SỰ THOÁT LY CHỮ HÁN, HÁN VĂN VÀ CẤU TRÚC TRUNG TÂM - NGOẠI VI CỦA ĐÔNG Á - TRỌNG TÂM LÀ CHỮ KANA CỦA NHẬT BẢN, HANGUL CỦA HÀN QUỐC VÀ CHỮ NÔM CỦA VIỆT NAM

Abstract

Perhaps it goes without saying that East Asia developed on the basis of the culture of Chinese characters and Literary Chinese originating in China. However, countries surrounding the cultural sphere of Chinese characters and Literary Chinese, such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, gradually moved away from Chinese characters and Literary Chinese and developed distinctive linguistic cultures of their own. These are represented by Japan’s kana, Korea’s Hangul, and Vietnam’s Nôm script. Notably, in this process of moving away from Chinese characters and Literary Chinese, women played a highly active role in the formation of the distinctive culture of each nation. In this article, I would like to discuss the common foundations underlying these developments and offer several observations based on materials from each country.