Here's a breakdown:
* Logographic: Each character represents a word or a morpheme (meaningful unit of language). This is different from alphabetic systems where letters represent individual sounds.
* Simplified Chinese: The standard form used in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. This is a simplified version of traditional Chinese characters.
* Traditional Chinese: Used in Taiwan, Macau, and some overseas Chinese communities. These characters are more complex and often contain more strokes.
While there are attempts to use phonetic systems (like pinyin) to learn Chinese, 汉字 remains the core writing system of the language.