In what language(s) do you read Wuxia novels in?

[Tom]

Wuxia novels are primarily written in Chinese and later translated by fans to other languages. In what language(s) do you read Wuxia novels?

I'm limited in my understanding of the diverse Chinese language so I can't read the wonderful works of JY, GL, LYS, WRA, HY, etc. in Chinese.

But luckily for me there's translations of them in English. Thank heavens!

[JWalnut]

I'm in the same boat as Bogeyman. Good thing there are English translations!! (and TV adaptions of course)

[kidd]

I read them in the following languages (in no particular order)

English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese

I read english translation when my chinese reading skill was still bad. Fortunately, I now know enough characters to be able to read them in chinese. For harder books like Hu Hua Ling, I still need the help of the dictionary. Hu Hua Ling is hard. I need to refer to the dictionary every few sentences. Lol.

[Tom]

In today's society which is more popular, Traditional or Simplified? Simplified is only used in mainland China. Traditional is used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, United States, and everywhere else.

[PJ]

In today's society which is more popular, Traditional or Simplified? Simplified is only used in mainland China. Traditional is used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, United States, and everywhere else.

Simplified Chinese is also the official written form of Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia.

As for "everywhere else," it is a misconception to think they ignore Simplified Chinese. Simplified Chinese is gaining popularity every day due to increased Mainland emigration.

In my company in America, there are about 600 Chinese employees. The club is completely dominated by Mainland Chinese (> 80%), and All of our officers (we have about 20 officers) are from Mainland China. They all write Simplified Chinese.

[Tom]

Simplified Chinese is also the official written form of Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia.

As for "everywhere else," it is a misconception to think they ignore Simplified Chinese. Simplified Chinese is gaining popularity every day due to increased Mainland emigration.

In my company in America, there are about 600 Chinese employees. The club is completely dominated by Mainland Chinese (> 80%), and All of our officers (we have about 20 officers) are from Mainland China. They all write Simplified Chinese.

But when they immigrate to the U.S., they'll start to change from Simplified to Traditional in just a matter of time. The newspapers are in Traditional and if they read the news, they start adapting.

[PJ]

But when they immigrate to the U.S., they'll start to change from Simplified to Traditional in just a matter of time. The newspapers are in Traditional and if they read the news, they start adapting.

What?

Yes, most Chinese newspapers here are printed in Traditional...
Meanwhile, there are PLENTY of Chinese websites with news and entertainment content in Simplified.
All of our club newsletters, event announcements, etc, are printed in Simplified Chinese ONLY.
That some things are printed in Traditional, just means it helps if know Traditional; it does NOT mean that Simplified it not being used (the contrary is true) !

For example, people from Guangdong and HK speak Cantonese.
They can also speak Mandarin, but that doesn't mean they will switch to Mandarin completely.

I've been here for 10+ years and I don't know anyone who has switched to Traditional.

[Tom]

Eh, I don't know. I'm still a learner of Chinese. But it doesn't really matter. If you know Simplified then you'll recognize the letters in Traditional. If you know Traditional then you'll recognize the letters in Simplified. But I just think that having 2 separate sets of alphabets doesn't do any good.

[PJ]

Like you said, when you know one it's not hard to know the other.
This has been my experience.
However, I've heard that people who know Traditional have more trouble recognizing Simplified, while people who know Simplfiied have less trouble recognizing Traditional.
But yeah, if you need to learn one now, I'd go with Traditional.

[kwekmh]

I read novels in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

I learn and use Simplified Chinese in everyday life. I have never learnt Traditional Chinese, yet I can identify the words. However, I cannot write in Traditional Chinese.

[QF]

simplified chinese does not look good...i hope they would abandon it..


QF

[PJ]

simplified chinese does not look good...i hope they would abandon it..


QF

Sorry to disappoint you. It is gaining popularity every day.

I don't mind simplification. I would rather not exert twice as much effort to write a character. Life is short and valuable. There are probably more worthwhile things to do than to overcomplicate the written language... BUT, that is my humble opinion.

[kidd]

Good reason to use simplified chinese

麗 丽
龍 龙
幾 几

[KeongJai]

In today's society which is more popular, Traditional or Simplified? Simplified is only used in mainland China. Traditional is used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, United States, and everywhere else.

PJ is right. Simplified is used by more people in more places. Traditional is being used in HK and Taiwan or elsewhere by ex-pats from those areas. Everywhere else will use simplified.

[HuangYushi]

I read wuxia novels mostly in either Simplified or Traditional Chinese. It doesn't matter what the novels come in, so long as they are in Chinese. Periodically, I read the same novels in Bahasa Indonesia (any form of Bahasa Indonesia) ... for amusement. And if I really have to, I'll read the novels in English.

Simplified Chinese is also the official written form of Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia.

Yes, that is what is taught in schools in Malaysia. But we have newspapers using both types of scripts (obviously printed by different publishers/presses and having different mastheads).

Eh, I don't know. I'm still a learner of Chinese. But it doesn't really matter. If you know Simplified then you'll recognize the letters in Traditional. If you know Traditional then you'll recognize the letters in Simplified. But I just think that having 2 separate sets of alphabets doesn't do any good.

Chinese glyphs are called characters, NOT letters.
Each character has a meaning of its own, unlike most letters which need to be connected to other letters before they can be meaningful.

Therefore, it is also erroneous to call Chinese character-sets as "sets of alphabets".

In addition, not every character in Traditional Script has its Simplified equivalent. Many characters look the same in both the Traditional Script as well as the Simplified one. Thus, the Traditional Script character-set is NOT completely distinct and mutually-exclusive when compared to the Simplified Script character set.

However, I've heard that people who know Traditional have more trouble recognizing Simplified, while people who know Simplfiied have less trouble recognizing Traditional.
But yeah, if you need to learn one now, I'd go with Traditional.

As a kid, I learnt Chinese using the Traditional Script.
However, I spent most of my adult life using and teaching in the Simplified Script.
Although my exposure to Traditional Script during my childhood days was a lot more limited compared to my use of Simplified Script in adulthood, I do not have much trouble reading or teaching in Traditional Script right now.
My dad, who was schooled in the Traditional Script, has a bit more trouble when it comes to Simplified Script.

btw, I have students learning Traditional Script in a Simplified Script environment, and they seem OK with it.

[flamer]

yea i wouldve though simplified is more widespread then traditional. Seeing how only Hong Kong/Macau and Taiwan uses Traditional. And by "everywhere else" its mostly hong kong published newspapers which are in Traditional overseas.

[shenlong]

Simplified Chinese, traditional only if I can't get my hands on anything else. I don't recognize a good amount of traditional characters.

Oh, and I have scanned through English translations mostly to find out what the skills are called when they're translated.

[Felix]

A mix of English and Vietnamese.

[QF]

Sorry to disappoint you. It is gaining popularity every day.

I understand and I realize that...

I'm just saying that simplified doesn't look as beautiful and elegant as traditional.

Have you ever put two pages side by side with simplified characters on one page and traditional characters on the other?

the page with the simplified characters looks "empty" and just blah.

Or maybe its just me.

[AnhHung]

I understand and I realize that...

I'm just saying that simplified doesn't look as beautiful and elegant as traditional.

Have you ever put two pages side by side with simplified characters on one page and traditional characters on the other?

the page with the simplified characters looks "empty" and just blah.

Or maybe its just me.

Its not just you. Im viet and dont know chinese, but reconize the different between traditional and simplified characters. And you are right, simplified seems more empty and , eh, simple.