During a May 18 lecture at South Central University for Nationalities, Chinese-language expert Li Jingyi from Wuhan University suggested that China should return to writing traditional Chinese characters.
Similar suggestions have been made by members of the Political Consultative Conference over the past two years.
According to Changjiang Daily, Mr. Li said that contemporary Chinese poetry will not pass the test of time, and today's society cannot foster great poets.
Reportedly, Mr. Li said that every stroke in traditional Chinese characters has history. Each character has more inner meanings than phonetic-based systems. The kind of “literature” popular on the Internet “destroys our heritage and traditions.” He suggested that society return to traditional characters and said that writing traditional characters on the computer is no more difficult than writing simplified characters.
Economist Mao Yushi has long advocated the return to traditional characters. In March 2008, Wang Gan, editor-in-chief of Selected Chinese Literature Monthly, said in his blog that simplified characters are the “uneducated version” of the real characters. His statement generated heated debates.
Renowned writer Er Yue He also supports restoration of traditional characters because of their beauty. He said that people will lose the ability to read classical texts if they only know simplified characters. He also believes that texts should be printed vertically on a page rather than horizontally “because that is our tradition.”
Mr. Ji Xianlin, a 99-year-old Chinese-language expert, talked about his reasons for supporting traditional characters: First, the Chinese culture has been able to last until today because traditional Chinese characters have not changed much over the course of history; one must know traditional characters in order to read the classics, and all messages of the traditional Chinese culture are contained in these classics.
Secondly, it is wrong to try to simplify or phoneticize Chinese characters. “Our ancestors have used the traditional characters for thousands of years without problems.” Efficiency is not a good reason to simplify characters.
Thirdly, merely translating classic texts into modern language will destroy the Chinese culture. People today must learn to read the original texts. If the meanings have changed, then footnotes can be added.
Lastly, to restore the classical Chinese language and culture, the educational system should start with young children. Mr. Ji pointed out that textbooks written for children should be written with care and fit children's needs.
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