Translations of traditional Chinese writing
Traditional writing is China’s cultural heritage, and calligraphy has always held a special place in Chinese history. The sequence of brush strokes is very meaningful, reflecting Chinese culture in the same way that martial arts and theatrical or dance movements are grounded in the concept of the balance of all forces. Those who master the difficult art of traditional calligraphy are revered by their fellow Chinese.
If you have valuable documents written in traditional form that you would like to have translated, we have professionally trained translators available for you. All of our translators are native speakers knowledgeable in the language.
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Writing with traditional characters
The development of the traditional writing form is extremely complicated. While the traditional form is identical to simplified Chinese in the direction and placement of radicals, the differences can be seen in the writing.
In early times, the brush was an essential writing tool that absolutely dominated the Asian market, allowing for no alternative. But depending on the writer’s level of skill, brush handwriting could be unreadable since only correct brush strokes could produce legible characters. Through the influence of foreign cultures, particularly Western countries, the use of other writing instruments took root in China. Ink pens, pencils, and ballpoint pens replaced traditional writing since they made it possible to write faster and smaller.
Instant quoteThe vanishing art of traditional writing
Historical and cultural texts made use of special characters that functioned as placeholders in traditional writing. One of these was the character indicating the doubling of another character. Another means of shortening a character was an emphasis on context, which sometimes limited a character to just the radical and a few additional strokes.
In general, the content of most scrolls and parchments featured additional imagery. The Asian interplay between image and text comes out of a tradition that’s clearly distinguished from Western practice. The followers of the Cultural Revolution, which saw tradition as a hindrance because it evoked the aristocratic world, swept aside the old ways and forced people to accept the simplified form.
Traditional Chinese today
Only a few people today have the traditional Chinese writing skills of the old masters, as a glance at historical documents demonstrates. Because of the political situation, the demands of vocabulary and rules for brush work were not taught in schools for a long time. As a result, only those Chinese who attended school prior to the Cultural Revolution possess a deeper insight into the art of traditional writing.
Today, there is a tendency to view traditional writing as a symbol of education and for use in literary works and scientific texts.
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