History of writing in Vietnam information

This article contains Vietnamese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of chữ Nôm, chữ Hán and chữ Quốc ngữ.

Spoken and written Vietnamese today uses the Latin script-based Vietnamese alphabet to represent native Vietnamese words (thuần Việt), Vietnamese words which are of Chinese origin (Hán-Việt, or Sino-Vietnamese), and other foreign loanwords. Historically, Vietnamese literature was written by scholars using a combination of Chinese characters (Hán) and original Vietnamese characters (Nôm). From 111 BC up to the 20th century, Vietnamese literature was written in Văn ngôn (Classical Chinese) using chữ Hán (Chinese characters), and then also Nôm (Chinese and original Vietnamese characters adapted for vernacular Vietnamese) from the 13th century to 20th century.^[1]^[2]

Chữ Hán were introduced to Vietnam during the thousand year period of Chinese rule from 111 BC to 939 AD. Texts in Vietnam were written using chữ Hán by the 10th century at the latest. Chữ Hán continued to be used as the official administrative script until the 19th century with the exception of two brief periods under the Hồ (1400–1407) and Tây Sơn (1778–1802) dynasties when chữ Nôm was promoted.^[3]^[4] Chữ Nôm is a blend of chữ Hán and unique Vietnamese characters to write the Vietnamese language. It may have been used as early as the 8th century but concrete textual evidence dates to the 13th century. Chữ Nôm never supplanted chữ Hán as the primary writing system and less than five percent of the Vietnamese population used it, primarily as a learning aid for chữ Hán and writing folk literature. Due to its unofficial nature, chữ Nôm was used as a medium for social protest, leading to several bans during the Lê dynasty (1428–1789). In spite of this, a sizable body of literature in chữ Nôm had accumulated by the 19th century, and these texts could be orally disseminated by individuals in villages.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

The two concurrent scripts existed until the era of French Indochina when chữ Quốc ngữ, the Latin alphabet, gradually became the current written medium of literature.^[9] In the past, Sanskrit and Indic texts also contributed to Vietnamese literature either from religious ideas from Mahayana Buddhism, or from historical influence of Champa and Khmer.

^ Nguyễn, Tri Tài (2002). Giáo trình tiếng Hán. Tập I: Cơ sở. Nhà xuất bản Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. p. 5.
^ "Vietnamese literature". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
^ Li 2020, p. 102-106.
^ Hannas 1997, pp. 78–79, 82.
^ Hannas 1997, pp. 78–84.
^ Marr 1984, p. 142.
^ DeFrancis 1977, pp. 44–46.
^ Asian & Pacific quarterly of cultural and social affairs – Volumes 20–21 Cultural and Social Centre for the Asian and Pacific Region 1988 – Page 7 "... known script that was used by the Vietnamese, the "Southerners," to transcribe their language, in contrast to the Chinese ideographs (called chữ Hán i.e., "Chinese script," or chữ nho i.e. "Confucian script") of the "Northerners," the Chinese."
^ Vietnam 10 – Page 522 Nick Ray, Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, Iain Stewart – 2009 "For centuries, the Vietnamese language was written in standard Chinese characters (chữ nho). Around the 13th century, the Vietnamese devised their own writing system called chữ nôm (or just nôm), which was created by combining two Chinese words or by using single Chinese characters for their phonetic value. Both writing systems were in use until the 20th century – official business and scholarship was conducted in chữ nho, while chữ nôm was used for popular literature. The Latin-based quốc ngữ script, widely used since WWI, was developed in the 17th century by Alexandre de Rhodes (see the boxed text, right). Quốc ngữ served to undermine the position of Mandarin officials, whose power was based on traditional scholarship in chữ nho and chữ nôm, scripts that were largely inaccessible to the masses."

[1] Nguyễn, Tri Tài (2002). Giáo trình tiếng Hán. Tập I: Cơ sở. Nhà xuất bản Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. p. 5.

[:0-2] "Vietnamese literature". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-04-13.

[FOOTNOTELi2020102-106-3] Li 2020, p. 102-106.

[FOOTNOTEHannas199778–79,_82-4] Hannas 1997, pp. 78–79, 82.

[FOOTNOTEHannas199778–84-5] Hannas 1997, pp. 78–84.

[FOOTNOTEMarr1984142-6] Marr 1984, p. 142.

[FOOTNOTEDeFrancis197744–46-7] DeFrancis 1977, pp. 44–46.

[8] Asian & Pacific quarterly of cultural and social affairs – Volumes 20–21 Cultural and Social Centre for the Asian and Pacific Region 1988 – Page 7 "... known script that was used by the Vietnamese, the "Southerners," to transcribe their language, in contrast to the Chinese ideographs (called chữ Hán i.e., "Chinese script," or chữ nho i.e. "Confucian script") of the "Northerners," the Chinese."

[9] Vietnam 10 – Page 522 Nick Ray, Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, Iain Stewart – 2009 "For centuries, the Vietnamese language was written in standard Chinese characters (chữ nho). Around the 13th century, the Vietnamese devised their own writing system called chữ nôm (or just nôm), which was created by combining two Chinese words or by using single Chinese characters for their phonetic value. Both writing systems were in use until the 20th century – official business and scholarship was conducted in chữ nho, while chữ nôm was used for popular literature. The Latin-based quốc ngữ script, widely used since WWI, was developed in the 17th century by Alexandre de Rhodes (see the boxed text, right). Quốc ngữ served to undermine the position of Mandarin officials, whose power was based on traditional scholarship in chữ nho and chữ nôm, scripts that were largely inaccessible to the masses."

History of writing in Vietnam information

and 28 Related for: History of writing in Vietnam information

History of writing in Vietnam

History of Vietnam

Vietnam under Chinese rule

United States in the Vietnam War

Religion in Vietnam

Culture of Vietnam

Foreign relations of Vietnam

Catholic Church in Vietnam

Military history of Australia during the Vietnam War

Vietnam War casualties

Economic history of Vietnam

Flag of Vietnam

Japanese language

History of the Communist Party of Vietnam

Hmong writing

Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War

Vietnamese calligraphy

French Indochina

Demographics of Vietnam

Literary Chinese in Vietnam

Vietnam veteran

History of the Loss of Vietnam

Prostitution in Vietnam

List of early inscriptions in Vietnam

1965 in the Vietnam War

Sinosphere

Vietnamese language

History of coffee