Editing Written Chinese (section)

=== Simplification and standardization ===
{{Main|Simplified Chinese characters|Traditional Chinese characters}}
{{See also|Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters}}
Beginning in the mid-20th century, Chinese has primarily been written using either [[simplified Chinese characters|simplified]] or [[traditional character]] forms. Simplified characters, which merge some character forms and reduce the average stroke count per character, were developed by the Chinese government with the stated goal of increasing literacy among the population. During this time, literacy rates did increase rapidly, but some observers instead attribute this to other education reforms and a general increase in the standard of living. Little systematic research has been conducted to support the conclusion that the use of simplified characters has affected literacy rates; studies conducted in China have instead focused on arbitrary statistics, such as quantifying the number of strokes saved on average in a given text sample.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=151}} Simplified characters are standard in mainland China, [[Singapore]] and [[Malaysia]], while traditional characters are standard in [[Hong Kong]], [[Macau]], [[Taiwan]] and some [[overseas Chinese]] communities.{{sfnp|Bruggeman|2006}}{{page needed|date=July 2023}}

Simplified forms have also been characterized as being inconsistent. For instance, the traditional {{zhi|c=讓|p=ràng|l=allow}} is simplified to {{zhi|c=让}}, in which the phonetic on the right side is reduced from 17 strokes to 3, and the {{kxr|speech}} radical on the left also being simplified. However, the same phonetic component is not reduced in simplified characters such as {{zhi|c=壤|p=rǎng|l=soil}} and {{zhi|c=齉|p=nàng|l=snuffle}}—these characters are relatively uncommon, and would therefore represent a negligible stroke reduction.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=152}} Other simplified forms derive from long-standing calligraphic abbreviations, as with {{zhi|c=万|p=wàn|l=ten thousand}}, which has the traditional form of {{zhi|c=萬}}.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=147}}