Abstract
Mirroring the glossing traditions of literary Sinitic in Japanese kanbun kundoku and Korean sŏktok kugyŏl, Vietnam has also been theorized to have a similar system for vernacular interpretation of classical Chinese texts. While Japanese and Korean glossing practices have been extensively studied, evidence for Vietnamese equivalents has remained understudied. This article provides an examination of reversal marks in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts from the Cảnh Phước Collection currently held at the University of Kyoto. Several of these manuscripts have extensive glossing in the Nôm script. The reversal marks provide evidence of gloss-based reading practices, indicating a method for reordering classical Chinese syntax to match Vietnamese word order.
Introduction
The vernacular exegesis of classical Chinese texts across East Asia has given rise to a variety of glossing traditions, most notably Japanese kanbun kundoku (漢文訓読) and Korean sŏktok kugyŏl (釋讀口訣). These systems employ a range of annotation techniques such as including glosses and reading marks to facilitate the reading of literary Sinitic. While the Japanese and Korean traditions have been the subject of scholarly attention, the existence and nature of comparable practices in Vietnam remain understudied. This article focuses on several manuscripts in the Cảnh Phước Collection currently held at the University of Kyoto. These manuscripts were originally stored at Wat Samananam Borihan in Bangkok until 1978. The collection contains several Buddhist and Daoist texts. Some of these texts contain extensive glossing written in “chữ Nôm”, a Chinese-based script formerly used to write Vietnamese; for example, Phật thuyết thiên địa bát dương kinh (佛説天地八陽經), which was examined by Shimizu Masaaki in 2024 (Masaaki, 2024). Shimizu Masaaki dated the text as having been compiled in the nineteenth century, based on naming taboos present in the text and the chữ Nôm characters used in the text. The glosses are referred to as “giải âm” (解音) in Vietnamese. The term “giải âm” has the meaning of “to explain in national pronunciation”. “Âm” (音) is a clipping of the term “quốc âm” (國音; “national pronunciation”) which was used to refer to Vietnamese. The glossing in the manuscripts can be sorted into two categories: (1) Character-by-character glossing, in which individual characters or compounds are glossed by their Vietnamese equivalents written to the right of the base text. (2) Commentary glossing, in which a line or passage of the base text is followed by commentary written in smaller script (Figure 1). Notably, reversal marks are attested only in manuscripts employing character-by-character glossing (Kosukegawa and Whitman, 2018:42). A preliminary survey of the collection identifies six manuscripts that contain such reversal marks. This article aims to explore these marks, their usage, and their role in gloss reading.

Comparison of types of glossing in Vietnamese texts: (left) character-by-character gloss from Dương tiết diễn nghĩa 陽節演義 (1890), R.1958; (right) commentary gloss from Thượng dụ huấn điều sao bản giải âm 上諭訓條抄本解音 (1834), R.2033.
Background
Japanese kanbun texts are commonly read in Japanese using various symbols to aid in comprehension. Japanese uses marks such as kaeriten (返り点) that indicate reading order. Reten, a type of kaeriten, written as レ is used to indicate that the character should be inverted and read as such similar to the marks found in the Vietnamese manuscripts (Alberizzi, 2014). Korea sŏktok kugyŏl (釋讀口訣) like kanbun kundoku (漢文訓読) places these various marks on the left, while Vietnamese glossing is primarily on the right with some exceptions (Nguyễn, 2020; Satoshi, 2014).
Reversal marks
In the manuscripts, the reversal marks exclusively appear in texts containing character-by-character glossing. The mark (ン) is typically written as a dot and upwards stroke (Figure 2). It is sometimes used with ⌝ to mark the beginning position of the phrase. When the mark is used, the reading order of the character or phrase is reversed to match Vietnamese word order. This denotes some form of gloss reading (huấn độc; 訓讀 1 ). There are cases where a reversal mark should be used; however, it is instead glossed with chữ Nôm equivalent phrase.

Comparison of glossed and unglossed texts: Sa di luật nghi yếu lược tăng chú 沙彌律儀要略增註 (1881) (left) glossed (WS017) and (right) unglossed (TN.080).
Six manuscripts have been identified to contain reversal marks (Table 1).
List of manuscripts containing reversal marks.
*Indicates manuscripts where the number of reversal mark instances is likely greater or less than reported due to scribal inconsistency.
The most notable manuscripts are 沙彌律儀要略 2 and [二十四孝] 3 , which display systematic usages of this reversal mark in a range of cases. In regard to 沙彌律儀要略, the reversal mark is sometimes used; however, in many cases, it is simply written as ⌝ and ⌟ (Figure 3).

Instance of reversal mark in 沙彌律儀要略. Here, 乙 (left of the marks) is also written, which indicates inversion of the word order (Galambos, 2014).
Nouns
The most straightforward usage of this reversal mark is to invert the positions of adjectives modifying nouns. In literary Chinese, adjectives precede the nouns they modify, in Vietnamese, adjectives generally follow the noun. This difference creates the need for a reversal mark to indicate that the elements of the classical Chinese phrase should be read in reverse order to produce a grammatically natural Vietnamese gloss.
Here are a few examples from SDLN and NTTH: (Literary Chinese abbreviated as LC, Reversed order abbreviated as RV, and Giải âm abbreviated as GA.) LC:不知其爲⌝ RV:不知其爲 GA:庄別使𫜵 (He) did not know that were caused by having filial heart. [NTTH 16a:3] LC: ⌝ RV: GA: People, because of their desires, ruin their own lives and lose their family. [SDLN 6b:2] (Figure 4). LC:紂作⌝ RV:紂作 GA:𤤰紂𫜵 King Zhou (of Shang) made wine pools, (because of it) his state was destroyed. [SDLN 9a:4].

The example involving thế nhân (世人) already had đời người (𠁀𠊛) glossing it with reversal marks placed to the right of it (WS017).
The glosses in SDLN are slightly different from NTTH in that some cases already have chữ Nôm equivalents glossed first then the reversal marks are added. This further shows that the text was being gloss read (huấn độc; 訓讀).
Proper nouns
There are several cases where the reversal marks appear in phrases involving proper nouns, such as personal and place names. Typically, in literary Chinese, possessors are placed before the noun that they are possessing; while in Vietnamese, it is the opposite where it is placed after the noun. The reversal mark in this context marks that it should be inverted to match a grammatically correct Vietnamese reading. In “giải âm” texts, the focus marker “ngươi” (𱱺) is often prefixed to personal names. Here are two examples of personal name phrases from NTTH:
LC: ⌝ RV: GA: Xiang's younger brother, Wang Lan saw his mother ordering Xiang around rudely. [5b:4] LC: 虐使祥妻⌝ RV: 虐使妻祥 GA: 媄虐遣𡞕𱱺祥 When Xiang's wife was harshly treated, Lan's wife would also step forward to share the burden with her. [6a:1]
This second example is particularly interesting as Tường thê (祥妻) was not marked but already written out in the gloss as vợ ngươi Tường (𡞕𱱺祥). Lãm thê (覽妻) was not glossed in the text but was marked with the reversal mark (Figure 5).

In the gloss, vợ ngươi Tường (𡞕𱱺祥) is written, while Lãm thê (覽妻) is marked (WS004).
Prepositions and locative phrases
A significant amount of reversal mark cases involves prepositions. In classical Chinese, noun phrases are typically constructed as such: Đình LC: 毎當晚间先卧⌝ RV: 毎當晚间先卧 GA: 恒皮𣇜最𠓀𦣰 Every evening, (he) would first lie down on the bed. [11a:1]. LC: 入⌝ RV: 入 GA: 𠓨 He entered Shenshan, he did not avoid hardship. [11a:1]. LC: 無論⌝ RV: 無論 GA: 空計 No matter, in the house; there was nothing. [10a:2]. LC: 漢丁蘭父母⌝ RV: 漢父母丁蘭 GA: 茄漢吒媄𱱺丁蘭 During the Han dynasty, Ding Lan lost his parents early. [8a:1].
In contrast to Vietnamese word order:
Here are a few examples from NTTH:
In the last example, we can see an unmarked glossing of tảo táng (早喪) on page 4a:3. It is written the same as the example above. We can see that it is also inverted. Thâm Sơn (深山) was also glossed with chốn (准) meaning a place. This is typically used for place names. The glosses in Vietnamese texts involving people, place names, and certain occupations typically add classifiers and focus markers not found in the original text. Examples include nhà (for dynasties), kẻ (for various occupations and roles), ngươi (for personal names), chốn (for place names), and cái (for animals and certain objects) (Nguyễn, 2025a, 2025b). In NTTH, these examples are marked with a half circle marker and the accompanying gloss.
Phrases containing 之
In one of the more complicated cases, the reversal mark is also seen in phrases containing 之. Commonly in “giải âm” texts, 之 is translated into Vietnamese as chưng (蒸). This particle has a wide range of usages in Chinese translation (Phan, 2024). One important usage is its genitive function. Here is an example from NTTH: LC: 上堂如聞⌝ RV: 上堂如聞 GA: 𠓨茄朋𦖑 Entering the hall, it was like hearing the sounds of his parents. [8a:3] (Figure 6). LC: 其母⌝ RV: 其母 GA: 使媄 Whatever food his mother ate, he personally always presented it to her. [16b:3].
In this case, the reversal mark is placed in between chi thanh (之聲), marking it to be inverted. This forms the typical construction A 之 B becomes 蒸 B A, as Washizawa (2019) describes.

Examples of the reversal mark (ン) (WS004, WS007).
Other examples outside the collection
Traces of this gloss reading tradition can be found in a mention in the article, Sự học chữ Hán thuở xưa với bây giờ (Nguyễn, 1932): Rồi ta nghe mấy ông thầy họ cắt nghĩa thử ra sao: “Nhân, người; chi, chưng; sơ, đầu: tánh, tánh; bổn, vốn; thiện, lành…” Trời ôi! cho hạng bác sĩ đời nay họ nghe, họ cũng còn chẳng biết nói gì thay, chớ đừng nói thứ con nít chưa sạch mũi! Then I heard those teachers try to explain it like this: “Nhân means ‘người’; chi means ‘chưng’; sơ means ‘đầu’; tánh means ‘tánh’; bổn means ‘vốn’; thiện means ‘lành’…” Good heavens! Even if today's so-called doctors were to hear that, they wouldn’t know what to say; let alone little children who haven’t even wiped the snot from their noses yet. Nhưng “Đại học chi đạo” mà giảng nghĩa là “Chưng đạo đại học” thì cũng hoàn toàn không hiểu. Không hiểu là tại cái tiếng “chưng” ấy. Tiếng “chưng” đó của ta, hình như nó đã chết đâu mấy ngàn mấy trăm năm về trước. But if “Đại học chi đạo” is explained as “chưng đạo đại học”, it is still completely incomprehensible. The problem lies precisely with the word chưng. That chưng of ours seems to have died out thousands upon thousands of years ago.

Chưng đạo sách đại học is written here as 蒸道𱏺大𭓇.
The reversal mark is also seen in other books such as Khai tâm hán văn giáo khoa (1924), a Vietnamese classical Chinese primer. The usage of the mark in this book is consistent with the cases in the six manuscripts. The mark is systematically used to indicate inversion of word order for reading. The author, Nguyễn Đạo Quán describes the mark as such, “If a character next to it has a mark of two upward dots, then learn by reversing the order; read the bottom character as the top.” (Chữ nào bên cạnh mà có dấu hai cái chấm hất, thời học đảo nghĩa chữ dưới lên trên; 14) (Figure 8).

The reversal mark can be seen in between noun and prepositional phrases.
In chữ Nôm, there also a couple of attestations of characters being read semantically. One such example is the word mấy (𠇍/
; “some”).
itself is a variant of nhĩ (爾). So why was it used to write mấy when the reading nhĩ is not phonetically similar? Nhĩ (爾) was often glossed as mày (眉; “you”) in “giải âm” texts (Figure 9).

Nhi 厼 is shown as a variant of 爾, glossed with Vietnamese mày.
Discussion
The character-by-character glossing is most likely to be the beginning step in making a commentary glossing. The reader first interprets the text while glossing the equivalent words. After this, the reader re-reads the text and adds classifiers, focus markers, and reversal marks. This is comparable to Japanese saidoku moji (再読文字) where a character is read twice. After the completion of the glossing, it can be made into a commentary gloss where additional explanations can be added from classical Chinese commentaries (Figure 10).

Transition from character-by-character glossing to commentary gloss.
One example can be seen in Tứ thư ước giải (四書約解) (1839). Held at Viện Nghiên cứu Hán Nôm, Hanoi, call number AB.270/1-5: on page 30b of the second volume, a translation of the Doctrine of the Mean, there is the sentence that reads:
Phàm hữu huyết khí giả, mạc bất tôn thân, cố viết phối thiên. (凡有血氣者,莫不尊親,故曰配天。) All who have blood and breath unfeignedly honor and love him. Hence it is said, “He is the equal of Heaven.” Hễ người có huyết khí ấy, chăng là chẳng tôn làm nguyên hậu ánh như cha mẹ, vì vậy rằng sánh trời. (係㝵固血氣意,庄羅拯尊𫜵 Each person who has blood and breath, there was no one who didn't respect him as an illustrious emperor who was like a parent (to them), therefore it is said that (he) can be compared to heaven (Figure 11).
5
如吒媄,爲丕浪𡖼𡗶。)

Tứ thư ước giải (四書約解; AB. 270) and 學庸正說 (CADAL06055093).
This is interesting as the original text did not say anything about the subject, or any mentions about 元后 and cha mẹ. However, in 學庸正說, a Ming dynasty work annotating the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, it reads: 則莫不尊之,曰真 Tắc mạc bất tôn chi, viết chân There was no one who didn't honor him, calling him the true emperor; admiring his virtue which was limitless, there was no one who didn't feel close to him, saying he is like our parent.
Conclusion
This article has demonstrated that the reversal mark attested in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts functions as a systematic reading aid for vernacular interpretation of classical Chinese. The analysis has identified several recurring cases in which reversal marks appear: adjective–noun constructions, possessive noun phrases involving proper nouns, prepositions and locative expressions, and phrases containing 之. In each case, the mark indicates an inversion for producing a grammatically natural Vietnamese reading. These patterns reveal a method to gloss-based reading (huấn độc; 訓讀), comparable in function to Japanese kanbun kundoku and Korean sŏktok kugyŏl traditions.
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Footnotes
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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1.
In Japanese, it is written as 訓読, while in Vietnamese texts, it is written as 訓讀. Attested in Nam học Hán tự (1943).
2.
Abbreviated as SDLN.
3.
Abbreviated as NTTH.
4.
Usage of chưng appears to have died out around the nineteenth century.
5.
Possibly a naming taboo variant of 暎. Used to avoid writing Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎; 1762–1820)'s name.
References
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