When the village gate "prefers"... Chinese characters
(Baohatinh.vn) - The Van Xa village gate (Lam Trung Thuy commune, Duc Tho, Ha Tinh) has just been built, but the prominent display of the village name and parallel sentences in Chinese characters has caused disagreement.
Báo Hà Tĩnh•12/06/2025
Van Xa village gate (Lam Trung Thuy commune) was built from about June to November 2024. The gate has 3 doors: the main door is 6m wide; two side doors, each 1.2m wide. The side doors are for decoration only, not used for traffic. The main door has 4 roofs (two main roofs and two gable roofs). The roofs are covered with red tiles, combined with white paint to create harmony for the project. The gate is designed with two pillars, both shaped like a pen. The main pillar and the main face of the gate are covered with Chinese characters (traditional Chinese characters) running from the top of the gate to the bottom. The two secondary pillars are covered with Vietnamese characters. The main face of the gate is painted dark brown, with large yellow Chinese characters (traditional Chinese characters) written on the top; Van Xa village written on the bottom in smaller letters. Through research, it was discovered that the village gate was sponsored 100% by a native of Van Xa village. The gate at the entrance of the village was completed at the end of 2024...
... and the gate leading out of the village is under construction. “Our people are very happy that the village gate was built spaciously and beautifully. It is the pride of the whole village. However, most people do not understand the content of the large embossed Chinese characters on the main pillar. Perhaps the small Vietnamese characters on the secondary pillar are a translation," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam, a resident of Van Xa village. The village gate mainly uses Chinese characters, while Vietnamese characters are displayed in smaller sizes or are "translated" which is somewhat inconvenient when the majority of people today, especially the younger generation, cannot read Chinese characters. Through research, the translation is also in Chinese - Vietnamese characters, causing confusion for readers.
Also in Duc Tho district, at large-scale village gates like the Dong Thai village, people still choose to express cultural values in the national language in calligraphy style. This method is considered more reasonable, contributing to preserving the soul of the village.According to Ms. Le Thi Huyen Trang - Head of the Department of Culture, Science and Information (People's Committee of Duc Tho district), the construction of the village gate is decided by the locality and the village. The unit has not received any notice about the construction of the Van Xa village gate of the commune. If the construction process is not suitable, we will propose to edit it to be in accordance with the customs and traditions, protecting the cultural and aesthetic values in the area.
The Chinese characters on the Van Xa village gate were created by computer, so the strokes are stiff and lack softness. The Chinese characters on the main column and the "translation" on the side column are not close to the meaning, and lack coherence and brevity. With the characteristics of hieroglyphics, Chinese characters are highly decorative but difficult to understand for most people. Currently, many village gates have chosen to engrave Vietnamese characters written in calligraphy, which is both familiar and suitable for the space of Vietnamese villages.
Dr. Nguyen Tung Linh
Vice President of Ha Tinh Literature and Arts Association
Video : Village gate in Duc Tho stands out with Chinese characters.
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