GoEast Mandarin Highlights the Evolution of Simplified Chinese Characters and the Role of Radicals in Language Mastery

China, 17th Oct 2024 - GoEast Mandarin, a renowned Chinese language learning platform, has announced a new educational focus on the evolution of Simplified Chinese characters and the significance of radicals in mastering the language. This initiative aims to enhance learners' understanding of Chinese characters by delving deeper into the historical and structural development of the writing system.

Simplified Chinese, developed to improve literacy rates in China, streamlines traditional characters while retaining key elements for meaning. Central to this are "radicals," which form the building blocks of Chinese characters. By introducing these essential components in a more structured and comprehensive manner, GoEast Mandarin seeks to provide its students with a solid foundation in character recognition, ultimately improving their proficiency in reading and writing.

Standing beside Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Chinese writing system is one of the oldest in the world. Estimated to be as old as 3,000 years, over time the script has evolved. You may know that in the 20th century, the Chinese government introduced simplified Chinese characters to improve literacy and make writing more accessible to all of the population. Alongside this change, the structure and importance of radicals—the building blocks of Chinese characters—have also been simplified but remain a core aspect for people who learn Chinese. In this article, we'll get to see how exactly Chinese characters were simplified and why radicals are essential to anyone seeking to learn Mandarin.

The Origins of Chinese Characters

The earliest Chinese characters date back to inscriptions on oracle bones from the Shang dynasty (around 1600–1046 BCE). These characters represented objects in stylized visual forms. Over centuries, these pictographs evolved into more complex forms as Chinese society advanced, leading to many different types of signs. Some of them evolved to carry many strokes. Characters used in Taiwan and Hong Kong did not undergo simplification, and therefore require many strokes to write.

As the number of literate citizens grew in the 20th century, many in China realized that the complexity of traditional characters posed a barrier to widespread literacy. There emerged main movements such as the May 4th Movement, which, amongst others, argued for the spreading of 白话 (baihua), "simple/white characters" and move away from ancient Chinese. Before then, only the upper class could read Chinese, as it was very difficult.

Simplified Chinese Characters

The simplification of Chinese characters was part of a larger language reform that took place in the mid-20th century. The Chinese government initiated this reform in the 1950s and 1960s, with the primary goal of improving literacy among a largely rural population. By reducing the number of strokes in each character, the writing system grew easier to learn and faster to write. For example, the traditional character for "dragon" (龍) is nowadays written as "龙" in simplified Chinese.

Simplified characters are now the official writing system in mainland China and Singapore, making them essential for anyone wishing to learn Mandarin.

The Role of Radicals in Chinese Characters

Whether one is learning simplified or traditional Chinese characters, radicals play an important role. Radicals are the foundational components of Chinese characters, often representing specific meanings or categories, such as water, fire, or a person. Each Chinese character typically consists of one or more radicals, which offer clues about the character's meaning or pronunciation.

For instance, the radical "氵" is often associated with water and can be found in characters like "河" (river) or "海" (sea). Similarly, the radical "火" (fire) appears in characters like "热" (hot) or "灶" (stove). Understanding radicals is helpful because they help you decode unfamiliar characters and remember their meanings. For students who learn Mandarin online, mastering radicals can make character learning more efficient. Since Chinese characters are composed of these recurring elements, learning just a few dozen common radicals allows students to break down complex characters into manageable parts. Many learn Mandarin online programs incorporate radical learning into their curriculum, helping students build a solid foundation for recognizing, writing, and understanding characters more effectively.

Simplified characters, while streamlined, still rely on the logic of radicals, meaning that this system of learning applies equally to both simplified and traditional scripts.

When learning Mandarin—be it in a traditional classroom setting or through online courses—learning radicals provides a systematic way to approach the language. Recognizing patterns in characters becomes more intuitive, and it enables students to guess meanings of unfamiliar words, boosting both reading comprehension and memorization.

Summary

The simplification of Chinese characters was an essential moment in Chinese history, making written Chinese more accessible to millions of people. While simplified characters have become the norm in many regions, radicals remain a crucial part of the language's structure. For learners, mastering both simplified characters will enable them to build strong language skills. Whether you choose to learn Mandarin online or in person, understanding these elements will help you gain greater confidence and success.