Simplified and Traditional Chinese
Converting Chinese between the two scripts looks like swapping one character for another, but some Simplified characters stand for several Traditional ones, Taiwan and Hong Kong prefer different forms, and the two sides use different words. This guide explains each point with the tables behind the converter.
Two Scripts for One Language
Mainland China writes Simplified characters. Its current standard is the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters (通用规范汉字表), published by the State Council in 2013. It has 8,105 characters in three levels: 3,500 common characters; 3,000 more that, together with the first level, serve publishing, dictionaries and information processing; and 1,605 used mainly in names, place names, technical terms and the classical texts of school textbooks. It was built on earlier lists, including the General List of Simplified Characters of 1986, and the notice that published it says the earlier lists are no longer to be used.
Taiwan and Hong Kong write Traditional characters. Taiwan's Ministry of Education sets the standard form of each common character and lists the other forms as variants in its Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (異體字字典).
One Simplified Character, Several Traditional Ones
Simplification merged some characters that were different before. Appendix 1 of the 2013 table pairs each standard character with its Traditional forms: it lists 2,574 Traditional characters for 2,546 standard ones, with 96 groups in which one standard character stands for several Traditional characters, sometimes including itself. Going from Simplified to Traditional, a converter has to choose:
| Simplified | Traditional | Converted by word (Taiwan option) |
|---|---|---|
| 发 | 發 髮 | 发展 → 發展 头发 → 頭髮 |
| 干 | 干 乾 幹 | 干涉 → 干涉 干净 → 乾淨 干部 → 幹部 |
| 后 | 后 後 | 皇后 → 皇后 以后 → 以後 |
| 历 | 歷 曆 | 历史 → 歷史 日历 → 日曆 |
| 台 | 台 臺 颱 檯 | 台风 → 颱風 台湾 → 臺灣 柜台 → 櫃檯 |
| 汇 | 匯 彙 | 汇款 → 匯款 词汇 → 詞彙 |
| 尽 | 盡 儘 | 尽力 → 盡力 尽管 → 儘管 |
| 云 | 云 雲 | 人云亦云 → 人云亦云 白云 → 白雲 |
The Traditional column follows the 2013 table; the examples were converted with the Taiwan option of the converter.
Why a Converter Reads Whole Words
A table of single characters cannot tell 发展 (development, 發展) from 头发 (hair, 頭髮). OpenCC, the open-source project whose dictionaries the converter uses, therefore keeps lists of words and phrases. The converter looks for the longest word in those lists first and converts single characters only where no word matches.
A character that is not part of any listed word gets the first Traditional form in OpenCC's character list. That is often right, but not for every name, rare term or new word. Wherever the text contains one of the characters in the table above, read the result.
Taiwan, Hong Kong and OpenCC Forms
Traditional characters are not identical everywhere. Some characters have two accepted shapes, and Taiwan, Hong Kong and OpenCC's own standard pick differently:
| Simplified | OpenCC standard | Taiwan | Hong Kong |
|---|---|---|---|
| 为什么 | 爲什麼 | 為什麼 | 為什麼 |
| 里面 | 裏面 | 裡面 | 裏面 |
| 看着 | 看着 | 看著 | 看着 |
| 说话 | 說話 | 說話 | 説話 |
| 卫生 | 衛生 | 衛生 | 衞生 |
| 山峰 | 山峯 | 山峰 | 山峯 |
| 群众 | 羣衆 | 群眾 | 羣眾 |
| 台湾 | 臺灣 | 臺灣 | 台灣 |
Taiwan's Ministry of Education lists 為, 裡, 著, 峰 and 線 as standard forms, with 爲, 裏, 着, 峯 and 綫 among their variants, and the Taiwan option writes the standard forms. The 2013 table gives 爲 as the Traditional form of 为, and OpenCC's standard writes 爲 as well. The Hong Kong option writes 為 but keeps 裏 and 着.
Regional Words
Beyond the shapes of characters, the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong use different words for many modern things. OpenCC keeps lists of such words, which the converter applies when "regional words" is on:
| Mainland word | Characters only | Taiwan words | Hong Kong words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 软件 | 軟件 | 軟體 | 軟件 |
| 信息 | 信息 | 資訊 | 信息 |
| 打印机 | 打印機 | 印表機 | 打印機 |
| 鼠标 | 鼠標 | 滑鼠 | 滑鼠 |
| 内存 | 內存 | 記憶體 | 內存 |
| 网络 | 網絡 | 網路 | 網絡 |
| 视频 | 視頻 | 影片 | 視頻 |
| 出租车 | 出租車 | 計程車 | 出租車 |
| 博客 | 博客 | 部落格 | 博客 |
| U盘 | U盤 | 隨身碟 | U盤 |
| 激光 | 激光 | 雷射 | 激光 |
| 硬盘 | 硬盤 | 硬碟 | 硬碟 |
The lists cover common words, not all of them, and they change wording, not just writing. Use them only when the text is written in one region's usage and meant for the other. On mixed text they can go too far: with Taiwan words on, Traditional → Simplified turns 程序員 into 进程员, because the Taiwan list pairs 程序 with the mainland 进程.
Back to Simplified
From Traditional to Simplified, several characters become one again, so there are fewer choices to make:
| Traditional | Simplified |
|---|---|
| 頭髮 | 头发 |
| 發展 | 发展 |
| 乾淨 | 干净 |
| 幹部 | 干部 |
| 干涉 | 干涉 |
| 乾隆 | 乾隆 |
| 臺灣 | 台湾 |
| 颱風 | 台风 |
Some characters are kept: the 2013 table notes that 乾 read qián is not simplified to 干, as in 乾坤 and 乾隆. The way back loses information, though. Converting a text to Simplified and then to Traditional again may not give the original: 干 has to become 乾, 幹 or 干 once more.
Before You Publish Converted Text
- Choose the forms of the place your readers are in: Taiwan, Hong Kong or OpenCC's standard.
- Turn on regional words only for text in the other region's usage, and read every replaced word.
- Check names of people, companies and products against the spelling their owners use.
- Read the words that contain characters with several Traditional forms, such as 发, 干, 后, 台 or 只.
- The converter keeps punctuation. If your readers expect 「」 as quotation marks, change them yourself.
- For contracts, signs and printed material, have someone who reads the target script check the text.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Taiwan and Hong Kong Traditional characters the same?
Mostly. Some characters have different preferred shapes, for example 裡 in Taiwan and 裏 in Hong Kong, or 著 and 着, and many everyday words differ. The converter has a separate option for each.
Why does the Taiwan option write 臺灣 rather than 台灣?
Taiwan's Ministry of Education lists 臺 as the standard form, with 台 among its variants, and OpenCC's Taiwan table follows it. If your organisation writes 台, replace it after converting.
Can Simplified and Traditional text be converted without errors?
From Traditional to Simplified the result is usually right, because several characters become one. From Simplified to Traditional the converter has to choose between forms; word lists make most choices right, but names and rare words need checking.
Does Simplified to Traditional work for Japanese kanji?
No. Japanese uses its own simplified forms, which are not the same as Chinese Simplified characters. The converter is made for Chinese text.
Sources
Source: 《通用规范汉字表》（国发〔2013〕23号）附件1 规范字与繁体字、异体字对照表 · Last checked:
Source: 教育部《異體字字典》（臺灣學術網路十四版，2024） · Last checked:
Source: OpenCC 1.4.2 (opencc-js 1.4.2) · Last checked: