Understanding the Differences Between Traditional and Simplified Chinese Mnemonics

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#1Jun 22, 2026, 04:04 PM
I'm working on a project with mnemonic lists to print. I saw there are 10 lists on GitHub, and two of them are Chinese. One is Traditional and the other Simplified. I'm thinking of printing in all languages for wider access. What's the real difference between these Chinese lists? Should I go for both or just one?
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#2Jun 22, 2026, 09:22 PM
Why is this in the bitcoin section? Kinda confused how it relates to crypto... Can you explain more about your project? If it doesn't connect, maybe it should be off-topic. But, to answer, Simplified is easier for beginners. Natives can read both, but I’d lean towards Traditional since it seems more widely used.
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im_foxMember
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#3Jun 24, 2026, 03:42 PM
Not Chinese here either, but I think the difference is in the writing style. You might want to compare words from both lists to see the variations. Here are some useful links for that. If you're unsure about the Chinese lists, you could stick with the English version, which is more universal.
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bear100Hero Member
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#4Jun 24, 2026, 09:31 PM
Same here, not Chinese, but I’d say having both is key. If you print one and not the other, you might confuse users. Simplified seems easier to understand since it’s derived from Traditional, but still, having both is the safest bet.
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wallet_vaultFull Member
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#5Jun 24, 2026, 11:21 PM
Honestly, for most people, there’s not much difference. Best advice I found said to print both. Ink and paper aren’t that expensive compared to someone losing wallet access because of a wrong list. Plus, character encodings are different, which could lead to issues.
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wizard_2016Full Member
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#6Jun 25, 2026, 03:40 AM
It's true, Traditional and Simplified aren’t just different fonts. They can generate different seeds due to their character encodings. The words selected for each list are also different. You can read more about it online.
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#7Jun 26, 2026, 10:03 PM
Sorry if this is in the wrong section. I see how it connects to bitcoin since we're talking mnemonic words. Thanks for the info, Dave. I’m convinced now. I’ll print both lists. Chinese users can choose what they prefer.
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