Traditional Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages. In Taiwan, the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the Standard Form of National Characters. These forms were predominant in written Chinese until the middle of the 20th century, when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of the predominant forms.
The east square of Guangzhou railway station in 1991. Traditional characters are prevalent in various brand logos, including 健力宝; 'Jianlibao Group', 飄柔; 'Rejoice', and 广东万家乐; 'Guangdong Macro'. Only 海飞丝; 'Head & Shoulders' is using simplified characters in their wordmark.
Job announcement in a Filipino Chinese daily newspaper written in traditional Chinese characters
Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Chinese characters have a documented history spanning over three millennia, representing one of the four independent inventions of writing accepted by scholars; of these, they comprise the only writing system continuously used since its invention. Over time, the function, style, and means of writing characters have evolved greatly. Informed by a long tradition of lexicography, modern states using Chinese characters have standardised their forms and pronunciations: broadly, simplified characters are used to write Chinese in mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia, while traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Ox scapula inscribed with characters recording the result of divinations
The Shi Qiang pan, a bronze ritual basin dated c. 900 BCE. Long inscriptions on the surface describe the deeds and virtues of the first seven Zhou kings.
A page from a Song-era publication printed in a regular script typeface
Ordinary handwriting on a lunch menu in Hong Kong