Hán tự (漢字 [hǎːn tɨ̂ˀ], meaning "Chinese character") or chữ Hán, chữ Nho ([cɨ̌ ɲɔ], 𡨸儒, literally "script of Confucian scholars") is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, which was used to write classical Chinese and the Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, in contrast to chữ Nôm, which was used to write the native vocabulary in Vietnamese language.
In imperial Vietnam, formal writings were, in most cases, done in classical Chinese, while Vietnamese was only used for recording literature. These writings are indistinguishable from those classical Chinese works produced in China, Korea, or Japan.
The readings of Hán tự, like Kanji and Hanja, provide valuable data for the study of Middle Chinese and historical Chinese phonology.
The use of classical Chinese, and its written form, Hán tự, died out in Vietnam during the 20th century, after the French colonization and Vietnamese independence. Some scholars still study it today though.
A system of modified and invented characters modeled loosely on Chinese characters called chữ Nôm, which, unlike the system of Hán tự, allowed for the expression of purely Vietnamese words, was created in Vietnam at least as early as the 13th century. While designed for native Vietnamese speakers, it required the user to have some understanding of chữ Hán, and thus chữ Nôm was used primarily for literary writings by cultural elites (such as the poetry of Nguyễn Du and Hồ Xuân Hương), while almost all other official writings and documents continued to be written in Hán Văn (classical Chinese) until the 20th century.
Hán tự is still written by calligraphers for special occasions such as the Vietnamese New Year, Tết.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:H%C3%A1n_t%E1%BB%B1 Hán tự] at Wikimedia Commons
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