# 1,909 Characters Differ Between the Scripts

> Across the same 31,021 verses, 1,909 distinct characters are written differently in the simplified and traditional editions of the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) — out of 2,996 distinct characters in total.

Question: simplified vs traditional Bible differences
Answer: 1,909
Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/reference/simplified-vs-traditional-differences

Both editions are on this site, verse for verse, and 100% of verses carry both — which is what makes this count possible: the comparison is position by position on the same text, not between two different translations.

1,909 of 2,996 means roughly two characters in three are written the same way in both scripts. The differences are concentrated in the commonest characters, so a page of text looks more different than the count suggests.

Nothing else changes. The words, the verse divisions and the pinyin are identical; only the written forms differ. A reader of one script can follow the other with a couple of hundred substitutions, and the reader here can switch columns to compare them line by line.

## Simplified and traditional, compared

| Measure | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Distinct characters (simplified) | 2,996 |
| Characters written differently | 1,909 |
| Verses carrying both scripts | 100% |
| Verses in total | 31,021 |
| Words affected | none — the vocabulary is the same |


## Questions

**Which script should I learn?**

Whichever the readers around you use: simplified in mainland China and Singapore, traditional in Taiwan, Hong Kong and much of the diaspora. The Bible text is the same either way.

**Is the 和合本 the same in both?**

Yes — it is one translation published in two scripts, which is why a character-by-character comparison is meaningful.

**Can I read both side by side?**

Yes. 简体 and 繁體 are two of the reader's columns, and they can be shown together with pinyin and your own language.

## Method

- Text: 和合本 (Chinese Union Version), simplified script — public domain
- Words: forward maximum matching against CC-CEDICT (this site's own segmentation)
- HSK levels: HSK 3.0 levels from the complete-hsk-vocabulary list; band 7 covers HSK 7-9
- Reading times: 260 characters a minute (an assumption)
- Computed: 2026-09-22

These are reproducible counts over a public-domain text, not a peer-reviewed study. Difficulty ranks are one stated formula, not a validated readability score.


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- Definitions: CC-CEDICT, licensed CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- If you share this file onward, keep this notice and share alike.
- Character data: Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License / LGPL).
- Bible text: public domain — 和合本 · World English Bible · Louis Segond 1910.
- Built with https://chinese-bible.com