我造文字故我在──論泰國文字的創制，兼談西夏文與越南文

I Made Script Therefore I Am: On the Creation of Thai Script and That of Western Xia and Vietnam

「我思故我在」，同理，我造文字故我在。從「我造文字」這一點上，就能推論出我的存在。無論我所造的是什麼文字，都表示必然有一個造字的實踐者，那就是「我」；因此，「我存在」是無庸置疑。同理，我的國家創制了專屬於我國的文字，這證明我的國家是存在的。藉由創制專屬於本國的文字，成員們可以想像彼此是一個共同體，並凝聚彼此的向心力；甚至能把這種想像以及本國的文化給書寫下來，傳諸久遠。本文以古今三個東亞國家（泰國、西夏、越南）為例，談論其造字之舉，以及東亞民族主義建構的現象。這三國雖然不同，但他們都圍繞在中華帝國周邊，也在印刷資本主義出現之前就已經存在；他們創制或採用另一套文字來作為官方書寫系統，以建立國家認同，並強化自我的主體性。在這過程中，文字扮演了核心角色；它發揮了社會連結動因的功能，使原本互不認識的人們能連結起來，想像彼此是一個共同體。而且，它讓新國家之成員明瞭，自己的國家與前統治／干涉內政者有所差別。創制文字，讓那些受到強權或大國之統治、干涉或欺侮得較弱或較小的國家，有了一個自主的天地或場域，一個證明自己存在的利器，一個凝聚民心的重大工具，也讓較弱及較小的國家，能藉由文字為自己的文化而戮力，並為自己的天地或場域而辯護。

I think therefore I am. Likewise, I create script therefore I am. Based on the fact that I create script, I infer my existence. No matter what kind of script I create, there must be a practitioner of script, that is, “I”; therefore, there is no doubt that “I exist.” Similarly, the fact that my country has created its own script proves that my country exists. By creating a script specific to a community or a country, members of the unity can imagine that they shape and form a united community. This article takes three East Asian countries as examples to discuss their creation of script and the construction of East Asian nationalism. Although the three countries were different in terms of time and space, they were all near the borders the Chinese empire and existed before the emergence of print capitalism. They all tried to reconfirmed their own independence by creating or adopting a particular set of script as their official writing systems in order to establish national identity and to strengthen their own subjectivities when they attempted to keep away from the interference of foreign domination. In the process, script played a key role. It functioned as a social bonding agent, enabling people, who did not know each other, to connect with each other and to imagine that they were a community. Moreover, it made it clear to the members that the new country was different from the former ones. The creation of script gave the weaker or smaller countries that were ruled, interfered in, or bullied by powerful empires an autonomous field, a tool to justify their existence, and a way to unite their people and to work for their own cultures.