Nom and John Balaban in today's New York Times

From: Dan Duffy <dduffy@email.unc.edu>

Date: Jun 15, 2006 6:38 AM

Subject: [Vsg] Nom and John Balaban in today's New York Times

Nice long article by Jane Perlez "Deciphering the Code to Vietnam's Ild

Literary Treasures", big photo by Doan Bao Chu of some characters on a

gate in Ha Noi. Page A4, Thursday, June 15, 2006.

From: will pore <willpore@gmail.com>

Date: Jun 15, 2006 9:03 AM

Subject: Re: [Vsg] Nom and John Balaban in today's New York Times

The attachment for the article Dan refers to in his message did not

seem to come through. Would it be easier to go to the NY Times online

to read it? Thanks.

From: Chung Nguyen <Chung.Nguyen@umb.edu>

Date: Jun 16, 2006 3:01 PM

Subject: RE: [Vsg] Nom and John Balaban in today's New York Times

A very informative story, about a subject that the young Vietnamese generation is not much aware of (mostly, I think, due to the fact that higschool students are longer taught Han (Chinese) characters). There is a small error in that fine piece.

It is not true that "Most of the Buddhist pagodas and temples in Hanoi are festooned with Nom calligraphy inscribed on pillars and altar tables." Or that "At the Temple of Literature, ...the names of Vietnam's most famous scholars from the Middle Ages are inscribed on gray stone stelae in Nom script."

The Temple literature stelae are all written in Han (Chinese) characters, and so are the great majority, if not all, of calligraphy displayed in pagodas or community halls.

-NBC