越南銘文及鄉村碑文簡介

Introductions of ancient Vietnamese Inscriptions and Stone Steles in Country Sites

越南銘文（主要是碑銘）以其繁多的數量成為漢喃文獻遺產中的重要部分。越南銘文與其它筆寫資料相比具有地理分布範圍為廣，年代譜寬為大，涉及內容為多，是研究者最信賴的一種原本資料。碑銘雖出於漢文化的來源，但越南碑銘最突出的特點是它在民間普遍性，特別是為越南最小行政單位的社村人民所盛行利用以記載和流傳他們日常生活各種活動的普遍方式。在越南周年雨量大、濕度高的熱帶天氣和過去兵火連綿的條件下，在長久留存目的方面上，碑銘已成為代替筆紙媒體資料的一種合理選擇。碑銘主要是為人民日常生活的需要而編立，因此它能真實反映越南過去鄉村中政治、社會、經濟等眾多方面情況，其中最突出的是越南民間特別盛行而許多筆紙資料常未注重涉及的「後碑」問題。

Vietnamese inscriptions (mainly epitaph) became an important part in Han Nom Heritage due to their great number. Vietnamese inscriptions, compared with other written documents, had wider geographical distribution and longer time span as well as concerned more contents, which are one of sources researchers rely on the most. Though epitaph originated from Han culture, Vietnamese epitaph has its own prominent characteristic - popularity in non-governmental circles. In particular, inhabitants of the smallest administrative unit in Vietnam, namely village, are more likely to use epitaph to record activities in their daily life and pass them down. Under the conditions of heavy rainfall and high humidity in tropical weather systems throughout the year in Vietnam as well as continuous wars in the past, epitaph, easier to preserve, has become a reasonable substitute for pen and paper. Epitaph is created primarily to meet inhabitants' need in daily life; therefore, it can authentically reflect dimensions including politics, society and economy in Vietnamese village before. “Post epitaph” (or “Hou Bei”), especially popular among Vietnam citizens and neglected in written documents, plays the most significant role.