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                      Traditional Chinese character    same character in simplified Chinese

History of Chinese characters

There are two main types of Chinese characters in use today, simplified Chinese ( 汉字) in use in mainland China and traditional Chinese ( 漢字) in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In Korea prior to the Korean War, knowledge of about 2000 Chinese characters ( Hanja) was needed to read a newspaper in Korea, these have been phased out but are still taught in school. Hanja are often also used as a form of shorthand in newspaper headlines, advertisements, and on signs. In Japan, knowledge of about 2,000 Chinese characters ( kanji ) is still needed to read newspapers and other text. Many times, furigana  is used as a reading aid for Chinese characters in Japanese.

Kanji(left) furigana (right)

The number of Chinese characters contained in the Kangji dictionary is approximately 47,035, although a large number of these are rarely used variants accumulated throughout history. Studies carried out in China have shown that full literacy in the Chinese language requires a knowledge of only between three and four thousand characters.

How to write Chinese characters

After World War II, Japan also simplified a number of Chinese characters (kanji) used in the Japanese language. The new forms are called shinjitai. Compared to Chinese, the Japanese reform was more directed, affecting only a few hundred characters and replacing them with simplified forms, most of which were already in use in Japanese cursive script.

Chinese characters are classified by 215 radicals, which can be used to kook up a Chinese character, in addition to its' stroke order and pronunciation .

Free Chinese Quizes

Multimedia Learning Suite Chinese Characters 

This suite is a complete, portable and convenient learning system that assists you in memorizing and understanding more than 3,000 Chinese words (Mandarin, Simplified Chinese). It includes our scientifically based MemoryLifter learning software and more than 3,000 virtual multimedia flashcards on a portable USB stick

English Chinese electronic dictionary 

Chinese t shirts 

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Learn about the Chinese dress, qipao (cheongsam)

Free Chinese Character screensaver