Tại sao Việt Nam sử dụng chữ Quốc Ngữ? | Chuyện Với Thanh | Tập 1 | Nguyễn Thành Nam x Spiderum

Key Concepts:

• Chữ Hán (Han script): Chinese characters, used in Vietnam for over a thousand years.
• Chữ Nôm (Nom script): A Vietnamese script created based on Han characters.
• Chữ Quốc Ngữ (National Language Script): The modern Vietnamese alphabet, based on the Latin alphabet.
• Francisco de Pina & Alexandre de Rhodes: Portuguese missionaries who contributed to the development of Chữ Quốc Ngữ.
• Bình Dân Học Vụ (Popular Education Campaign): A post-August Revolution campaign to eradicate illiteracy, spearheaded by Ho Chi Minh.
• Đồng Văn (Sinosphere): The East Asian cultural sphere influenced by Chinese culture.
• Cách Mạng Công Nghiệp (Industrial Revolution): The shift to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the US, driven by inventions like the steam engine.
• Văn hóa, bản sắc của dân tộc (Culture, national identity): The unique characteristics and traditions that define a nation.

1. Historical Context: The Shift from Chữ Hán/Nôm to Chữ Quốc Ngữ

• Vietnam is unique among East Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea) in that it has largely abandoned Han characters (Chữ Hán) and Nom script (Chữ Nôm) in favor of Chữ Quốc Ngữ.
• For a thousand years, Vietnamese used primarily Chữ Hán and Chữ Nôm.
• By the mid-19th to 20th centuries, Vietnam transitioned to Chữ Quốc Ngữ, created by Western missionaries using the Latin alphabet to transcribe Vietnamese.
• Today, Chữ Hán and Chữ Nôm have almost completely disappeared from daily life.

2. The Role of Portuguese Missionaries

• Francisco de Pina created a way to write Vietnamese using the Latin alphabet to facilitate communication with locals, avoiding the complexities of Chữ Hán/Nôm.
• In 1651, Alexandre de Rhodes published the first Vietnamese-Portuguese-Latin dictionary ("Từ điển Việt Bồ La") and a book in the new script, "Phép giảng 8 ngày" (still preserved at Mằng Lăng Church in Phú Yên).
• However, Chữ Quốc Ngữ was not widely adopted beyond missionaries for centuries. Even missionaries didn't use it for religious texts.

3. French Colonial Influence and the Adoption of Chữ Quốc Ngữ

• In 1787, Nguyễn Ánh sought help from the French (King Louis XVI) against the Tây Sơn rebellion, promising land in exchange for support (Treaty of Versailles).
• The Industrial Revolution in Europe, particularly in England with James Watt's steam engine, led to increased demand for resources and colonies.
• France, lagging behind England in colonial expansion, used the Treaty of Versailles as a pretext to attack Đà Nẵng in 1858 under Emperor Tự Đức.
• After occupying Cochinchina (Nam Kỳ), the French sought a simpler writing system than Chữ Hán/Nôm and chose Chữ Quốc Ngữ.
• Key Decrees:
  • May 22, 1869: Phó Đề đốc Marie Gustav Hector Ho mandated Chữ Quốc Ngữ in official documents in Cochinchina.
  • April 6, 1878: Thống đốc Nam Kỳ Loa Phong set a deadline of January 1, 1882, for all official documents to be written in Chữ Quốc Ngữ. Employees unable to write in Chữ Quốc Ngữ would not be promoted.
• In 1879, the French introduced Chữ Quốc Ngữ into the education system in Cochinchina.

4. Reasons for French Adoption of Chữ Quốc Ngữ

• The French likely found it easier to implement Chữ Quốc Ngữ than teaching French to the entire population.
• They may have wanted to avoid antagonizing the Nguyễn Dynasty and Confucian scholars (Nhà Nho) who opposed French rule.
• French was still taught in French-run schools.

5. The Gradual Shift and the End of Chữ Hán

• Chữ Quốc Ngữ gained popularity in Cochinchina first.
• Scholars in Tonkin (Bắc Kỳ) and Annam (Trung Kỳ) initially resisted, maintaining the teaching of Chữ Hán.
• In 1919, Emperor Khải Định abolished the civil service exams (thi hội, thi đình) in Chữ Hán, marking the official end of Chữ Hán's dominance.
• Despite official mandates, few Vietnamese could read or write Chữ Quốc Ngữ during the French colonial period.

6. Ho Chi Minh and the Bình Dân Học Vụ Campaign

• At the first government meeting on September 8, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proposed a campaign against illiteracy, stating, "A nation that is ignorant is a weak nation."
• The Bình Dân Học Vụ (Popular Education Department) was established on September 8, 1945.
• The first teacher training course, named after Ho Chi Minh, was opened in Hanoi.
• The campaign relied heavily on community support due to limited government funding. Teachers often volunteered without pay.
• Classes were held everywhere (homes, temples, etc.), using basic materials like chalk or bricks for writing.
• Results:
  • 75,000 classes with over 95,000 teachers were organized within a year.
  • Over 2.5 million people learned to read and write.
  • By 1948, 6 million people had escaped illiteracy, and by 1952, 10 million.

7. Ho Chi Minh's Pragmatism and Focus on Adult Education

• The Bình Dân Học Vụ campaign primarily targeted adults, likely because Ho Chi Minh anticipated further conflict with the French.
• He understood the need for a literate population to mobilize against foreign invaders.
• He emphasized the importance of widespread literacy for national defense, referencing his instructions to Phùng Chí Kiên and Vũ Anh in 1940: "If we have weapons now, who will hold them? Therefore, we must return home to mobilize the masses. When the people rise up, they will have weapons."

8. Debate on Reintroducing Chữ Hán or Switching to English

• A student raises the question of whether Vietnam should reintroduce Chữ Hán, like other countries influenced by Chinese culture (Korea, Japan), to preserve historical connections.
• The instructor acknowledges the validity of the sentiment but points out the dominance of English in the modern world.
• A hypothetical suggestion to abandon Chữ Quốc Ngữ and switch to English is met with strong opposition, arguing that it would be a form of cultural subservience.
• Chữ Quốc Ngữ is seen as a flexible system that allows the Vietnamese language to evolve, unlike the "dead" Han script.
• The importance of language in preserving culture and national identity is emphasized.
• The instructor notes that in 1900, only a tiny fraction of the population (perhaps 1%) was proficient in Chữ Hán.

9. Conclusion and Open Questions

• Chữ viết (writing) is not just a means of communication but a spiritual weapon of a nation.
• Chữ viết (writing) is the first step for Vietnamese people to master their thinking.
• The video ends with questions about whether Vietnam has truly escaped the influence of Chinese culture and how to do so without resorting to hatred.
• The next episode will explore these questions further.

Main Takeaways:

The video explores the complex history of writing systems in Vietnam, from the dominance of Chữ Hán and Chữ Nôm to the adoption of Chữ Quốc Ngữ under French colonial rule and its widespread implementation through Ho Chi Minh's Bình Dân Học Vụ campaign. It highlights the political, social, and cultural factors that shaped this transition and raises questions about the role of language in national identity and cultural independence. The debate on reintroducing Chữ Hán or switching to English underscores the ongoing tension between preserving tradition and embracing globalization.