I recently heard this in a Youtube video and would like to learn more about the reasons for the introduction of simplified Chinese characters. Is the following true?
The People's Republic of China simplified the Chinese writing system in the 1950s, allegedly to make it easier to learn for the mostly illiterate population, but actually with more Orwellian intentions: Elements from traditional characters were removed or replaced by simplified versions. In this process, a lot of original meaning of the characters was lost, including traditional Chinese values represented in those removed parts. Also, formerly illiterate citizens of China who were thought the simplified characters could no only read texts written with simplified characters and therefore could not texts written before the introduction of them, i.e. text which might contain ideas not in line with the Communist Party of China, text containing the "4 Olds" the communists sought to eradicate: Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas.
For most of China's history in the 20th century, its literacy rate was ridiculously low, and hovered around 20% in 1950. In addition, many Chinese intellectuals at the time blamed the complexity of traditional Chinese for holding the country's progress back. As a result, numerous proposals were were written to address the problem from 1911 to the mid 1950s, which included:
Eventually, simplifying characters won out, but the Communists were not the first ones to do it- the Kuomintang (Nationalist) government had actually tried to introduce 324 simplified characters as part of a wider spelling reform planned to begin in 1936, but this probably didn't happen because of the war that broke out the year after that. After the People's Republic was founded in 1949, character simplification was introduced in three rounds: first in 1956, then in 1964, and finally, a third round in 1977 that was retracted in 1986 due to unpopular demand.
In conclusion, character simplification did not have any other meaning than increasing literacy- the first two rounds of simplification on the mainland (which are still used today) were completed two whole years before the 'Four Olds' came into existance, and has been attempted long before the Communists came to power. And the program appears to have worked- China's literacy rate is around 95% now. Finally, it should be noted that most Chinese characters remained untouched or slightly modified during simplification, and remained recognizable in the context they were written in.
Edit: some spelling
No, first of all it should be noted that the issue of simplified vs traditional Chinese is a controversial issue within certain communities and is linked to identity politics. This makes Youtube videos unreliable as a source for this.
Second of all simplified Chinese was not just a Communist program, discussions on simplifying the language existed pre-1949 within the Nationalist government as well and non-Communist scholars in China had advocated simplifying the language to increase literacy rates for decades before 1949. The idea for the rejection of traditional script for simplified language came about in the early 20th century, especially after the May Fourth movement when the Chinese intelligentsia did believe that old Confucian traditions cannot take precedence over the need to modernize the country.
Finally it should be noted that the PRC is not the only place in which simplified characters are used. Singapore uses simplified characters, as does the large Chinese population in Malaysia, both of those places started using simplified characters more or less independently.
In comparison, isn't it true that classic texts are difficult to read regardless of spelling/writing reforms? I have trouble reading the handwritten Declaration and Constitution, and I'm literate in my own language. I would expect that modern Greeks have trouble with their classic texts, modern Russians to have trouble with centuries old Russian texts, and so on. Is this not the case?
A lot of people in mainland China can still read traditional Chinese, and read traditional Chinese literature and historical text, in case anyone is wondering.
Would you mind add the link of that video you watched on YouTube?