明清时期汉语在暹罗的传播

The Dissemination of Chinese in Siam in Ming and Qing Dynasties

明清时期,汉语在暹罗的传播主要有官方和民间两种途径。官方层面的传播围绕着朝贡贸易活动开展,交流需求促使暹罗官员到中国国子监学习汉语,朝贡物品出现汉文书籍、砚台,来华朝贡的暹罗使臣主动学习汉文诗词,具有传播方式单一、传播范围狭窄、传播内容固定的特点;民间层面的传播在多次华人移民潮影响下,出现汉文小说的口头与书面流传、家庭华文教育等多种传播途径,该层面传播方式具有自发性、灵活性和长久性的特点。总体来说,汉语在暹罗的传播情况并不理想,原因一是古代泰国与中国交往较少,却深受印度文明影响,以印度文字为基础创制本国文字,汉字失去进入泰语书写系统的可能性。二是暹罗对于中国的战略地位不如越南重要,仅在满足朝贡贸易的交流需求后便不再有官方推动汉语传播的举措。

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties,the spread of Chinese in Siam was mainly through government and nongovernment channels.The official dissemination revolved around tributary trade activities.The demand for exchanges prompted Siamese officials to study Chinese at the Imperial College of China.Chinese books and ink stones appeared on tributary items.The Siamese envoys who came to China for tribute took the initiative to learn Chinese poetry.This kind of dissemination is of characteristics like single mode,narrow scope and fixed content;under the influence of multiple waves of Chinese immigrants,dissemination at the non-governmental level has resulted in multiple dissemination channels such as oral and written dissemination of Chinese novels and family Chinese education.This mode of dissemination is of spontaneous and flexible and long-term characteristics.On the whole,the spread of Chinese in Siam is not ideal,and the reasons are as follows:First,ancient Thailand had little contact with China,but was deeply influenced by Indian civilization.Based on Indian characters,Chinese characters lost the possibility of entering the Thai writing system.Second,Siam’s strategic position to China is not as important as Vietnam.Therefore,Siam does not have the high language,cultural education and communication costs to“transform foreigners in Chinese”.Only after meeting the exchange needs of the tributary trade,will there be no official measures to promote the spread of Chinese.