Research on Early Vietnamese Chinese Textbooks (19-20 century): A Case Study of Primer Thousand Character Classic#br#

Zheng Mengjuan, Yang Dexin and Zhao Shouhui

Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning ›› 2025, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (3) : 75-87.

Welcome to visit Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning!
Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning ›› 2025, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (3) : 75-87. DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20250307

Research on Early Vietnamese Chinese Textbooks (19-20 century): A Case Study of Primer Thousand Character Classic#br#

  • Zheng Mengjuan, Yang Dexin and Zhao Shouhui
Author information +
History +

Abstract

Vietnam and China share a profound historical lineage and close political, cultural, and economic ties. Consequently, the Vietnamese language’s vocabulary and orthography have deep-rooted origins in Chinese. The ancient classic Chinese primer Thousand Character Classic (Qian Zi Wen ) was formerly used as a major textbook for Vietnamese children learning Chinese. Furthermore, inspired by the Qian Zi Wen, Vietnamese literati composed widely circulated imitations, such as Interpretation of Phonetic Characters Derived from the Thousand Character Classic, Phonetic Annotations of the Thousand Character Classic, and Translation of the Thousand Character Classic into Vietnamese. This article collectively refers to these three books as “the Vietnamese Version of the Thousand Character Classic”. The present study examines both the compilation and contents of these three textbooks from the perspective of language-in-education planning, aiming to provide references for studies on the history of Sino-Vietnamese language planning and international Chinese education. Our findings demonstrate that “the Vietnamese Version of the Thousand Character Classic” reflects: firstly, these primer books document linguistic usage in Vietnam from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century; secondly, the included Chinese characters exhibit a high degree of self-sufficiency and practicality; thirdly, these three textbooks employ a method of “aggregating synonymous words”, forming a multidimensional network of semantics and phonetics; fourthly, they incorporate the rhythmic structure of the unique six-eight poetic form, where Chinese characters, Nom characters, and Vietnamese alphabetic characters complement each other functionally; fifthly, they serve as abridged instructional materials for contemporary Vietnamese or/and Chinese-Vietnamese learners studying Chinese and Vietnamese culture; finally, the analysis reveals a multiplicity of localization strategies for the Chinese classic, and the application of these strategies can enhance learning interest and instructional effectiveness in Chinese language education across the world.

Key words

Vietnam / International Chinese Education / Thousand Character Classic / Phonetic Annotations of the Thousand Character Classic / Translation of the Thousand Character Classic into Vietnamese

Cite this article

Download Citations
Zheng Mengjuan, Yang Dexin and Zhao Shouhui. Research on Early Vietnamese Chinese Textbooks (19-20 century): A Case Study of Primer Thousand Character Classic#br#[J]. Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning. 2025, 10(3): 75-87 https://doi.org/10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20250307

Accesses

Citation

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/