<p>The spelling 「台灣」 is not official in Taiwan, and receives no entries in the Republic of China's Ministry of Education dictionaries (<a href="https://www.moedict.tw/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">萌典</a>, <a href="http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cbdic/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">教育部重編國語辭典修訂本</a>, <a href="http://dict.concised.moe.edu.tw/jbdic/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">教育部國語辭典簡編本</a>).</p>

<p>Its prevalence in online media is most likely due to IMEs listing 「台灣」 before 「臺灣」 in Taiwanese phonetic input systems when typing "taiwan" or "ㄊㄞㄨㄢ" on a computer.* This has nothing to do with handwritten simplifications, as things like 「身體」, 「學習」, etc. do not appear as 「身体」 or 「学習」 in Traditional Chinese websites.</p>

<p>Even though one "shouldn't" use the spelling 「台灣」, everyone recognises what 「台灣」 is supposed to be, and this spelling is overwhelmingly prevalent in Taiwan itself, so it doesn't really matter (except when referring to governmental agencies). I would just be cautious in its usage, as the overwhelming (and erroneous) prevalence of 「台」 for the name <em>Taiwan</em> has led people to forget that 「台」 is properly pronounced in the first tone as <strong>tāi</strong> when used in proper nouns and never as <strong>tái</strong>.</p>

<hr>

<p>*This is true from personal experience. Ironically, using a PRC input system set to Traditional Chinese will only list 「臺灣」 and not 「台灣」 when one types "taiwan".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-20T09:51:46.883Z
I am using a PRC input system in traditional Chinese and it does show "台灣"  but "taibei" shows as "臺北" for some reason.
WinMacLinUser
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T03:07:52.970Z
2020-01-20T03:07:52.970Z
dROOOze
<p>an old debate lah :)</p>

<p>in 2010, the ministry of education (教育部), of taiwan “declared” that:</p>

<p>all documentations of the ministry, schools, publishers must use “臺灣”. however, other ministries are “informed” (haven’t the authority to force them to follow).</p>

<p>if you can read traditional chinese, read the news here (between the lines, please)</p>

<p><a href="https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/paper/451629" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/paper/451629</a></p>

<p>historically, the chinese empire annexed formosa in 1683; most, if not all documentations, used “臺灣”, <strong>not</strong> “台灣”. eg: in the the official declarations:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>臺灣孤懸海外﹒自古不入版圖 [欽定平定臺灣紀畧]</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/nMkdL.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/nMkdL.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>臺灣自古不通中國 [皇清職貢圖]</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/n6sZJ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/n6sZJ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>if the situation is sensitive, or, formal; stick to “臺灣” </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T13:42:33.623Z
2020-01-20T13:42:33.623Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>I'm a Taiwanese.
'台' is a simplified version of '臺', and they mean exactly the same. NTU's official name is 國立臺灣大學, and we usually call it 台大. It's just a difference between speaking formally or casually.
Usually, you'll see "臺"灣 on formal headlines or official documents, because when publishing something serious or when taking an exam, it's preferred to write in strict traditional Chinese.</p>

<p>But in daily conversation and when handwriting, we use a couple simplified words (simply because it's faster and easier) like '台'灣、身'体'、'学"習. The tricky thing is, we only write some particular words in their simplified version, so it's very easy to tell if you're a Traditional Chinese user or a Simplified Chinese user(like people in China) </p>

<p>When typing, we type 99% of words in Traditional Chinese, "台"灣 is a very rare exception. 
Hope these help.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T04:47:31.310Z
No no, I’m saying, we use 台灣 instead of 臺灣 all the time, and this is a rare exception to the rule of thumb “we type most of the words in Traditional Chinese.”

Most of the time, our typing system doesn’t even have simplified Chinese in it (you need to switch to the simplified typing system for that), but ‘台‘ is one of the few simplified words that we use all the time, and it’s definitely more common than ‘臺’ in daily use.
JS LIN
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T14:34:39.707Z
Sorry, I had error in my brain and I misunderstood, now I understand thanks.
000
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T18:22:07.227Z
2020-01-19T18:30:00.027Z
2020-01-19T18:30:00.027Z
JS LIN
<p>The term 臺灣 is more formal while the term 台灣 is more casual. Both are acceptable in Taiwan.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-21T03:40:17.087Z
Hi, welcome to Chinese Language Stack Exchange! :) Do you have any sources that substantiate your answer that one term is more formal than the other? You'll notice many of the other answers provide sources that back up their claims. Indeed, OP demonstrates how a single document contains both usages, indicating that they are, at first glance, somewhat interchangeable.
Marko
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T15:56:47.980Z
2020-01-21T05:58:37.387Z
2020-01-21T05:58:37.387Z
Linn Erembourc
<p>I have seen both even in the same context. For example:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ZvoR0.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ZvoR0.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>May I know the difference and when should one use which?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>

<difference><traditional-characters><taiwan>
In traditional Chinese, when should one write 台灣 and when should one write 臺灣?
# In traditional Chinese, when should one write 台灣 and when should one write 臺灣?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-19)

I have seen both even in the same context. For example:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ZvoR0.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ZvoR0.png)

May I know the difference and when should one use which?

Thank you!

**Tags:** difference, traditional-characters, taiwan


---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-01-20. Score: 4

The spelling 「台灣」 is not official in Taiwan, and receives no entries in the Republic of China's Ministry of Education dictionaries ([萌典](https://www.moedict.tw/), [教育部重編國語辭典修訂本](http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cbdic/index.html), [教育部國語辭典簡編本](http://dict.concised.moe.edu.tw/jbdic/index.html)).

Its prevalence in online media is most likely due to IMEs listing 「台灣」 before 「臺灣」 in Taiwanese phonetic input systems when typing "taiwan" or "ㄊㄞㄨㄢ" on a computer.\* This has nothing to do with handwritten simplifications, as things like 「身體」, 「學習」, etc. do not appear as 「身体」 or 「学習」 in Traditional Chinese websites.

Even though one "shouldn't" use the spelling 「台灣」, everyone recognises what 「台灣」 is supposed to be, and this spelling is overwhelmingly prevalent in Taiwan itself, so it doesn't really matter (except when referring to governmental agencies). I would just be cautious in its usage, as the overwhelming (and erroneous) prevalence of 「台」 for the name *Taiwan* has led people to forget that 「台」 is properly pronounced in the first tone as **tāi** when used in proper nouns and never as **tái**.

---

\*This is true from personal experience. Ironically, using a PRC input system set to Traditional Chinese will only list 「臺灣」 and not 「台灣」 when one types "taiwan".

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I am using a PRC input system in traditional Chinese and it does show "台灣"  but "taibei" shows as "臺北" for some reason.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-01-20. Score: 2

an old debate lah :)

in 2010, the ministry of education (教育部), of taiwan “declared” that:

all documentations of the ministry, schools, publishers must use “臺灣”. however, other ministries are “informed” (haven’t the authority to force them to follow).

if you can read traditional chinese, read the news here (between the lines, please)

<https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/paper/451629>

historically, the chinese empire annexed formosa in 1683; most, if not all documentations, used “臺灣”, **not** “台灣”. eg: in the the official declarations:

> 臺灣孤懸海外﹒自古不入版圖 [欽定平定臺灣紀畧]

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/nMkdL.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/nMkdL.jpg)

> 臺灣自古不通中國 [皇清職貢圖]

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/n6sZJ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/n6sZJ.jpg)

if the situation is sensitive, or, formal; stick to “臺灣”


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-01-19. Score: 2

I'm a Taiwanese.
'台' is a simplified version of '臺', and they mean exactly the same. NTU's official name is 國立臺灣大學, and we usually call it 台大. It's just a difference between speaking formally or casually.
Usually, you'll see "臺"灣 on formal headlines or official documents, because when publishing something serious or when taking an exam, it's preferred to write in strict traditional Chinese.

But in daily conversation and when handwriting, we use a couple simplified words (simply because it's faster and easier) like '台'灣、身'体'、'学"習. The tricky thing is, we only write some particular words in their simplified version, so it's very easy to tell if you're a Traditional Chinese user or a Simplified Chinese user(like people in China)

When typing, we type 99% of words in Traditional Chinese, "台"灣 is a very rare exception.
Hope these help.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: No no, I’m saying, we use 台灣 instead of 臺灣 all the time, and this is a rare exception to the rule of thumb “we type most of the words in Traditional Chinese.”  Most of the time, our typing system doesn’t even have simplified Chinese in it (you need to switch to the simplified typing system for that), but ‘台‘ is one of the few simplified words that we use all the time, and it’s definitely more common than ‘臺’ in daily use.  
> **username_5**: Sorry, I had error in my brain and I misunderstood, now I understand thanks.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2020-01-20. Score: 0

The term 臺灣 is more formal while the term 台灣 is more casual. Both are acceptable in Taiwan.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Hi, welcome to Chinese Language Stack Exchange! :) Do you have any sources that substantiate your answer that one term is more formal than the other? You'll notice many of the other answers provide sources that back up their claims. Indeed, OP demonstrates how a single document contains both usages, indicating that they are, at first glance, somewhat interchangeable.  

---

