This article discusses the social acceptance and
scientificness of the
standardization of Chinese characters. As a writing
system, Chinese characters have its own rules in structure, evolution and inter relation. On the other hand, the use of the characters is restrained by the society. Unlike mathematic symbols, language is a symbol system that is kept in use and changed by all members of a society. The frequency of use, social distribution and adjustability of Chinese characters reflect their social acceptance. The
scientificness and social acceptance lay constraints to each other. Statistical methods should be improved in deciding frequently used characters and characters with different shapes but same pronunciation and meaning. Variant forms of characters should be strictly defined; the simplified forms should be properly related to their classical counterparts; and the principle of generalization should be applied with caution. The revision of the current list of standard Chinese characters should be guided with right ideas and take into consideration both the social acceptance and scientificness of Chinese characters. The
standardization of Chinese characters should be regarded as an important aspect in construction of an advance civilization.