Chữ nôm was a writing system developed in 13th century Vietnam that used Chinese characters to represent spoken Vietnamese. It flourished in the 18th century when many writers used it, and briefly became the official script. While quốc ngữ was created in the 17th century, chữ nôm remained more popular until the early 20th century when France mandated quốc ngữ in French Indochina. Some notable early Vietnamese works written in Classical Chinese and chữ nôm include Nguyễn Du's Truyện Kiều and poems by Hồ Xuân Hương.

2. before the 11th century, Vietnam was dominated by China and as a result
much of the written work during this period was in Classical Chinese. Chữ
nôm,
It flourished in the 18th century when many notable Vietnamese writers and
poets composed their works in chữ nôm and when it briefly became the
official written script.

3. Chữ nôm (字喃)
Works written in chữ nôm –
a locally invented demotic script based on Chinese characters - was
developed for writing the spoken Vietnamese language from the 13th
Century onwards. For the most part, these chu nom texts can be
directly transliterated into the modern quốc ngữ script and be readily
understood by modern Vietnamese speakers. However, since chữ nôm
was never standardized, there are ambiguities as to which words are
meant when a writer used certain characters. This resulted in many
variations when transliterating works in chữ nôm into quốc ngữ. Some
highly regarded works in Vietnamese literature were written in chữ
nôm, including Nguyễn Du's Truyện Kiều, Đoàn Thị Điểm's chữ nôm
translation of the poem Chinh Phụ Ngâm Khúc (征婦吟曲 - Lament of a
Warrior Wife) from the Classical Chinese poem composed by her friend
Đặng Trần Côn (famous in its own right), and poems by the renowned
poet Hồ Xuân Hương.

4. While the quốc ngữ script was created in the
17th century, it did not become popular outside
of missionary groups until the early 20th
century, when the French colonial
administration mandated its use in French
Indochina. By the mid-20th century, virtually all
Vietnamese works of literature were composed
in quốc ngữ.

5. The earliest surviving literature by Vietnamese writers are
written in Classical Chinese (called Hán Văn 漢文). Almost all of
the official documents in Vietnamese history were written in
Classical Chinese, as were the first poems.
Not only is the Chinese script foreign to modern Vietnamese
speakers, these works are mostly unintelligible even when
directly transliterated from Chinese into the modern quốc ngữ
script due to their Chinese syntax and vocabulary. As a
result, these works must be translated into colloquial Vietnamese
in order to be understood by the general public. These works
include official proclamations by Vietnamese kings, royal
histories, and declarations of independence from China, as well
as Vietnamese Poetry. In chronological order notable works
include:

6. In chronological order notable works include:
Chiếu dời đô or Thiên đô chiếu (Chinese:遷都詔) 1010, Edict on
transfer the capital of Đại Cồ Việt from Hoa Lư (modern Ninh
Bình) to Đại La (modern Hanoi).
Nam quốc sơn hà (南國山河) 1077, Mountains and rivers of the
Southern country, poem by general Lý Thường Kiệt
Đại Việt sử ký (大越史記) Annals of Đại Việt by Lê Văn Hưu, 1272
Hịch tướng sĩ (Dụ chư tỳ tướng hịch văn 諭諸裨將檄
文), Proclamation to the Officers, general Trần Hưng Đạo, 1284
An Nam chí lược (安南志略) Abbreviated Records of An
Nam, anon. 1335
Gia huấn ca (Chinese: 家訓歌 The Family Training Ode), a 976-
line Confucian morality poem attributed to Nguyễn Trãi 1420s

7. Lĩnh Nam chích quái (嶺南摭怪) "The wonderful tales of Lĩnh Nam"
14th Century, edited Vũ Quỳnh (1452-1516)
Đại Việt sử lược (大越史略) Abbreviated History of Đại Việt, anon.
1377
Việt Điện U Linh Tập (越甸幽靈集) Spirits of the Departed in the Viet
Realm, Lý Tế Xuyên 1400
Bình Ngô đại cáo (平吳大誥) or Cáo bình Ngô, Great Proclamation
upon the Pacification of the Ming Dynasty, Nguyễn Trãi 1428
Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (大越史記全書) Complete Annals of Đại
Việt, Ngô Sĩ Liên 1479.
Truyền kỳ mạn lục (傳奇漫錄, Collection of Strange Tales, partly by
Nguyễn Dữ, 16th Century

8. Hoàng Lê nhất thống chí (皇黎一統志) Unification Records of the Le
Emperor, historical novel ending with Gia Long. anon.
Chinh phụ ngâm (征婦吟) "Lament of the soldier's wife", the original
Chinese version by Đặng Trần Côn d.1745
Đại Việt thông sử (大越通史) history by Lê Quý Đôn 1749
Vân đài loại ngữ (芸臺類語) encyclopedia Lê Quý Đôn 1773
Phủ biên tạp lục (撫邊雜錄) Frontier Chronicles Lê Quý Đôn 1776
History of the Loss of Vietnam (越南亡國史 Việt Nam vong quốc
sử), by Phan Bội Châu in Japan in 1905