Taipei-based General Association of Chinese Culture and Beijing-based Lexicographical Society of China jointly launched an online Chinese language knowledge database Feb. 8 to promote the understanding of Chinese characters as used on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
“There are at most 8,000 characters in frequent use, with 2,300 simplified during the mainland Chinese program to reform them in 1956,” ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said at the launching ceremony.
“A total of 468 characters were totally transformed, while the rest were only partially changed,” Ma continued, stressing that “oversimplification of Chinese characters can result in a loss of knowledge.
“We hope the database can function as a platform for cultural exchange, allowing users of Chinese from all over to achieve mutual understanding through language, communicate rationally and rise above political disputes.”
Liu Chao-shiuan, president of the GACC, pointed out that the greatest difference between an online lexical database and printed dictionaries is that the former can be modified anytime by anyone, with continual review by experts, while normally years go by before printed dictionaries are revised, and their contents are subject to the limitations of paper size and printing conventions.
The knowledge database features character and phrase searches, online learning, and introductions to vocabulary and the art of Chinese characters. (THN)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw