Hán Tự

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Hán Tự (漢字) or Chữ Nho (字儒) is the Vietnamese term for classical Chinese writing produced in Vietnam. Chữ Nho was one of the official writing systems in ancient Vietnam and is also known as Chữ Hán. Its written form uses Chinese characters (漢字, Vietnamese hán tự) and is not distinguishable from classical Chinese works produced in China, Korea, or Japan. The original reading of these characters is based on Old Chinese. Since the original pronunciation is unknown today, classical Chinese is read with the pronunciation specific to the reader's own language such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or in the case of Chữ Nho Vietnamese.

Since the adoption of the Latin alphabet in the early 20th century, the Chinese-derived writing systems in Vietnam are no longer used.

See also

• Classical Chinese
• Chinese character
• Old Chinese