modern study tools such as flashcard apps that use spaced repetition systems help people to rapidly enhance their vocabulary, for which reason they have gained widespread popularity with language and medical students.

See here for details on Anki, one example of a flashcard app that implements spaced repetition.

Text Direction 横排與竖排

Simplified books are usually set horizontally 橫排 in the same way as English-language books — spine on the left-hand side of the front cover, text printed in rows from left to right, like so: ¹

Books in traditional characters may also be printed this way, but often are set vertically 豎排 in the traditional style — spine on the right-hand side of the front cover, text printed in columns from right to left, like this: ²

In common with the geographic divide over the use of traditional versus simplified characters, the majority of publications in the PRC today use horizontal typesetting, and publications in Hong Kong and Taiwan use vertical typesetting, though horizontal print is not uncommon.