The Chinese script,Confucian script,and Nôm script: Some reflections on writing and politics in monarchical Vietnam

Introduction

When conducting his research on East Asian orthography, American scholar William C. Hannas defined the Vietnamese concept of “Confucian script” as “writing of the scholars” (Hannas, 1997: 79). The earliest document that mentioned the first appearance of “Confucian script” (儒字) was the Vũ trung tùy bút 雨中随笔 (Random Jottings Amidst the Rains), a book finished in the early nineteenth century by Phạm Đình Hổ (1768–1839). In the section of the book titled “Grammatology” 字学 (Tự học), the author described “Confucian script” as a style of writing Chinese characters used by civil service examination candidates starting from the Restored Lê dynasty period (1533–1788):

Since the Restored Lê period, candidates who participated in Civil Examinations used a version [of Chinese characters] that been patterned on but [beginning to divert from] the regular form of the old style (Chinese Regular script 楷书) then calling it “Confucian script”. ¹

As Phạm saw it, the “Confucian script” was just as legitimate as the writing styles (书体) of Clerical (隶书), Cursive (草书), Regular (楷书), or Running (行书). Developed no later than the sixteenth century, it was a true Chinese writing style (字体) created by Vietnamese intellectuals, not another name for an already existing “Chinese script.”

During the period of French colonization (1861–1945), the term “Confucian script” seemed to adopt a number of other meanings. Trần Tế Xương (1870–1907), an intellectual living during the transition from old learning (旧学, i.e. Confucian education) to new learning (新学, i.e. Western education), used Nôm characters to write a poem called Chữ Nho (Confucian script), with the two first sentences as follows:

Nào có ra gì cái chữ Nho,

Ông Nghè ông Cống cũng nằm co. (phonetic transcription by Đoàn, 2010: 122)

(It is completely useless, that Confucian script,

Metropolitan and local laureates now all lie curled up miserably.)

This poem satirizes the “outdated” status of “Confucian script” as well as “Ông Nghè, ông Cống” ² (metropolitan and local laureates) who represent old learning and its followers, including the poet himself. Confucian script was no longer just a style of Chinese writing; it now represented (a) the Chinese script, the official writing system of the civil service examinations, and/or (b) Confucianism, the ideological core of education during the Nguyễn 阮 dynasty (1890–1920).

In the early twentieth century, famous scholars such as Phạm Quỳnh (1892–1945) and Phan Khôi (1887–1959) continued to use the term “Confucian script” with the meaning of the Chinese script as the vessel of old learning, in opposition to the “Romanized Vietnamese script” (chữ Quốc ngữ), which was the vessel of new learning that fit the new era. In modern times, the term “Confucian script” is defined as the “Chinese script” with the explanation: “the regular name given [to the Chinese script] by Vietnamese in the past” (Hoàng, 2003: 190). This definition fuses the two terms into one and sees the Confucian script as an alternative name for the Chinese script in Vietnam.

There is no doubt that there has been a large change in the way that the term “Confucian script” is used in Vietnam. Over the course of nearly 500 years, it started out as merely a term for a style of writing Chinese characters and grew into representing the entirety of the Chinese script. There was a fusion between the “Confucian script” and “Chinese script” in Vietnam, where people began to view the Chinese script as something that belonged to followers of Confucianism. From another standpoint, as the political power of the Nguyễn dynasty was taken away, the social influence of the Chinese script in Vietnam slowly faded away as well, as the successive governments which supported this writing system ceased to exist. The fate of the “national writing system” seemed to lie in the hands of new political power holders.

The previously mentioned “outdated” status of Confucian script emerged when the new rulers—the French colonial government—became well aware of the social influence and political power that the Nguyễn dynasty held through the traditional Confucian education and examination systems (both using the Chinese script), and tried to erase that influence and power by weakening the position of the Chinese script in the educational and recruitment system, indirectly lowering the status of the court (Phạm, 2016: 19–24). Attempts to replace Chinese-based writing systems by a Latin-based writing system through the educational and employment policies of the French government in Vietnam (Phạm, 2010: 22–30) were a part of more general policies to maintain and increase the influence of the French people throughout their colonies (DeFrancis, 1977: 131–142; Nguyễn MC, 2010: 323). Looking at the events described previously, it is not too hard to note two points: first, the Confucian script (or Chinese script) still had remarkable influence in Vietnam at that time; and second, to a certain extent this script served as a symbol of the Nguyễn court. These two points were more than enough to cause the French to take action against the script.

In this paper, we would like to retrace the source of the social and political influences of the Chinese script, the Confucian script, and the Nôm script in monarchical Vietnam and provide some explanation for why the Nguyễn court continued to support the Chinese script during the last stage of the monarchy, even when French colonialists already existed in Vietnam.

The Chinese script and the political tradition of Vietnam

Archeological and philological evidence shows that the Chinese script first appeared in Giao Chỉ 交趾 or Giao Châu 交州 (current Northern Vietnam) during the period of Nam Việt 南越 (203–111 BC), a state established by Triệu Đà (257–137 BC), who ruled the land (Nguyễn TC, 2018a: 143–144). After Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty (r. 141–87 BC) conquered Nam Việt, the land was under a period of Chinese colonization from 179 BC to 938 AD. During this period, Han rulers brought their language and writing system to Vietnam to execute their colonial policy of “Sinicization”. While the locals continued using their mother tongue in daily life, when it came to elevated matters like running the country, using the Chinese script was a must (DeFrancis, 1977: 226). When introduced to Vietnam, the Chinese script was already a fully developed writing system. Therefore, it was unnecessary to adapt it to fit Vietnamese. That being said, it was also that the Vietnamese people did not adapt this system immediately. ³

Spreading culture was not the first priority of the Han colonialists when they arrived; rather, it was establishing a ruling apparatus. As recorded by historians, in the hundred years under the rule of the Han dynasty, there were only a few Giao Chỉ governors such as Xi Guang 锡光 (?–?, Tích Quang) and Ren Yan 壬延 (?–?, Nhâm Diên) who sought to spread Chinese culture to the land. During the late Eastern Han dynasty东汉 (23–220), it was Shi Xie 士燮 (137–226, Sĩ Tiếp/Nhiếp) who established a considerable education system in Giao Chỉ and because of this received an independent biography in the Complete Annals of Đại Việt 大越史记全书 (Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư). Serving as a tool for administration was only one of the many functions of Chinese script, but this happened to be the first function that the Chinese script fulfilled in Vietnamese territory. This made the Chinese script appear to be the symbol of the country’s rulers, Han colonialists and Vietnamese officials. In our opinion, this period marked the beginning of the political power of the Chinese script in Vietnam.

Being actively used in Vietnamese territory from the third century BC to the early twentieth century, the Chinese script possessed a tradition unto itself, and this tradition had always run in parallel with Vietnamese political tradition. In his work on the contact between Vietnamese society and the Chinese language, Nguyễn Tài Cẩn suggested that during the Chinese colonization period, Han rulers continuously spread their influence and control vertically, deep into the lower level of Vietnamese society. Aside from administrative methods such as reconstructing and tightening up the ruling apparatus, establishing an educational system was another softer but useful method for spreading the Chinese language and characters (Nguyễn TC, 2004: 35–42). To some degree, this method was similar to policies that French colonialists executed from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries. If using the Chinese script was a requirement for the Vietnamese people under the rule of Han colonialists, it was a proactive choice that led independent dynasties after this period to continue to use the Chinese script despite speaking their mother tongue in daily life (DeFrancis, 1977: 226; Nguyễn TC, 2004: 42), thus maintaining the incompatibility between speaking and writing in Vietnam. On this point, Hannas explained:

The brighter members of society, whom you would expect to be in the vanguard of reform, revel in their mastery of the character writing system, their achievement made sweeter by the failure of many of their contemporaries to rise to the task. East Asian linguists and scholars have their own complex web of loyalties and intuitions, which on balance tend to flatten out expressions of discontent. While many do see the problem for what it is and are willing to say so privately, they see no present alternative viable enough to risk their reputations and careers pointing out the way. (Hannas, 1997: 74)

Hannas points out that the upper class of Vietnamese society did not want to give away their social status bolstered by their mastery of the Chinese writing system. During the approximately 10 centuries of being a province of China, Vietnamese locals were in continuous contact with Chinese culture brought by Chinese militaries, officials, and migrants (including Chinese intellectuals and scholars). This contact, along with the Sinicization policy of the Chinese rulers, created a Vietnamese elite class who attained a level of mastery related to Chinese culture and took part in spreading the Chinese script (Nguyễn TC, 2004: 39; Handel, 2019: 125). They were the first generations of “the brighter members of society” that Hannas refers to. When they took part in constructing the independent Vietnamese state apparatus, they proactively borrowed the Chinese model, which they came to be familiar with, in order to maintain their advantage of their mastery the Chinese language, indirectly maintaining the Chinese script’s high status.

In Hannas’ explanation, we can see the existence of the vertical order of society. In this order, intellectuals who had a higher position received better treatment due to their mastery of the Chinese writing system (Ngô, 2019: 329–332). Whether or not one had mastered the Chinese script, therefore, functioned as a way to classify individuals in the social order of the time. This vertical order came from the Chinese model borrowed by Vietnamese rulers to build their own monarchy. Alexander Woodside summarized the ways in which Chinese thought held influence over the ideology of the Vietnamese monarchy as follows:

It is not too much to say that the Vietnamese traditional monarchy’s position was affected by two streams of thought, each concerned with social integration and each with its own symbolic forms. One stream of thought was socio-political in nature. It was derived wholly and directly from China. It stressed that the integration of Vietnamese society could only come from the vertical accommodation of social differences, through application of Confucian principles of hierarchy. (Woodside, 1971: 10–11)

Woodside and Hannas make mention of the vertical order of Vietnamese monarchical society, with Woodside suggesting that this order originated with Confucianism and Hannas arguing that the prerequisite to possess a higher place in this order was mastery of the Chinese writing system. In this way, we could say that while Woodside is describing the spiritual core of the order, Hannas is defining its vessel. In other words, if the writing system was the measuring stick through which one’s place in the social order social order was measured, then Confucianism was its unit of length.

There was a common attitude throughout history at the Chinese and Vietnamese monarchical courts that became a social norm. This attitude was known as “Emphasizing Literature and despising the Military” (重文轻武) and originated from the idea “Emphasizing Literature and Restricting Military Force” (重文抑武), an important policy of the Song dynasty (960–1279). Almost every founding king or emperor in the history of China and Vietnam relied on military force to establish their reigns, and naturally were well aware of its potential to be a double-edged sword. Therefore, valuing literary pursuits over military affairs was completely understandable. Still, the existence of military officers was indispensable to reminding others of the military power of the monarch. Thus, seeking another source of power to lower the presence and influence of the military was necessary to maintain social order. Chinese scholars often cited the case of Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626–649), a model emperor in Chinese history, as an example of good ruling policy. Emperor Taizong once said:

I went to war to restore order from chaos. My intention was to give people a peaceful life. Fighting wars was the responsibility of military officers, protecting [these] achievements was the duty of literati officers. You all have to use your talents to fill the holes in administration.” (Zhang, 2014: 44).

Scholars also often cited the example of Emperor Taizu of Song (r. 960–976), who used military force to seize power and was the first ruler to execute the policy of “Emphasizing Literature and Restricting Military Force.” This policy was maintained through the Song dynasty (Zhang, 2014: 121, 184). Another example of Chinese administrative practice’s influence on the Vietnamese monarchy was the “Six Departments” (六部) administrative system from China which first arose during the Wei and Jin dynasties (220–420), attained its full form in the Tang and Song dynasties, and continuously ran until the late Qing dynasty (1644–1912). In Vietnam, this system was implemented from the Lý dynasty (1009–1225) through the late Nguyễn dynasty (Nguyễn MT, 2019). In the six departments, only the Ministry of War contained a large number of military officers, with other departments under control of literati officials. Political power in the hands of literati officials was a common feature throughout the monarchical history of both China and Vietnam, proactively created and maintained by the will of the monarchs. The Chinese and Vietnamese governments strictly protected the absolute power of the monarch, and his will was upheld by the whole of society. Therefore, with the support of the monarch, literati had a higher position in the social order. Repaying the monarch for his support, the literati acknowledged his absolute power and became protectors of this power. For example, the first four sentences of the book Shentong shi 神童诗 (Poems of a Child Prodigy), one of several foundational books for children written by Wang Zhu 汪洙 (?–?), who lived in the Northern Song period (960–1127), said:

The son of Heaven emphasizes those who have literary talent,

You all need to learn from literature.

Every job is inferior,

Only the literati are noble. ⁴

Through education, the idea that “only the literati are noble” became widespread and infiltrated deep into the social consciousness of the people, slowly becoming a shared social value.

Chinese script education—Confucianism and the policy of “Using literature to appoint officials” (以文取士)

It was mentioned previously that Chinese and Vietnamese monarchs felt uncomfortable solely depending on military power to forcefully manage society. Thus, they needed to find another power, softer but more effective, to serve their purposes. Confucianism was their answer. An important Confucian idea was that every member of society should be self-aware of their social position and responsibility and respect the absolute power of the monarch. Woodside wrote:

Furthermore, the Vietnamese emperor’s performance of certain Chinese classical rituals became an act of continuity, expected and anticipated by his court, which enhanced his authority. Continuity implied propriety. The Vietnamese Son of Heaven, like his Chinese counterpart, surveyed the weather (heaven) for its political and economic omens. But the act meant little unless the tradition of the early Chinese Sons of Heaven, laid down thousands of years before in the Chinese Book of Songs (Thi-kinh; Chinese, Shih-ching) was consciously remembered. (Woodside, 1971: 14)

Military force could be defeated, but Heaven was unbeatable. Being the Son of Heaven meant being protected by an unconquerable force. In China and Vietnam, the monarch always sought to remind people that he was the rightful heir and supported by Heaven. Confucian principles of hierarchy and rites certainly gave him a hand or two in this endeavor. Seeing Confucianism as a soft power to manage society, rulers of the country, not only the monarch but literati officials as well, sought to strengthen the influence of Confucianism over society. The literati who were capable of Chinese script literacy seemed to be perfect as advocates for this policy. Thus, followers of Confucianism were allowed to become the core of the literati. In Vietnam, the Chinese script was the symbol of both political power and Confucianism. Therefore, these three things began to merge in the eyes of Vietnamese people.

Every state apparatus needs operators, and the operators need to run the state in the right way. This is the relationship between education and the literati official recruitment system. The content of that education system was “the right way” that rulers wanted their state apparatus to be run on. Likewise, the literati official recruitment system tested whether or not the products of the education system were qualified and ready to be put to use. The more advanced the monarchical state apparatus was, the more standard the education and recruitment systems became. Elites in the monarchy strictly controlled the education system and used it to train operators to run their ruling apparatus.

Shi Xie (137–226), or King Sĩ (Sĩ vương) in Vietnamese, was a significant figure in the history of Vietnam. Vietnamese historian Ngô Sĩ Liên (1400–1499), in his Complete Annals of Đại Việt, highly praised Shi Xie, writing that:

From the time of King Sĩ, our country began to know the Shijing, the Shujing, to learn rites and formal music, and became a cultured country. His contributions were [important] not only during his time but for later generations as well. Were [his contributions] not great? (Ngô SL, 1998: 164)

The Vietnamese people respected him as “Nam Giao học tổ” 南郊学祖 (the founder of education in Vietnam) due to his dedication to setting up an education system more considerable than ever before. And with this, Chinese culture, and especially Confucianism, became widespread in Giao Châu (Chen, 2015: 21; He, 2000: 111; Nguyễn TC, 2004: 40–41). If we accepted that Shi Xie is the “Nam Giao học tổ” then we must accept that Confucianism was the core content of the first large-scale educational system in Vietnam. After Shi Xie himself, there were several other well-known Chinese Confucians such as Yu Fan 虞翻 (164–233) and Du Huidu 杜慧度 (374–423) who migrated from China to Vietnam, taking part in Shi Xie’s educational system (Nguyễn TC, 2004: 40–41).

After the period of Chinese colonization, Vietnamese rulers gained their own autonomy. Ngô Quyền (r. 939–944) appointed himself “King” 王 (Vương), Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (r. 968–979) was titled “Emperor of Great Victory and Judiciousness” 大胜明皇帝 (Đại Thắng Minh hoàng đế), and Lê Hoàn (r. 980–1005) had the title of “General of Ten Armies” 十道将军 (Thập Đạo tướng quân) before he became “Emperor” (皇帝). King, general, and emperor were all Chinese titles that came from the Chinese state apparatus. These examples demonstrate that Vietnamese rulers proactively chose to borrow the Chinese script and Chinese model to build a government of their own. Consequently, they needed personnel who were capable of using the Chinese script. Nguyễn Tài Cẩn suggested that, during the Ngô (939–967), Đinh (968–980), and Tiền Lê (980–1009) periods, these personnel came from a group of local intellectuals who had learned the Chinese language and script during the Chinese colonization period. On the other hand, Nguyễn Thị Như suggested that the case of Grand Tutor Hồng Hiến during the time of Emperor Lê Hoàn proves the existence of a wider source for these personnel:

Literati officials in the court, if not Chinese, would be locals who were capable of [using] Chinese. They supported Lê Hoàn in publishing the Confucian principles of the heir in 1004; and the [Vietnamese] feudal government learned the way to construct a centralized [government] partly from them … (Nguyễn TN, 2019: 32–33)

If we could not see what came next, it might appear that the choice of the Ngô, Đinh, and Tiền Lê dynasties was just temporary. However, the choice of Lý dynasty to continue to adopt this model shows that this choice was absolutely proactive and sustained. In 1014, King Lý Thái Tổ (r. 1009–1028) sent ambassadors to the Song dynasty to get the Tripitaka (Dazang Jing大藏经). In 1018, he again sent envoys to the Song to get the Tripitaka (三藏经). Buddhist and Daoist classics were continuously brought to Vietnam (Chen, 2015: 31–32). In 1070, King Lý Thánh Tông constructed the Temple of Confucius (文庙). In 1075, he started a three-stage examination on Confucianism. In 1076, he set up the Directorate of Education (国子监). These events show that the first emperors of the Lý dynasty chose the Chinese script to be the official script of the government and established education and recruitment systems based on this script, all in order to build a stable state apparatus. Although there was a policy that allowed the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism to exist equally in the Lý period, in reality Buddhism was more influential and was the foundation of the dynasty. At the same time, reading King Lý Thái Tổ’s Thiên đô chiếu 迁都诏 (Edict on Relocating the Capital), we can still see that Confucianism had great influence on the political trends of the time (Chen, 2015: 32). The Temple of Literature was built to worship Confucius, and its construction shows that Vietnamese rulers supported Confucian ideas. During the Trần dynasty (1225–1400), although the three teachings policy was still upheld, the political influence of Confucianism grew stronger and more widespread because it was more compatible with the policies of the monarchy. This is demonstrated by the following events: the Institute for State Learning (国学院) was built, the Directorate of Education was repaired in order to invite Confucianism masters to lecture, royal princes attended Confucianism classes, the civil service examinations contained more questions about Confucian ideas, and famous Vietnamese Confucians such as Chu Văn An (1292–1370) and Trương Hán Siêu (1274–1354) were worshiped at the Temple of Confucius beside Confucius and other great Confucians of old (Chen, 2015: 38). During the Lê dynasty (1428–1789), Confucianism reached its peak in terms of political influence, especially under the rule of King Lê Thánh Tông (r. 1460–1497), and became the sole official ideology of the government. During this period, the Confucian education system and examination system both attained their complete forms.

As mentioned previously, the policy “Emphasizing Literature and Despising the Military” was adopted by Vietnamese monarchs. It was primarily supported by the recruitment policy “using literature to appoint officials” (以文取士), which was carried out by selecting officials through the civil service examinations. The literati officials in the monarchical government belonged to a higher class in the vertical social order and were admired and respected by other members of society. Upward social mobility seemed close to impossible before the birth of the civil examination system. The system theoretically opened an official way for low-class members of society to advance toward becoming a literati official. As Daniel A. Bell writes: “the examination system allowed for more social mobility then less meritocratic systems” (Bell, 2015: 84). However, neither Bell nor Benjamin Elman believe that true social mobility was the goal of the examination system. As Bell points out:

That said, the reality did not always (or even usually) match up to the myth of the poor peasant boy who makes it good on the basis of ability and hard work. Benjamin Elman argues that true social mobility was never the goal of state policy in late imperial China (1400–1900). Success at examinations had literary requirements, which effectively excluded most peasants, artisans, and clerks (women were formally excluded). The literary requirements meant that only the children of wealthy families could compete for examination success, and social circulation was mainly an unexpected consequence of upward (and downward) movement between elites (gentry, merchants, and military men) and (upper) political elites with degrees. To the (limited) extent there was upward political mobility from lower classes, it was normally first via commercial wealth, and then success at examinations, and the process normally took more than one generation. (Bell, 2015: 84)

That being said, Elman does show that rulers would like commoners to believe in the myth:

In 1727, the emperor [Yongzheng] prepared an edict stressing the social mobility myth that was at the heart of the civil selection process. Citing the Documents Classic, he noted that the dynasty’s search for talent had successfully reached the lowest levels of society and brought order to all the regions. (Elman, 2013: 239)

From this point of view, the civil service examination system was a political tool that functioned as a form of bait. Using this bait, rulers attracted people to participate in the Confucian education system and then directly or indirectly converted them to being Confucianists to different degrees. In this way, members of society slowly accepted the attitude “emphasizing literature and despising the military” and came to respect Confucian principles. That being said, the civil service examination system still was an effective method to recruit new officials to run the country for the monarchy.

Through the Vietnamese civil service examination system, the Chinese script was given great power by the ruler. It was not only the sole official writing system of the exams, but also a symbol of Confucianism (Confucian script) and even of the monarchy. One example was the law prohibiting forbidden characters. Anyone who violated it suffered, especially candidates participating in examinations.

By the rule of the examination hall, candidates who made light violations related to forbidden characters, such as forgetting to omit one or two strokes of the character in accordance with the law, would be punished by having to wear shackles and be exposed to the sun for three days or be forever forbidden to participate in the examinations. Those who committed heavy violations would even have to go to jail. Related teachers, such as officials at schools in the province or district would be demoted, relocated or fired … (Nguyễn QT, 2005: 120)

Sĩ 士 (literati or literati elite) was the common name for intellectuals in Vietnam. From the Lê dynasty period, this name had mostly been used for followers of Confucianism. They were an important group that helped to spread the principles of Confucianism to other members of society. There were two kinds of Sĩ:

Sĩ was a complex social class. They could be divided in two: Those who became literati officials and those who became teachers. As our people always said: “[Move] forward being an official, [move] backward being a teacher”. Those who became officers were only a few. They were tools in the hands of the government. Those who became teachers lived with commoners. […] They were the middlemen between peasants and government, folk culture and Confucianism. (Nguyễn MC, 2010: 59–60)

To promote Confucian education, Vietnam dynasties established national public schools such as the Lý dynasty’s Directorate of Education, the Trần dynasty’s Institute for State Learning, the Lê dynasty’s Hall of Grand Learning, and other local schools. As the popularity and influence of Confucianism reached its peak, public schools seemed unable to satisfy the demand of society, thus private schools began to appear. There were several types of private schools: Dân học (民学 village schools); Thư viện (书院 academies), Thư quán (书馆 book halls), and Tàng thư (藏书 book repositories), which belonged to clans or academic schools; and Học đường (learning houses), headed by famous Confucians. There were several well-known private schools in Vietnamese history, such as those of Trần Ích Tắc, Chu Văn An, and Nguyễn Sĩ Cố. From the late sixteenth century, the Directorate of Education even lost its prestige to private schools (Quách, 2018: 104–109). Nonetheless, both public schools and private schools spread Confucianism and strengthened the soft power of rulers. We have illustrated the relationship of the monarchy, Confucianism, and the Chinese script in Figure 1.OPEN IN VIEWER

The Chinese script and diplomatic tradition

During the period of Chinese colonization, the Chinese language and script were the only way that the people of Giao Chỉ could communicate with Chinese rulers. Even after this period, the Chinese dynasties remained the most important diplomatic partner for Vietnamese dynasties. The decision to make the Chinese script the official writing system of Vietnamese rulers brought Vietnam into the Sinosphere, joined by China, Korea, and Japan (Nguyễn TC, 2011: 754). In the same way, by making Confucianism the main political ideology of the court, Vietnamese dynasties made it easier to communicate with other members of the Sinosphere. In the past, the influence of Chinese dynasties over Vietnam was so strong that a Vietnamese monarch needed an official edict from China to be considered a rightful king.

As noted previously, the policies “emphasizing literature and despising the military” and “using literature to appoint officials” originated with the will of the monarch, who sought to create a government run by literati officials. Officials conducted their duties, including diplomacy, under the influence of Confucian values. Therefore, reasoning and civility always came before military action. It was the level of a Confucian civilization which determined in diplomatic conversation which side had the diplomatic advantage over another and how much respect one side would show another. The History of Yuan dynasty 元史 records diplomatic negotiations between the Chinese Yuan and Vietnamese Trần governments in 1273. The Yuan sent an official letter to King Trần Thánh Tông which criticized his actions, including not bowing down when receiving an official edict from Chinese Son of Heaven and having his seat set higher than the ambassador of the Yuan. These actions violated the principles of the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋. At the end of the letter, the following advice was given: “The junzi 君子 [noble person] is respected when he is self-aware of his mistake and repairs it himself. Since your excellency is brilliant as well, please reconsider” (Châu, 2018: 58–59). This example demonstrates that Confucian principles were the common value system present during diplomatic negotiations between the two countries. When arriving in Vietnam, Chinese diplomats usually looked at the level of Confucian civilization in order to decide their diplomatic attitude. For example, after his diplomatic visit to Vietnam in 1513, a Ming dynasty diplomat named Pan Xiceng 潘希曾 (?–?) wrote in the preface of Nanfeng lu 南风录 (Records of the Southern Customs), one of his books, that: “In southwestern countries, only An Nam emphasizes rites and ceremonies. Thus, our country treats them nicely.” Not only the diplomats of the Ming dynasty, but also diplomats from other Chinese dynasties praised the customs and level of Confucian practice of Vietnam (Ly, 2018: 82). Aside from China, Vietnam also conducted diplomatic exchanges with other states in the Sinosphere, such as Korea and Japan. The Chinese language and script served as a bridge between the different states. Writing Chinese poems as a way of communicating with each other was a diplomatic method that expressed the literary style of diplomats and officials from states in the Sinosphere. In 1760, when meeting in China, Korea chief diplomat Hong Gye-hui (1703–1771) wrote the preface for Thánh mô hiền phạm lục 圣模贤范录 (Records of Model of Sages and Nobles), a book written by Lê Quý Đôn (1726–1784), who served as a Vietnamese diplomat at the time. The preface ended with:

Every living man who reads this book can have the strength for themselves. Bringing this strength to the world and spreading it, that is great merit! [Reading this book], one can confirm that the minds and souls of those living east of the eastern sea are the same as those living at south of the southern sea! Therefore, [I] write this preface. (Trịnh and Nguyễn 2019: 356)

This preface is confirmation that Hong Gye-hui believed that Korean literati (those living east of the eastern sea) had the same common values as the Vietnamese (those living at south of the southern sea), despite the distance between the two countries. And judging by the contents of the book, it is clear that these common values were Confucian values. During diplomacy in the Sinosphere, the ranking or level of one’s state was decided by the level of Confucian civilization and the capability the literati of that state to use Chinese script. Thus, in the field of diplomacy, Confucianism and the Chinese script seemed to be irreplaceable.

Nôm script—a possible threat to the dominant status of the Chinese script

The decision of Vietnamese dynasties to keep using the Chinese script created an integrating interaction between the Vietnamese and Chinese languages which led to two creations: in phonetics, Sino-Vietnamese readings, and in writing, the Nôm script. An overview of the history of the Nôm script can be found in the works of Trần Trọng Dương (Trần, 2015, 2019). In this current article, we are concerned more with its potential to compete with the Chinese script as the official writing system of the Vietnamese state.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Nôm literature flourished more than ever and reached its peak, which is demonstrated by the creation of many Nôm works (Trần, 2019: 184). This means that the Nôm writing system had already reached a mature level of development. The Nôm script had a natural advantage over the Chinese script of being able to directly record the Vietnamese language. We illustrate this difference in Figure 2.OPEN IN VIEWER

Literary Chinese should be considered as the biggest obstacle that makes things harder in both directions: encoding and decoding. Vietnamese scholars did know this fact. Nguyễn Trường Tộ (1830–1871) wrote in an essay in 1867 that:

When the government announced any policy or command, they definitely wanted everyone to be able to read it by eye and hear it by ear. Just a half could understand by reading, another half had to find interpreters. Nowadays, our country does not have a script of its own and thus must use the Confucian script. (Trương, 2019: 296)

Even in China, the Chinese script and Classical Chinese were not commonly known by commoners. Wi-vun Taiffalo Chiung, a Taiwanese scholar, points out the following:

From the point of [view of] learning a language, not only is the Chinese script complex and hard to learn but the Chinese classical documents written in “Classical Chinese” are also even harder to understand. Therefore, “the right of interpretation” was in the hands of elite literati who attained a mastery of Chinese writings. In contrast, the peasant and artisan who didn’t have enough time [due to needing] to earn their living would find it impossible to “read books for ten years” – in other words, [they could not] learn the Chinese script and study the classics. (Chiung, 2017: 420)

In Vietnam, there were several subjects for which only the Nôm script was sufficient. There were also some fields that once allowed only Chinese script but eventually allowed the Nôm script to be used. Finally, there were fields that strictly forbade the use of Nôm script. Nguyễn Quang Hồng created a classification of five fields in which the Nôm script was active: (a) folk culture, (b) belief and religion, (c) science and education, (d) national policy and bureaucracy, and (e) literature and art (Nguyễn QH, 2008: 391–433). Looking at these five fields, we can see that the Nôm script covered almost every aspect of society. Folk culture might have been the field that cherished the Nôm script the most, as this field related closely to the Vietnamese language. This was exemplified in things such as folk songs and idioms. The Chinese script and Nôm script were both used in the remaining four fields. However, this can still be considered a great advancement for the Nôm script. The Nôm script was even used in Confucian education, which was previously solely home to the Chinese script. Several Chinese classics were translated into Vietnamese, such as Thi kinh giải âm 诗经解音 (Vietnamese Explication of the Classic of Poetry), Tứ thư ước giải 四书约解 (Concise Explication of the Four Books), Chu Dịch giải nghĩa diễn ca 周易解义演歌 (Poetic Explication for the Classic of Changes), and Thư kinh diễn nghĩa 书经演义 (Explication for the Classic of Documents). Nguyễn Tuấn Cường points out four goals relating to this situation: (a) to resolve the differences in language and script and better understand the meaning of the classic; (b) to add to the original content of the classic; (c) to translate into verse to educate at the elementary school level; (d) to express the capability of the translator as it relates to the idea of “the gentleman (君子) creates his own essay” (Nguyễn TC, 2018b). Translating Chinese Confucian classics into Vietnamese (using the Nôm script) would also help rulers to more easily extend their soft power. The Nôm script proved to be a promising tool with which to carry this out. Classical Chinese was indeed an obstacle, but it also had the advantage of being written in the Chinese script. The monarchical state apparatus needed its operators but not too many. If the door to the upper class was open too wide, then the vertical order of society would be ruined. As Elman and Bell mentioned, social mobility was not the main purpose of the civil service examination system, and Classical Chinese was an important barricade that kept out the crowds. Therefore, civil service examinations were still the domain of the Chinese script. The appearance of Sino-Vietnamese dictionaries such as Chỉ nam ngọc âm giải nghĩa 指南玉音解义 (Explication of the Guide to Jeweled Sounds) or Nhật dụng thường đàm 日用常谈 (Common Conversations for Daily Use) was very much a kind of support for Chinese education in monarchical Vietnam. Nguyễn Quang Hồng suggested that, in the field of national policy and bureaucracy, although most of the documents were still written with the Chinese script, there was a percentage of them, including important documents, that had been written in the Nôm script (Nguyễn QH, 2008: 417–423). Emperor Gia Long (r. 1802–1820), founder of the Nguyễn dynasty, was a user of the Nôm script.

The official writing system of the Nguyễn dynasty

The founder of the Nguyễn dynasty often used the Nôm script. Recent research on Nôm administrative documents written by Emperor Gia Long suggests that before being crowned, he usually used the Nôm script to communicate with the French Catholic priest Pigneau de Béhaine (1741–1799) and other French priests and generals and to write announcements to military officials (Đỗ, 2018). After being crowned, Gia Long continued to use the Nôm script to write a number of kinds of official documents. This is the reason why DeFrancis was interested in Gia Long’s policies regarding the Nôm and Chinese scripts (1977: 42–43). We will try to provide some context to this situation.

We know that Nguyễn Ánh (birth name of Gia Long) experienced much hardship fighting against the Tây Sơn (1778–1802) before the foundation of the Nguyễn dynasty. During this war, Nguyễn Ánh needed to find allies other than the Chinese to gain the upper hand, as Emperor Qianlong (r. 1733–1796) had already bestowed the title “King of Annam” to his rival Nguyễn Huệ (1753–1792), or Emperor Quang Trung of Tây Sơn dynasty. Pigneau de Béhaine offered his assistance and became the bridge between Nguyễn Ánh and France. Nguyễn Quang Hồng suggested that Western missionaries had been acquainted with the Nôm script over the previous hundred years and had even had Catholic books translated to Nôm. Pigneau de Béhaine was an expert in Nôm script himself (Nguyễn QH, 2008: 411–412). For that reason, it would have been unreasonable for Nguyễn Ánh and Béhaine to use the Chinese script instead of Nôm script. In the war against the Tây Sơn, commoners and soldiers, those who were unable to read Chinese script, would be Nguyễn Ánh’s main power to fight against his rival. Therefore, it was completely natural for him to use the Nôm script to operate on a level closer to them. As Nguyễn Quang Hồng wrote, this was actually a common phenomenon: “at that time [during the monarchical period], when there were political jobs that required one to urge the people and persuade them to help, [the people who held these jobs] often wrote announcements in the Nôm script.” (Nguyễn QH, 2008: 419). The choice between the Chinese and Nôm scripts was truly made when Gia Long published an official edict in 1807 which said:

The country needs talented [officials], but they can only be found through literary examinations. Previous dynasties set the rules for and organized examinations. But the rebellion of the Tây Sơn caused the collapse of the rules and the vanishing of the literati. The country is now peaceful; the North and the South have been united. It is the right time to reopen traditional politics that embrace education. (Institute of History, 2005: 13)

This decision to reinstate the traditional examinations also meant the resurrection of Confucian education and marked the official comeback of the Chinese script. This edict seemed to indirectly declare that the spring of literati was coming again. On the other hand, in 1802, quickly after the Nguyễn dynasty was established, Gia Long sought to reconnect with the Qing. He sent his diplomats to request to be bestowed the title of king. This traditional action was a proactive request from Gia Long to again be under the influence of China. Béhaine might have helped Gia Long and the French may have supported him in his war, but besides their friendship, Gia Long saw in the French a threat as well. Marcel Gaultier (1900–1960) suggested that although Gia Long treated the priests and the French who helped him kindly, he questioned the church and was always worried about invasions by Western countries. As Gaultier also points out, Gia Long was not wrong at all (Gaultier, 2020: 195). Again embracing the Chinese script, Gia Long reconnected his dynasty to a political tradition that had already lasted nearly two millennia and was deeply rooted in the social awareness and traditional culture of Vietnam. This choice helped the Nguyễn dynasty to quickly reestablish social order and had the benefit of helping the Nguyễn resist Western influence.

Emperor Minh Mệnh (r. 1820–1841) continued to strengthen the foundation of the monarchy built on Confucianism and the Chinese script. And like his father, Minh Mệnh felt threatened by Western countries and was always on guard. On one side, he proactively learned from the West, especially in terms of military knowledge (Trần, 2017: 75–76). On the other side, he relied on Confucian values to unite the core of the state, forbidding Catholic missionaries from preaching. Being the symbol of Confucianism and traditional politics, the Chinese script was embraced. Minh Mệnh used the Chinese script to write a poem called Đế hệ thi (Poem on the Royal Lineage) and ordered that the royal families name their children after each word in the poem. In 1824, he also gave permission to the Ministry of Revenue and Population to change village names from Vietnamese to Chinese.

Pressure from overseas, along with the incessant activity of Catholic missionaries, seems to have forced the next two emperors Thiệu Trị (r. 1841–1847) and Tự Đức (r. 1847–1883) to follow suit. On the one hand, they strengthened the order forbidding missionary actions and closed harbors. On the other hand, they placed their faith in Confucianism and attempted to use their Confucian soft power to fight against Catholicism and keep the country stable and intact. During his seven years on the throne, Thiệu Trị organized literary examinations every year except 1845. As for Tự Đức, he added a new section, “Luận” 论 (Discussion), to imperial examinations held during his reign. “Luận” was used to direct the thought of intellectuals toward criticizing Catholicism, encourage them to believe in Confucianism, to increase their faith in the court, and to persuade them to be loyal.

The more pressure they received from the outside, the more determined the first emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty were to seek power from political traditions with Confucianism serving as a spiritual core. By guarding this core, they also protected the foundation of their dynasty. The Chinese script was the symbol of political tradition in Vietnam from the beginning to the end of the Nguyễn dynasty.

The first emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty did deny the Nôm script its status as the official writing system, but they never forbade using it in a supportive role to the Chinese script. Tự Đức himself wrote a long poem in the Nôm script titled Tự Đức thánh chế tự học giải nghĩa ca 嗣德圣制字学解义歌 (Vietnamese Song to Explain the Meaning of Chinese Characters by Emperor Tự Đức), with over 4500 lines of six–eight verse meant to assist in Chinese script education.

Conclusions

The Nôm script is the classical visual form of the Vietnamese language. Compared with the Chinese script, it has the advantage of being able to encode and store information on Vietnamese culture. However, in terms of politics, the Nôm script only played a supporting role. It took a long time for the Nôm script to grow into a full writing system. Therefore, Nôm did not really have an opportunity to be a part of constructing any long-lasting dynasty in Vietnam history. Thus, it did not become a part of the political tradition of Vietnam. On the other hand, when the Chinese script first appeared in Vietnamese territory, it was already a fully developed writing system that was used to store information recorded during centuries of Chinese civilization. The political tradition of Vietnam and the Chinese script were bound together since the beginning. Through the Chinese script, Vietnamese rulers learned from the political tradition of China and built their Vietnamese monarchical apparatus with Confucianism as its spiritual core. The political and cultural influence of Confucianism over Vietnamese society was so strong that Confucianism slowly engulfed the Chinese script and turned it into the “Confucian script”. Until the Nguyễn dynasty, Confucianism and the Chinese script had infiltrated and was accepted by every class of Vietnamese society. The decision to choose the Chinese script to be the official writing system by Gia Long meant that the Nguyễn dynasty chose to inherit the political tradition of previous Vietnamese dynasties. Chinese dynasties were always the main diplomatic partner of Vietnamese dynasties. The absolute status of Confucianism in China encouraged the choices of the Nguyễn dynasty. The monarchical apparatus with Confucianism at its core bound together the destiny of Confucianism and Nguyễn dynasty.