Traditional Chinese characters

Traditional Chinese
Script type	Logographic
Published	Taiwan: ( 1979 1982 ) Hong Kong: (1986)
Period	2nd century-present
Direction	Left-to-right Top-to-bottom, columns right to left
Official script	Taiwan Hong Kong Macau
Languages	Chinese languages
Related scripts
Parent systems	Oracle bone script Small seal script Clerical script Regular script Traditional Chinese
Sister systems	Simplified characters Kanji Hanja Chữ Nôm Bopomofo Khitan large script Khitan small script Sawndip
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Hant (502), ​Han (Traditional variant)
Unicode
Unicode range	Not in Unicode
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	正體字
Simplified Chinese	正体字
Literal meaning	Orthodox form characters
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhèngtǐzì Bopomofo ㄓㄥˋ ㄊㄧˇ ㄗˋ Wade–Giles Chêng4-tʻi3-tzŭ4 Tongyong Pinyin Jhèng-tǐ-zìh IPA [ʈʂə̂ŋ.tʰì.tsɹ̩̂] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jing tái jih Jyutping zing3 tai2 zi6 IPA [tsɪŋ˧.tʰɐj˧˥.tsi˨]
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	繁體字
Simplified Chinese	繁体字
Literal meaning	Complex form characters
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Fántǐzì Bopomofo ㄈㄢˊ ㄊㄧˇ ㄗˋ Wade–Giles Fan2-tʻi3-tzŭ4 Tongyong Pinyin Fán-tǐ-zìh IPA [fǎn.tʰì.tsɹ̩̂] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Fàahn tái jih Jyutping faan4 tai2 zi6 IPA [fan˩ tʰɐj˧˥ tsi˨]

Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets used to write the Chinese language, with the other being simplified characters. Traditional characters predominated in written Chinese, the historical lingua franca of East Asia, until the mid-20th century. Today, they are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia.

In the mid-20th century, People's Republic of China (PRC) began standardizing simplified Chinese, mostly with characters that existed before as variants, sometimes merging previously distinct character forms. "Traditional" as such is a retronym applied to non-simplified character. As for non-Chinese languages using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts. Korean hanja remain virtually identical to traditional Chinese characters. Despite the debates on traditional and simplified Chinese, the two scripts are mutually intelligible to most native speakers, and many Chinese-language platforms allow users to switch between them.