linguoboy wrote:Pangu wrote:Not that I disagree with you but why do you think 國語 and its Nationalist connotations are bad?
I didn't say "bad", I said "problematic". ling's post illustrates some ways in which this is true.
Sorry for misunderstanding you. The word "problematic" tend to mean "bad" as opposed to be "good".
linguoboy wrote:Pangu wrote:Also it's been more than 60 years since the Chinese civil war, shouldn't most people have moved on by now and look at things objectively?
Wouldn't that be nice! Yet the Opium War was 160 years ago, and, from what I see, a lot of people still haven't moved on from that.
Well, they should. Unless you personally went through something, there is simply no reason to hold onto hatred.
linguoboy wrote:Pangu wrote:Why do you think 華 has more "attractive" connotations? What negative connotations does 漢 have?
The root meaning of 漢 is "a manly man". But a lot of stereotypically male qualities are negative, whereas 華 essentially means "the best of anything".
I don't believe that is the root meaning of 漢 but I am not certain. AFAIK 漢 came from Han Dynasty established by Liu Bang who was given the territory of 漢中 after overthrowing the Qin Dynasty. Chinese dynasties were named after the founder's home region until Yuan dynasty. Unless 漢中 meant "Manly man center" I doubt that's the root meaning of 漢 lol
linguoboy wrote:I'm surprised to hear that you find 漢 a more pleasing character than 華. 華 has beautiful bilateral symmetry and seems very well balanced overall, whereas--particularly in the font I'm using here--漢 looks so lopsided and top-heavy.
Just because 華 is symmetrical it doesn't mean it's more attractive. Can you imagine if every character is completely symmetrical? Eek!
If anything, 華 is much more "top-heavy" than 漢. 漢 fits better in the rule of thirds.