Discussion on Books Exchange Between China and Vietnam Based on Envoys from Vietnam

Abstract

Vietnamese envoys played an important role in the history of book exchange between China and Vietnam. During their mission, they not only spread the books of Vietnam to China, and also brought many books of China to their country, including the promotion of the circulation between Chinese and Vietnamese books. The last is a special phenomenon in the history of book exchange. On the one hand, Vietnamese envoys brought their own or Vietnamese literati' works to invite Chinese literati to review the preface and postscript, then brought them back to Vietnam for printing. On the other hand, they modified and translated Chinese books and transmitted them to Vietnam, and then these works spread to China someday, forming the other circulation form of book exchange. Thus, the former was a circulation of Vietnam-China-Vietnam, while the latter was a circulation of China- Vietnam-China. It is of great significance for Vietnamese envoys to promote the exchange of books between China and Vietnam, since it promotes culture exchange and communication.