Simplified characters about to get more complicated

The Chinese government announced that they are going to be making some changes to the simplified character system （简体字） currently used throughout mainland China. According to the Shanghai Daily, the short list of revised characters is already completed and will be released sometime in the near future.

Characters are based on a radical system, which provides some guidance as to the potential meaning of the word.

But the characters being updated were allegedly too simple - people had found it too hard to interpret their meanings from the way they were written.

A Tianjin official raised the possibility of returning to the traditional character system （繁体字） (abolished in 1956) at March's National People's Congress. He argued that the simplified system is destroying China's cultural heritage.

China Smack discussed the ramifications of returning to the traditional system back in March and the reaction was overwhelmingly against the idea.

We tend to agree. The simplified system has been in use for over fifty years and a return back to the traditional form will only result in confusion and more headaches for the country's education system.