Definitions

1. Noun:
   • Chinese book/Chinese text: Refers to a book or document written in Chinese characters, often implying classical Chinese literature, historical records, or scholarly texts.
   • The Book of Han (Hàn Shū): Specifically, it can refer to "Hàn Shū" (漢書), a classical Chinese historical text covering the history of the Western Han dynasty, compiled by Ban Gu.

Usage Examples

• Noun (General Chinese text):

  • Trong thư viện có nhiều hán thư cổ. (The library has many ancient Chinese books.)
  • Ông ấy nghiên cứu hán thư để hiểu về triết học Trung Hoa. (He studies Chinese texts to understand Chinese philosophy.)

• Noun (Specific historical text):

  • Hán thư là một trong Nhị thập tứ sử của Trung Quốc. (The Book of Han is one of the Twenty-Four Histories of China.)
  • Các sử gia thường đối chiếu Hán thư với *Sử ký.* (Historians often compare the Book of Han with the Records of the Grand Historian.)

Advanced Usage

• "kinh điển hán thư": classical Chinese texts/canons.
  • Anh ấy chuyên về các kinh điển hán thư. (He specializes in classical Chinese texts.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hán văn (n): Chinese writing/literature; the Chinese language, especially classical.
• Thư tịch Hán Nôm (n): Sino-Nom bibliographic texts; refers to old texts written in Chinese characters or Nom script in Vietnam.

Synonyms

• Sách chữ Hán: Book in Chinese characters.
• Văn bản Hán ngữ: Chinese language document/text.

Notes on Meaning

• The term "hán thư" is primarily used in academic, historical, or literary contexts in Vietnamese. In everyday conversation, "sách tiếng Trung" (Chinese language book) is more common for modern books.
• When capitalized as a proper noun ("Hán Thư"), it almost exclusively refers to the specific historical text "The Book of Han."