Ancient Vietnamese scholars’ views on Chinese characters

Abstract

Based on the preface and postscript in Vietnamese Chinese dictionaries and related documents, this article comprehensively compares the similarities and differences between the ancient Chinese and Vietnamese views of Chinese characters from the perspectives of the origin of Chinese characters, the introduction of Chinese characters, the relationship between Chinese characters and Nom characters, the survival and development of Chinese characters, the variation of Chinese character forms, and the morphological and phonological values of Chinese characters. It summarizes the inheritance and variation of Chinese characters in Vietnam, and attempts to provide a new perspective for studies related to the history of the development of Vietnamese Chinese characters and the history of the spread of Chinese characters.