The event, organised by the Vietnam Research Institute of Han-Nom (Chinese - Vietnamese) and the US Vietnamese Nom Preservation Foundation, will hold sessions on Chu Nôm for linguists and Nôm-specific researchers and practitioners from around the world.

NOM 2004 has directed focus toward three topics:

- Presentation of basic research on Han Nom; the history of Chu Nom formation, scripts, functions linguistic and historical aspects, and issues arising from translation of Han Nom documents.

- Problems in building Han Nom repertoire of characters for research, the popularisation, utilisation, and teaching of Nom, with the help of informatics.

- Urgent issues in the preservation of Chu Nom.

Conference papers will be published in the Proceedings of NOM 2004, a copy of which will be published in Han Nom magazine, approximately three months after the Conference. This document will be entered in the libraries of major domestic universities.

Since 939 CE much of Vietnam’s literature, philosophy, history, law, science, and religion were inked in Nom. However, much of the understanding of the script is lost, after the 17th century advent of quoc ngu that emulates the roman-style script in the interest of wider literacy, as the usage of Nom faded to obscurity. Today, fewer than 100 scholars can read Nom.

According to the head of the Vietnam Research Institute of Han-Nom, Chu Nom is a cultural heritage of Vietnam, but many Vietnamese are only vaguely aware of it, some not even able to distinguish Chu Nom from Chinese script. The Conference is organised to save it from extinction. After the event, a Chu Nom font reader software package will be produced.

The event is to be held November 12 - 14 at the National Library of Vietnam in 31 Trang Thi Street, Hanoi.

Hoang Huong