China DOS Union

When everyone mentions the two sides, it's best to use “the mainland and Taiwan” rather than “China and Taiwan.” It's not that we want to talk politics or discuss unification vs. independence, it's just that in case some official happens to be sensitive about that wording, it could affect the forum's safety. Besides, that's not why we came here in the first place.
It's not that things here are under crushing policy pressure or that there are spies all over the streets, but rather that in official circles there is fundamentally no fair and effective system of supervision and evaluation. Officials' performance and promotion or demotion depend entirely on what their superiors think. So whatever the leadership wants, right or wrong, there are always many subordinates who spare no effort to carry it out, in order to please their superiors and earn good marks. If the wording mentioned above makes some high-ranking official frown, this forum may well have no place to stay.
As for Simplified and Traditional characters, I think Traditional characters are the authentic form of Chinese culture, but when the country was founded, most of the already small number of intellectuals had gone to Taiwan or overseas. Those who stayed had to take on the responsibility of educating 400 million people, and Simplified characters deserve a lot of credit for that. It's like numbered musical notation and the staff in music: back in primary and secondary school, conditions were extremely limited, and being able to hum a few lines with numbered notation was better than being musically illiterate; holding a book and trying to identify those tadpoles on the staff would have been much harder.
China's local cultures are extremely rich. Just for an animal like the cicada, I know at least 4 or 5 different names for it; when I was in college, I could occasionally catch a sentence or two when Hakka classmates talked among themselves, but when Teochew classmates talked to each other, I simply couldn't make out what they were saying at all.
Writing is a bit better. Aside from Simplified and Traditional characters, the mainland and Taiwan also use different terms for computer terminology, for example:
hard disk——hard drive floppy disk——floppy drive crash——hang bus——bus operating system——operating system
If everyone sees them a few more times, they'll get used to them. As for this sort of thing, since everyone is already used to their own terms, we should show each other some proper respect. Actually, this is also a chance to learn.
Of course, I oppose people who deliberately flaunt themselves by using dialect—that's a sign of disunity. I myself never type expressions like “唔该 (thanks)” or “边度 (where)” and the like.

Saying “the mainland and Taiwan” is best!

I'm not against traditional things, and I hope they can be preserved, but since everyone has to work and study and therefore has to communicate, the key is for everyone to establish a unified standard. This standard may not necessarily be the best one; as long as it is the most widely used, that's enough. Right now, the most widely used are still Simplified characters and Putonghua. As long as everyone follows this standard, the benefits will belong to everyone.
(I still admire Qin Shi Huang from back then. He actually made unifying the script, currency, weights, and measures one of the priorities of governing the country. That idea was way ahead of its time. To be able to see that far in that era was really amazing.)

The Internet has no borders, but maybe we should also learn from the old Peking-style teahouses and hang up a sign saying “No talking about state affairs.”
That is to say, only Teacher Mo may talk about it; the rest of us shouldn't.

Master Rushi, that's poking fun at me. Maybe I went too far in what I said, but “China and Taiwan” really is, to a certain extent, a sensitive expression.
The closed-circuit TV here can receive Hong Kong Radio programs, but whenever their news programs touch on certain sensitive issues, the local TV station inserts an advertisement to cover it up. Anyway, that's how it's been for years. Of course I don't know whether this is an order from above or a way for local officials to build achievements and curry favor.
Yes, the Internet has no borders, and right now posting a few lines here about “China and Taiwan” won't get anyone worried about going to jail. Nor do I have the right to require everyone to observe certain words or behavior. But our forum is hosted on Zhengzhou University's server. If we talk a lot here about “China and Taiwan,” and some official notices it and uses it as a bargaining chip for merit, then with even a little pressure, this forum will only have the option of moving. Master, please offer your advice: where should it move then? Taiwan? America?
A forum space like this, comparatively stable and free, with decent features and unlimited size—once it's lost, it will be very hard to find another one.

Teacher Mo really summed it up in one sentence!! To tell the truth, when I was learning characters as a child, I always felt, why are there so many strokes?? It's really tiring to write~ But after a long time, I got used to it!! I have also learned Simplified characters, so I can understand most of what you say, except for some things like computer terminology and dialects~~ But I've been on the forum for a while now, and I'm also learning your computer terms. Most people who come to the forum are from the mainland, so in order to let everyone understand, I'll mainly use your computer terminology, but sometimes Taiwan computer terms still slip out by accident, so please forgive me!! Also, everyone should try not to use dialects, because the forum is a public place for discussion, and that would be better for people from different places~

The following is quoted from mys at 2003-4-27 13:58:53:
Master Rushi, that's poking fun at me. Maybe I went too far in what I said, but “China and Taiwan” really is, to a certain extent, a sensitive expression.
The closed-circuit TV here can receive Hong Kong Radio programs, but whenever their news programs touch on certain sensitive issues, the local TV station inserts an advertisement to cover it up. Anyway, that's how it's been for years. Of course I don't know whether this is an order from above or a way for local officials to build achievements and curry favor.
Yes, the Internet has no borders, and right now posting a few lines here about “China and Taiwan” won't get anyone worried about going to jail. Nor do I have the right to require everyone to observe certain words or behavior. But our forum is hosted on Zhengzhou University's server. If we talk a lot here about “China and Taiwan,” and some official notices it and uses it as a bargaining chip for merit, then with even a little pressure, this forum will only have the option of moving. Master, please offer your advice: where should it move then? Taiwan? America?
A forum space like this, comparatively stable and free, with decent features and unlimited size—once it's lost, it will be very hard to find another one.

Teacher Mo, don't be angry. I don't think that's what Master Rushi meant. What you said also makes sense. From now on, everyone should just stop using the wording "China and Taiwan".

Teacher Mo, don't misunderstand. The first sentence was my view. The second was just a joke, just a joke. Because Teacher Mo's surname is Mo. If my surname were Mo, I'd have said it about myself.

I was afraid Master Rushi might mistakenly think that I had put the “jieguang” you used into the category of “random misuse of dialect,” when actually it's generally just a difference in habitual usage, not something deliberate. For example, where we are, when going to a restaurant we all say “want X bowls of rice,” but if it were a friend from the north, they definitely wouldn't say “beg for food.”

All right, now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, let's all end this on good terms!!

The following is quoted from Master Rushi at 2003-4-27 12:19:09:
hang up a sign saying “Mo talking about state affairs”
That is to say, Mo teacher may talk, the rest of us shouldn't.

Haha, that really was humorous! I couldn't help laughing as soon as I saw it!
Master Rushi really knows how to joke. It was a serious matter to begin with, but once you joke about it, it feels much lighter.

Not at all, not at all, you're too kind.

This is really interesting!

Hehe!! Master Rushi just likes joking around~~

Got it~~~~~~~~~