thông thư

Một người già đang đọc cuốn thông thư dưới ánh đèn.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Popular almanac: A traditional, commonly used folk calendar or almanac, often containing practical information about dates, weather, agricultural cycles, and auspicious timings.
   • Commonly used reference book: Historically refers to a widely circulated manual or reference text for daily life.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Ông tôi thường tra cứu ngày lành tháng tốt trong cuốn thông thư cũ. (My grandfather often looked up auspicious days in the old popular almanac.)
  • Thông thư là một loại sách không thể thiếu trong đời sống nông nghiệp xưa. (The popular almanac was an indispensable type of book in past agricultural life.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "thông thư" is now considered archaic and is primarily encountered in historical or literary contexts describing pre-modern Vietnamese society.

Variants and Related Words

• Lịch thông thư (n): Another term for a folk almanac, emphasizing its calendar function.
  • Anh ấy sưu tầm các loại lịch thông thư cổ. (He collects ancient folk almanacs.)

Synonyms

• Almanac: An annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information.
• Folk calendar: A traditional calendar used by common people.
• Ephemeris (technical): A table of astronomical data, though more scientific than a folk almanac.

Notes on Usage

• "Thông thư" is an obsolete term. In modern Vietnamese, similar concepts are referred to as "lịch" (calendar) or "lịch vạn niên" (perpetual calendar).
• It specifically denotes a book for popular use, not an official or royal calendar.