A Study of the Graphical Variation of Sinographs in Vietnam through the Two Versions of The Book of One Thousand Characters in 1890 and 1909

Abstract

The Book of One Thousand Characters is not only a textbook but also a dictionary which was used nationwide for primary students in the past of Vietnam. By analyzing the graphical variation of Sinographs in two versions of this book in 1890 and 1909, we could figure out the way of using Sinographs by Vietnamese people in the past. It is quite clear that Sinographs in Vietnam essentially followed the official form in the Kangxi Dictionary. The 1909 version trends to disassimilation with numerous variant forms. There are several Vietnamese localized forms of writing, but mostly are minor changes in strokes and radicals, therefore just few major changes in the script structure are made.