Chinese literature scores a hit with Vietnamese

[TaiShang]

Chinese literature scores a hit with Vietnamese

Students from China and Vietnam celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival by writing Chinese characters in Hanoi. (Le Yanna / Xinhua)

Of all the foreign influences in Vietnam, there is plenty of evidence that Chinese culture is among the strongest.

Many of the major bookstores in Hanoi, for example, display their selection of translated Chinese literature in the most coveted, high-profile spots. The study of the Chinese language is increasing, courses at Vietnamese colleges are crowded with students and almost all universities have established Chinese faculties. Additionally, Chinese language contests are swamped with hundreds of competitors, and thousands of Vietnamese students take exchange trips to China each year.

Bilateral relations and political ties may have experienced some ups and downs in recent years, but Chinese culture is gaining popularity, especially with the younger generation.

At a bookshop on Dinh Le, a central Hanoi location known as "Book Street", Chinese books, both classical literature and romantic novels, are prominently displayed on a large shelf near the entrance. Classic multivolume epics, including Outlaws of the Marsh and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, sell well to customers of all ages, said a staff member identified only as Thanh.

Vietnamese readers choose these books because they are interested in stories of brave and chivalrous men, while older readers are returning to the books they read and enjoyed many years earlier, Thanh said.

It is not just the historical classics that are popular, said one of the bookstore's managers.

"Sales of works by Chinese contemporary and modern writers, including Mo Yan and Lu Xun, are also stable, unlike romantic novels which are 'hot' only just after they have been published," the manager said.

In recent years, a number of online Chinese literature sites have helped to inform and attract a new group of readers from Vietnam. To get around the language barrier, they use online translation tools to learn about a book's contents, and then seek out translated editions.

Vietnam translations

From 2009 to 2013, a total of 841 Chinese book titles were translated and published in Vietnamese. Of those, 617 titles were published only online.

One of the best-known translators of Chinese literature in Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuong, a lecturer at Hanoi National University of Education, said online-only Chinese literature is particularly popular among young readers because of its entertaining stories.

"But the literary quality and artistry are debatable," she said.

One of Nguyen's latest efforts, the Vietnamese translation of Yan Lianke's Hard As Water, recently won an award from a writers' association in Hanoi. Yan is a global prizewinning author from China, although this was the first time he had been recognized in Vietnam.

"There are many great honored authors and novels in Chinese modern literature who have not been introduced to Vietnam yet. I hope to introduce more award-winning titles from China to Vietnam in the future," Nguyen said.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

This is obvious. Everyone likes to read a story about themselves. Can anyone else tell the story of life in an independent, developing Asian country?

 

[Jlaw]

In reality Vietnamese do want to learn Chinese. In my experience, most of the Vietnamese I know who are pure Viet but often tell foreigners they are Chinese. They will say their great grandparents are Chinese, or they will say they are half but still say they are Chinese.

But I am off topic. From the article, vietnamese like Chinese literature because vietnam doesn't have ancient literature because they do not have a written language.

 

[DaiViet]

In reality Vietnamese do want to learn Chinese. In my experience, most of the Vietnamese I know who are pure Viet but often tell foreigners they are Chinese. They will say their great grandparents are Chinese, or they will say they are half but still say they are Chinese.

But I am off topic. From the article, vietnamese like Chinese literature because vietnam doesn't have ancient literature because they do not have a written language.

Feel good and happy after self masturbate? If I would place which country Culture Vietnamese favors in ranking.

Culture
1. Japan
2. US
3. Korea
4. Europe
5. China

Language
1. English
2. Japan
3. Korea
4. Europe
5. China

That means China is the 5 of culture and language influnce but what do Chinese has any influence in modern time anyway? It self China is largely influence by Western and Japan, Korea. All Chinese influence are those from ancient time and that is consider obsolete are being replacing.

What do you expect from an article written by Chinese for Chinese news paper.

 

[Abacin]

Feel good and happy after self masturbate? If I would place which country Culture Vietnamese favors in ranking.

Culture
1. Japan
2. US
3. Korea
4. Europe
5. China

Language
1. English
2. Japan
3. Korea
4. Europe
5. China

That means China is the 5 of culture and language influnce but what do Chinese has any influence in modern time anyway? It self China is largely influence by Western and Japan, Korea. All Chinese influence are those from ancient time and that is consider obsolete are being replacing.

What do you expect from an article written by Chinese for Chinese news paper.

You must be joking, or you cannot tell the difference between Chinese cultures and Vietnamese cultures. Chinese culture is deeply rooted in every part of Vietnamese life. Vietnamese is no different from Chinese minorities. Many Vietnamese cultures are simply Chinese cultures.

You must be joking, or you cannot tell the difference between Chinese cultures and Vietnamese cultures. Chinese culture is deeply rooted in every part of Vietnamese life. Vietnamese is no different from Chinese minorities. Many Vietnamese cultures are simply Chinese cultures.

At least by now, your ruling VCP strictly follow CCP.

 

[Rechoice]

In reality Vietnamese do want to learn Chinese. In my experience, most of the Vietnamese I know who are pure Viet but often tell foreigners they are Chinese. They will say their great grandparents are Chinese, or they will say they are half but still say they are Chinese.

But I am off topic. From the article, vietnamese like Chinese literature because vietnam doesn't have ancient literature because they do not have a written language.

There is Ngai and Nung Hua etc people. In Vietnam they claimed themselves in ethnicity as Hua chinese. Today they are living in Bac Giang, Quang ninh in north Vietnam and in Dong nai province in south Vietnam.

At least by now, your ruling VCP strictly follow CCP.

Funy joke.

It is stalin model from Soviet Union. CPC follows Stalin model too.

 

[rcrmj]

this is indeed the reality, I have never met a Viet in London that were proudly admitted to the British that they were Viets, they always said they were Chinese

only few of these deluded monkeys here worship something none existent

 

[DaiViet]

this is indeed the reality, I have never met a Viet in London that were proudly admitted to the British that they were Viets, they always said they were Chinese

only few of these deluded monkeys here worship something none existent

Maybe the Viet you met are Hua, not Viet. There are many Hua oversea as many as Viet.

 

[Edison Chen]

"Sales of works by Chinese contemporary and modern writers, including Mo Yan and Lu Xun, are also stable, unlike romantic novels which are 'hot' only just after they have been published," the manager said.

Sadly very few Chinese read Lu Xun's book right now, even the authority removed Lu Xun's articles out of middle school textbook.

 

[William Hung]

this is indeed the reality, I have never met a Viet in London that were proudly admitted to the British that they were Viets, they always said they were Chinese

only few of these deluded monkeys here worship something none existent

You shouldn’t be telling lies to support your delusion.

Not sure why some Chinese members here cant accept the reality. I don’t see any Vietnamese here try to convince themselve that Chinese love Vietnamese (except for that one insecure member). While I see some Chinese members try to convince themselves that Vietnamese like Chinese. Here are real hard statistics of reality:

China actually has more favorable views towards India than Vietnamese have towards China.

Also some Chinese members here keep trying to convince themselves that the PDF Vietnamese members here dont represent the VN population and insist that the Viet members here are only pro-US because they are overseas or a minority. But here are the hard statistics data again:

It is the fault of the Chinese state media for keep publishing these kind of positive articles about Vietnamese and so some Chinese have misconceptions about Vietnamese people and reality.

Vietnamese and literature, then Vietnamese and cultural ties, etc:

Spotlight: Young Vietnamese, Chinese carrying on traditional friendship - Xinhua | English.news.cn

 

[TaiShang]

Looks like Vietnam stands a very important neighbor in China's radar.

王家瑞 WANG JIARUI, Minister of International Liaisons. This is a ministry originally formed to liaison with other Communist parties in the world, evolving into liaisons with any political party in the world. This is the first time I see his name being specifically mentioned as accompanying Xi Jinping on an official visit. This signals increased importance China places in relationships with up and coming opposition parties in other countries. Wang's name is specifically mentioned, together with the closest staff functionaries of Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, and Yang Jiechi [#1 in standing in the Foreign Affairs functions]. Wang Yi the Foreign Minister is given a lesser role by not being mentioned.



习近平抵达河内开始对越南进行国事访问-新华网

习近平抵达河内开始对越南进行国事访问 --- 侯丽军）11月5日，中共中央总书记、国家主席习近平抵达越南首都河内，开始对越南进行国事访问。
NEWS.XINHUANET.COM

 

[Abacin]

There is Ngai and Nung Hua etc people. In Vietnam they claimed themselves in ethnicity as Hua chinese. Today they are living in Bac Giang, Quang ninh in north Vietnam and in Dong nai province in south Vietnam.



Funy joke.

It is stalin model from Soviet Union. CPC follows Stalin model too.

Hua Chinese are just those originated from Han Chinese. Vietnamese are those who are not originated from Han Chinese. The west and Japan always tries to look China as a nation state. Unfortunately China is civilization state, much more than Han Chinese. Vietnamese try to use this to protect its independence. Unfortuntely Vietnam are scared to use Chinese characters. They'd rather choose to disconnect from their own history. In Chinese culture, minorities who can speak han Chinese are called fully cookeds(熟）; those such as most Vietnamese are still raw（生）.

Both CCP and VCP have deviated from Stalin Model a lot. Stalin model has no market economy, which makes it lose dynamic. VCP leaders check every meeting of CCP to see if they should learn from it.

You shouldn’t be telling lies to support your delusion.

Not sure why some Chinese members here cant accept the reality. I don’t see any Vietnamese here try to convince themselve that Chinese love Vietnamese (except for that one insecure member). While I see some Chinese members try to convince themselves that Vietnamese like Chinese. Here are real hard statistics of reality:

China actually has more favorable views towards India than Vietnamese have towards China.

Also some Chinese members here keep trying to convince themselves that the PDF Vietnamese members here dont represent the VN population and insist that the Viet members here are only pro-US because they are overseas or a minority. But here are the hard statistics data again:

It is the fault of the Chinese state media for keep publishing these kind of positive articles about Vietnamese and so some Chinese have misconceptions about Vietnamese people and reality.

Vietnamese and literature, then Vietnamese and cultural ties, etc:

Spotlight: Young Vietnamese, Chinese carrying on traditional friendship - Xinhua | English.news.cn

But the reality is that Westerner cannot tell the difference among East Asian. When they see an East Asian, they will always ask if you are Chinese. Many of them will be proud to show you that they understand a little bit about Chinese. Some non-Chinese east Asian may say yes while some will tell their origins.

Chinese media usually do not tell bad things about foreign countries. Therefore most Chinese feel that all foreigners are good and kind. This is sharp difference from Japan, which only badmouth China. This is how China can make friends everywhere while Japan can only bark like a dog before Untied States.

That ratings are meanless. It just shows the geopolitics. Usually the neighbors of your neighbors have a good rating on you, but just on the mouth.

Countries usually have more overlapping of interests with neighbors, therefore more conflicts of interests.

 

[William Hung]

But the reality is that Westerner cannot tell the difference among East Asian. When they see an East Asian, they will always ask if you are Chinese. Many of them will be proud to show you that they understand a little bit about Chinese. Some non-Chinese east Asian may say yes while some will tell their origins.

I wasn’t talking about western perceptions, I was talking about Viet perception of China. As shown by those stats, it is mostly negative, and the anti-PRC and pro-west postings of the PDF members reflect that. But your state media made it looks like it is all nice and gooey. Thats why some PDF Chinese members make this kind of comment:

“With the growing amount of hatred between the 2 peoples on forums which is not reflecting the true scenariao as indicated in trade, top level diplomacy and other cultural stuffs, It only benefits opportunists like jpn and ind trolls plus pinoys and usa as well which would like China and Viets to go into a war”

Chinese media usually do not tell bad things about foreign countries. Therefore most Chinese feel that all foreigners are good and kind.

This has a negative effect. It means that Chinese will be shocked when reality eventually hit them when they go abroad...or when they go on foreign online social media.

There was an old thread on this...about Chinese students studying abroad having flowery expectation but then end up returning back disgrunted when reality hit them (e.g. when foreigners/foreign countries are not as nice as they had imagined) and missing out on their opportunities.

This is sharp difference from Japan, which only badmouth China. This is how China can make friends everywhere while Japan can only bark like a dog before Untied States.

Are you talking about the country or people? Because from my personal observations, most countries/foreign media have a more positive view of Japan/Japanese, sometime justified and sometime not.

 

[Rechoice]

VCP leaders check every meeting of CCP to see if they should learn from it.

 

[oproh]

This is expected, I believe vietnam is under China's sphere of influence thanks to strong cultural ties between the two countries.