You thought "traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese" as "传统中文和简体中文". We called them 繁体字 and 简化字. Traditional Chinese was come from kinds of the characters used in different parts of the ancient China and gradually form a character system. Before 1956 traditional Chinese was in use. But it is too complicated to remember and some characters are different in different parts so not suitable for education. But the government work out the simplified Chinese and a law to spread simplified Chinese and forbiding traditional Chinese used in official. The simplified Chinese based on the traditional Chinese. And we all learn simplified Chinese in school but when refer to the dictionary,eg Xin Hua Dictionary(《新华字典》). a simplified Chinese character would followed its traditional form. Most Chinese people knows a few traditional Chinese characters. We learn it because it is the original complex form of the simplified Chinese character.
But in some parts of China, or they Chinese living abroad and persons of Chinese descent, people who didn't learn the simplified Chinese character, still use the traditional Chinese.
May it's helpful.
你理解中的传统中文和简体中文我们叫做繁体字和简化字.繁体字是由中国古代不同地域的不同的文字形成的一个语言系统,在1956年前繁体字在流通。但是由于太复杂了不好记,并且不同地方有不同地方的字体这不方便文化的流通和教育.然后有关部门就颁布了这个简化字并且推行开来. 这个简化字是在繁体字的基础之上形成的,我们在学校里都学简化字,但是字典里可以看到,一个简化字对应着它的繁体字,所以多数的中国人都知道一些繁体字. 我们是作为简化字的来源文字学的繁体字.
但是生活在中国的一些地区或者海外华侨华人,他们有些没有学习简化字,所以还在用繁体字.