Brushtalk
Brushtalk is a form of written communication using Literary Chinese to facilitate diplomatic and casual discussions between people of the countries in the Sinosphere, which include China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
History
Brushtalk was first used in China as a way to engage in "silent conversations". Beginning from the Sui dynasty, the scholars from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam could use their mastery of Classical Chinese to communicate without any prior knowledge of spoken Chinese.The earliest and initial accounts of Sino-Japanese brushtalks date back to during the Sui dynasty. By an account written in 1094, minister Ono no Imoko was sent to China as an envoy. One of his goals there was to obtain Buddhist sutras to bring back to Japan. In one particular instance, Ono no Imoko had met three old monks. During their encounter, due to them not sharing a common language, they held a "silent conversation" by writing Chinese characters on the ground using a stick.
The Vietnamese revolutionary Phan Bội Châu in 1905-1906 conducted several brushtalks with several other Chinese revolutionaries such as Sun Yat-sen and reformist Liang Qichao in Japan during his Đông Du movement. During his brushtalk with Liang Qichao, it was noted that Phan Bội Châu was able to communicate with Liang Qichao using Chinese characters. They both sat at a table and exchanged sheets of paper back and forth. However, when Phan Bội Châu tried reading what he wrote in his Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation, the pronunciation was unintelligible to Cantonese-speaking Liang Qichao. They discussed topics mainly involving the pan-Asian anti-colonial movement. These brushtalks later led to the publishing of the book, History of the Loss of Vietnam written in Literary Chinese.
During one brushtalk between Phan Bội Châu and Inukai Tsuyoshi,
File:Brushtalk 何如璋.jpg|thumb|350x350px|A brushtalk conversation between Qing diplomat and Japanese bureaucrat .
About a hundred of Phan Bội Châu's brushtalks in Japan can be found in Phan Bội Châu's book, Chronicles of Phan Sào Nam.
There are several instances in the Chronicles of Phan Sào Nam that mentions brushtalks were used to communicate.
Pseudo-Chinese
during his visit to Beijing in 2019 tweeted his schedule, but only using Chinese characters as a way of connecting with Chinese followers. While the text is not like Chinese nor is it like Japanese, it was fairly understandable by Chinese speakers. It is a good example of Pseudo-Chinese and how the two countries can somewhat communicate with each other with writing. The tweet resembled how brushtalks were used in the past.Examples
One famous example of brushtalk is a conversation between a Vietnamese envoy and a Korean envoy meeting in Beijing to wish prosperity for the Wanli Emperor. The envoys exchanged dialogue and poems between each other. These poems followed traditional metrics which was made up of eight seven-syllable lines. It is noted by Yi Su-gwang that out of the 23 people in 's delagation, only one person knew spoken Chinese meaning that the rest had to either use brushtalks or an interpreter to communicate.Two Poems in Presentation to the Envoys of Annam () – Korean question
These poems were compiled in the eighth volume of Yi Su-gwang's book, Jibongseonsaengjip.A Presentation to the Envoys of Annam, Part One
A Presentation to the Envoys of Annam, Part Two
Reply to the Envoy of Joseon, Yi Su-gwang () - Vietnamese response
These poems were compiled in Phùng Khắc Khoan's book, Mai Lĩnh sứ hoa thi tập.Reply to the Envoy of Joseon, Yi Su-gwang, Part One
Reply to the Envoy of Joseon, Yi Su-gwang, Part Two
Brushtalk with Lê Quý Đôn and I Sangbong
Another encounter with Korean envoy and Vietnamese envoy on 30 December 1760, led to a brushtalk about the dress customs of Đại Việt, it was recorded in the third volume of the book, Bugwollok,I Sangbong was fascinated with the Vietnamese custom of teeth blackening after seeing the Vietnamese envoys with blackened teeth.
A passage in the book, Jowanbyeokjeon, also mentions these customs,
The author Jo Wanbyeok was sold to the Japanese by the Korean military, but since he was excellent in reading Chinese characters, the Japanese traders brought him along. From there, he was able to visit Vietnam and was treated as a guest by Vietnamese officials. His biography, Jowanbyeokjeon records his experiences and brushtalks with the Vietnamese.
Brushtalks between Japanese and Vietnamese
Maruyama Shizuo, a journalist working in Vietnam noted that he held brushtalks with locals in his book, The Story of Indochina,In the 18th century Japanese book, An Account of Drifting in Annam, mentions a drifter's account in Annam.
File:阮潢 letter to 源家康.jpg|thumb|A copy of the 1607 letter sent by Nguyễn Hoàng to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
A letter sent from Nguyễn Hoàng to Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1607 shows the diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam during that period. The letter reads,
In media
- A scene in The Partner, a 2013 Japanese-Vietnamese historical film, showed a brushtalk between Phan Bội Châu and Inukai Tsuyoshi.
- In the 2006 Japanese television drama Attention Please, episode 2 features a scene where Yōko Misaki interacts with a Chinese traveler. They attempt to communicate using Chinese characters.