Việt Nam: OVERVIEW: Historical background

Previous | Next

OVERVIEW:

Introduction

Historical background

Regulation

Training

Current issues

Historical background

Royal printing block (VN History Museum)

Whilst basic woodblock printing was in use at the royal court and in larger regional administrative centres from an early date and movable type from at least the later Lê era, printing had little impact on ordinary Vietnamese people until the late 19th century, when the French colonial government adopted quốc ngữ as the official Vietnamese script and introduced modern European lithographic printing equipment to both Hà Nội and Sài Gòn.

By so doing the French colonial authorities unwittingly sowed the seeds of their own eventual demise, facilitating the rapid spread of literacy and creating a powerful tool for the propagation of patriotic and anti-colonial ideas. By the end of the century printing houses had sprung up in most major centres of population to meet the growing demand for books, journals and newspapers, in both quốc ngữ and French.

The early decades of the 20th century marked a significant period for home-grown literary development, particularly in the north of Việt Nam where Vietnamese romantic fiction and poetry were published widely in books and journals. However, after 1930, as the anti-French movement gathered pace, revolutionary novels, poems and political tracts steadily supplanted the carefree literary output of the previous decade. Throughout this period Vietnamese printing presses were always fully stretched.

The basic infrastructure of today’s publishing sector began to take shape after the 1945 Revolution when, in response to the demand for books and newspapers, several new publishing, printing and distribution agencies were set up. These included the Sự thật (Truth), Văn hóa Cứu quốc (Culture for National Salvation), Lao động (Labour) and Vệ Quốc quân (National Defending Army) publishing houses and the Việt Nam National Printing Service (Việt Nam Quốc gia ấn thư cục), Cứu quốc (National Salvation) and Lao động (Labour) printers and the Cứu quốc General Department of Book and Newspaper Distribution (Tổng Phát hành sách báo Cứu quốc).

However, the most significant milestone in the development of the Vietnamese publishing sector was reached in 1952, when President Hồ Chí Minh signed Order 122/SL (10 October 1952) which established a National Printing House (Nhà In quốc gia) with responsibility for the state management of the three industries of publishing, printing and book distribution.

Printing Cult Products Co 2 (Tim Doling)

After 1954 many new publishing houses were set up in the north, including Giáo dục (Education), Thanh niên (Youth) and Phụ nữ (Women). By 1960 a total of 2,000 books and 34 newspapers and magazines were being published annually.

Meanwhile in the south publishing flourished from the late 1950s onwards, and particularly during the 1960s when new multi-coloured offset printing equipment was imported by the Americans. By the mid 1960s an estimated 3,000 books were being published each year in South Việt Nam by five major publishing houses – Khai Trí, Sống Mới, Nam Cương, Đồng Nai and Hiện Đại – and by many more smaller, regional ones. On the eve of Reunification in 1973 the south had 49 literature, art and education publishers, 26 childrens’ book publishers, 25 text book publishers and 43 scientific book publishers.

Printing Cult Products Co 3 (Tim Doling)

After Reunification in 1975 the southern print media sector was integrated with that of the north and harnessed to the cause of socialism. Northern equipment was upgraded with assistance from the Soviet Union, China and some East European countries, publishing, printing and distribution staff were sent overseas for training in offset technology, engraving, book binding and industrial management, and major paper pulp factories established in Việt Trì, Bãi Bằng and Tân Mai.

Since the 1990s under the open door policy many publishing officials have been sent to study contemporary printing and print-related technology in Germany, Japan, France, Sweden, Holland and other Western European countries and overseas investment has helped to upgrade the equipment of many leading printing houses, bringing about a steady improvement in the overall quality of publishing in Việt Nam.

At the time of writing the Vietnamese publishing sector comprises 304 printing companies (165 of which are privately owned and 20 of which are joint venture companies), 47 publishing houses (36 national and 11 regional) and 17 book distribution companies. In 2003 over 18,000 book titles were produced by a workforce of some 40,000 in the printing sector, 3,800 in the publishing sector and 2,000 in the distribution sector. In addition some 700 newspapers and periodicals are published annually by around 450 press organisations.

Previous | Next