Two new perspectives on Chinese characters and Thai Boys’ Love films at the Faculty of Oriental Studies' scientific seminar

The Faculty of Oriental Studies continues its 2026 scientific seminar series with two thematic sessions on Sinology and Thai Studies.

On the morning of July 27, 2026, the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City, organized a regular scientific seminar for its faculty members and researchers, focusing on two topics in the fields of Sinology and Thai Studies.

The program was chaired and moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thi Hong Xuan, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies. Taking place from 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, the seminar attracted the active participation and discussion of numerous lecturers from the Faculty. This activity is part of the 2026 scientific seminar series, aimed at creating a forum to share research findings, exchange professional expertise, and strengthen academic connections among the various disciplines and specializations within the Faculty of Oriental Studies.

Opening the program, Dr. Ho Minh Quang, former Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies and lecturer in the Chinese Studies department, presented a report titled “Discussion on blind spots and misconceptions in Chinese character recognition.” The report analyzed common misunderstandings in the process of learning, teaching, and researching Chinese characters; it also clarified issues related to the origin, structure, evolution, and identification methods of Chinese characters from the perspectives of linguistics and philology.

Through specific examples, the report helped suggest a more cautious and scientific approach to Chinese characters, avoiding the reduction of Chinese characters to a purely pictographic system or interpreting script based solely on visual forms. The presented content holds practical significance in improving the effectiveness of teaching, learning, and researching Chinese language, script, and culture.

Continuing the program, M.A. Truong Vy Khang, a lecturer in the Thai Studies department, presented a report on “Constructing local identity in contemporary Thai Boys’ Love films.” The report focused on analyzing how the Boys’ Love (BL) genre recreates the cultural space, history, customs, and daily lives of localities in Thailand.

By selecting settings, building community images, utilizing cultural symbols, and introducing regional characteristics, the BL film genre not only contributes to constructing and promoting local identity but also creates significant impacts on tourism, cultural communication, and Thailand’s creative economy.

Besides analyzing typical case studies, the report also opened up theoretical discussions related to soft power, popular culture, transnational communication, and the potential for disseminating local and national images through contemporary cinema. This is a new research direction, showing the intersection between regional studies, cultural studies, media, and tourism.

The discussion session was lively, with many opinions exchanged by the participating lecturers. The feedback focused on clarifying research methods, interdisciplinary approaches, the possibility of expanding sources of material, and applying research results to teaching, guiding students and graduate students, and developing new research topics.

Many lecturers also shared further perspectives on the history of Chinese character formation and the relationship between form, pronunciation, and meaning of the script; they also discussed the role of cinema, digital media, and popular culture in the process of constructing, representing, and promoting local identity in Asian countries.

In her closing remarks, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thi Hong Xuan highly appreciated the serious preparation of the two speakers as well as the active and open academic spirit of the participating lecturers. The two topics reflected the diversity in the research orientation of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, ranging from foundational issues of language and script to contemporary cultural and media phenomena.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thi Hong Xuan emphasized that maintaining regular scientific seminars not only contributes to updating knowledge and sharing research results but also creates conditions to connect lecturers across different disciplines, promotes interdisciplinary approaches, and gradually forms research groups capable of long-term collaboration.

The Dean also encouraged lecturers to continue upholding the spirit of research, increase scientific publications, integrate research results into training activities, and proactively expand academic cooperation with research institutions, universities, and scientists both domestically and internationally.

The scientific seminar concluded at 11:30 AM on the same day, reaffirming the effectiveness of the regular academic seminar model in enhancing research capacity and building a dynamic, open academic environment at the Faculty of Oriental Studies.

In the coming time, the Faculty's 2026 scientific seminar series will continue to be implemented with diverse topics, tied to the research strengths of the disciplines and specializations, as well as new issues of interest to the domestic and international academic community.