Chinese literature thrives in Vietnam

[Photo/IC]

Visiting Dinh Le street in Vietnam' s capital Hanoi, it is not so difficult to find publications of Chinese literature here. Numerous bookshops stand close together along the 200-meter long street, making Dinh Le a "book street" in Hanoi.

At a bookshop named "Hoang" on Dinh Le street, Chinese books are seen displayed along a two-meter by three-storey bookshelf near the entrance with mainly classical literature and romantic novels being the prevalent themes. At other stores, Chinese books are also displayed at eye-catching areas.

"Sales of Outlaws of the Marsh, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and other Chinese classical literature are good. Readers are both youngsters and elders," said Thanh, a shop staff.

According to Thanh, Vietnamese readers like this kind of book because they are interested in stories of heroic men who are brave and chivalrous. There are also elderly people who buy those books they have read years ago and now want to collect them.

"Days ago, there was one old man who bought the full sets of Outlaws of the Marsh and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Thanh told Xinhua.

"Sales of works of Chinese contemporary and modern writers, including Mo Yan and Lu Xun, are also stable, unlike romantic novels which are 'hot' only when they are newly published," a manager of "Hoang" bookstore said, adding that readers of Mo Yan, Lu Xun's books and other Chinese classical works in Vietnam vary in ages, while romantic novels attract mainly youngsters.

After winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012, Chinese writer Mo Yan has become more popular in Vietnam, while Lu Xun has a specific reputation in the country with two of his works being printed in Vietnamese literature textbooks.

"I like reading Chinese novels, including those of Louis Cha Leung-yung, because I like stories of heroic men with superior martial arts skills," a male reader in his 30s told Xinhua. Meanwhile, Linh, a Vietnamese student at a university in Hanoi talked to Xinhua while she was choosing Chinese romantic novels. " I like Chinese romantic novels as they tell stories with attractive narrative which is closely related to daily life."