Vietnamese calligraphy (

Vietnamese alphabet The Vietnamese alphabet ( vi, chữ Quốc ngữ, lit=script of the National language) is the modern Latin writing script or writing system for Vietnamese. It uses the Latin script based on Romance languages originally developed by Portuguese m ...

: ,

Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...

: 書法越南) relates to the

calligraphic Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as ...

traditions of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

. It includes calligraphic works using a variety of scripts, including historical

chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...

(

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters ('' Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represent ...

(Vietnamese-derived characters), and the Latin-based

. Historically, calligraphers used the former two scripts. However, due to the adoption of the Latin-based chữ

, modern Vietnamese calligraphy also uses

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern ...

alongside chữ Hán Nôm. Traditional Vietnamese calligraphy is strongly affected by that of China.

was often used as a

literary language A literary language is the form (register) of a language used in written literature, which can be either a nonstandard dialect or a standardized variety of the language. Literary language sometimes is noticeably different from the spoken langua ...

in ancient Vietnam, and as a result, Vietnamese calligraphy also used to follow

Chinese calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high este ...

’s standard and used

in many of its writings. For example, during the

Lý dynasty The Lý dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lý, , chữ Nôm: 茹李, chữ Hán: 李朝, Hán Việt: ''Lý triều'') was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed from 1009 to 1225. It was established by Lý Công Uẩn when he overthrew the Early Lê dynasty an ...

, its style was similar to China’s

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(618-907). During the

Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty, ( Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳）also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thá ...

, it was influenced strongly by China’s

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

(960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties. Nonetheless, over time, Vietnam developed its own styles of calligraphy historically for writing both

and

. In the later

Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known as Later Lê dynasty ( vi, Hậu Lê triều, chữ Hán: 後黎朝 or vi, nhà Hậu Lê, link=no, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, ruling Đại Việt from 1428 to 1789. The Lê ...

, Vietnam developed a unique style of calligraphy called "Nam tự" (, ,) by Phạm Đình Hổ () in his book (Written on Rainy Days - ). It was first used in bureaucracy only but later became popular for all writing purposes. It was also called "Lệnh Thư" ( ,) in (Vietnamese History and Compendium - ) because of its initial bureaucratic characteristic. Handwritten Vietnamese Alphabet

In modern times, calligraphy has been done frequently in the Latin-based

, as

and

have largely fallen out of use. Chữ quốc ngữ calligraphy gained popularity during the

New Poetry ''The New Poetry'' is a poetry anthology edited by Al Alvarez, published in 1962 and in a revised edition in 1966. It was greeted at the time as a significant review of the post-war scene in English poetry. The introduction, written by Alvarez ...

and Free Poetry Movements, due to the increasing popularity of using the Vietnamese vernacular, as well as influence from French literature. Modern Vietnamese calligraphy is influenced by modern Latin

cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionali ...

but is written using the calligraphy brush, rather than quill or reed pens as is done in Western calligraphy. Vietnamese calligraphy can be used to write poems, festive banners, signage, and so on.

Vietnamese calligraphy artwork

File:Van Mieu han tu 5412926827 072c42c3a1 t.jpg, Vietnamese calligrapher in the midst of writing. The first word is "Tính" which means "to ponder" or "figure out". File:Thư pháp chữ Nhẫn- Thư pháp Xuân Thành.jpg, The word "Nhẫn" is written in the Vietnamese alphabet File:Belief & Ideal - a.tif, The word "Việt" File:Boat People (Thuyen Nhan).jpg, alt="Boat People" The picture of the people on the boat spell out : "Thuyền nhân", literally meaning 'Boat People'., " Boat People" The picture of the people on the boat spell out : "Thuyền nhân", literally meaning 'Boat People'. File:Thư pháp chữ TÂM- XuanThanh calligrapher.jpg, The word Tâm, which can mean soul, heart, or mind. File:Van Mieu han tu 5412918909 d5a211c1f0 t.jpg, Chữ Hán Nôm written on a scroll File:Vietchu.jpg, A Vietnamese calligrapher is writing

(

) and

chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters ('' Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represent ...

. File:Van Mieu han tu 5412916981 273dedbe99.jpg, A Vietnamese calligrapher is writing 祿 (read as "lộc", means "good fortune") in preparation for Tết at the

Temple of Literature, Hanoi Văn Miếu (Vietnamese: ''Văn Miếu'', Hán tự: 文廟) is a temple dedicated to Confucius in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. The temple also hosts the Imperial Academy (, ), Vietnam's first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at ...

File:Personalised calligraphic message from the Temple of Literature, 2017 (A).jpg, Vietnamese calligraphy from the Temple of Literature File:Vechu.png, Vietnamese in the Nguyễn Dynasty practicing calligraphy

References

{{Authority control Vietnamese culture Vietnamese inventions Vietnamese calligraphy

Vietnamese calligraphy artwork

See also

References