<p>it's 寶藏院, roughly &quot;the courtyard (院) of treasure (寶藏)&quot;</p>
<p>the right one is 寶:</p>
<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%AF%B6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%AF%B6</a></p>
<p>middle one is 藏:</p>
<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E8%97%8F" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E8%97%8F</a></p>
<p>left one is 院:</p>
<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E9%99%A2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E9%99%A2</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T11:33:44.520Z
The characters are right, but I wouldn't provide a literal translation per character. **Bảo tàng viện** or **viện bảo tàng** is just the Vietnamese word for *museum*.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T11:41:40.003Z
@水巷孑蠻  I wonder why the left one is a little stretch. By the way, FYI, as droooze has pointed out, Vietnamese use the combination "寶藏" to indicate "museum".
Vincent J. Ruan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T11:43:17.107Z
@drooze It seems that, to use "寶藏" for "museum" is rather unique for Vietnamese. By the way, I wonder why the character for "viện" is a bit unlike the picture.
Vincent J. Ruan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T11:45:34.947Z
@VincentJ.Ruan I think bảo tàng is more commonly spelt in chữ Hán as **保藏** (*preservation*). 寶 is a homonym of 保 (in both Vietnamese and Chinese), so it works out. I agree with you too, I question the choice of 院, but I was also going to answer this question and 院 was going to be my best guess as well. I see what you mean though, in Korean and Japanese they're both called 博物館 like Chinese.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T12:04:23.407Z
@droooze You raise an interesting question: Did Vietnamese mistakenly use "寶藏" instead of "保藏"? The mistake might be due to the homonyms (or homophones) AND two different meanings are relevant in this context.
Vincent J. Ruan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T12:16:50.737Z
@VincentJ.Ruan on Wiktionary, both are listed as valid spellings (see https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/b%E1%BA%A3o_t%C3%A0ng). I don't have a comprehensive Vietnamese dictionary on hand (one that lists a Chinese origin, if any), so I can't independently confirm whether these are both valid spellings. What is true is that 寶藏 and 保藏 are both valid Chinese words, so I think both spellings are valid for *museum*. If someone wants to express the meaning *treasure* or *preservation* instead, obviously they are no longer interchangeable.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T18:04:24.840Z
oooops, my ignorance :(
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-12-15T11:19:39.860Z
2020-06-27T01:34:41.903Z
2020-06-27T01:34:41.903Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>Since visiting the museum, I've been very curious about these three characters (shown below). I've unsuccessfully tried to search it on the Internet. Their pretty calligraphic style is one of the reasons why I failed. Also, there is a possibility that these characters are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%E1%BB%AF_N%C3%B4m" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chữ Nôm</a>.</p>

<p>Now I'm here to seek help. What are these characters?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/VZKqI.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/VZKqI.png" alt="Three characters"></a></p>

<characters><traditional-characters><classical-chinese><character-identification>
Three Chinese characters (?) on the entrance of the History Museum of Ho Chi Minh city (Characters identified: 寶藏院)
# Three Chinese characters (?) on the entrance of the History Museum of Ho Chi Minh city (Characters identified: 寶藏院)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-15)

Since visiting the museum, I've been very curious about these three characters (shown below). I've unsuccessfully tried to search it on the Internet. Their pretty calligraphic style is one of the reasons why I failed. Also, there is a possibility that these characters are [Chữ Nôm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%E1%BB%AF_N%C3%B4m).

Now I'm here to seek help. What are these characters?

[![Three characters](https://i.sstatic.net/VZKqI.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/VZKqI.png)

**Tags:** characters, traditional-characters, classical-chinese, character-identification


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-12-15. Score: 4

it's 寶藏院, roughly "the courtyard (院) of treasure (寶藏)"

the right one is 寶:

<http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%AF%B6>

middle one is 藏:

<http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E8%97%8F>

left one is 院:

<http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E9%99%A2>

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: The characters are right, but I wouldn't provide a literal translation per character. **Bảo tàng viện** or **viện bảo tàng** is just the Vietnamese word for *museum*.  
> **username_0**: @username_1  I wonder why the left one is a little stretch. By the way, FYI, as droooze has pointed out, Vietnamese use the combination "寶藏" to indicate "museum".  
> **username_0**: @drooze It seems that, to use "寶藏" for "museum" is rather unique for Vietnamese. By the way, I wonder why the character for "viện" is a bit unlike the picture.  
> **username_2**: @VincentJ.Ruan I think bảo tàng is more commonly spelt in chữ Hán as **保藏** (*preservation*). 寶 is a homonym of 保 (in both Vietnamese and Chinese), so it works out. I agree with you too, I question the choice of 院, but I was also going to answer this question and 院 was going to be my best guess as well. I see what you mean though, in Korean and Japanese they're both called 博物館 like Chinese.  
> **username_0**: @droooze You raise an interesting question: Did Vietnamese mistakenly use "寶藏" instead of "保藏"? The mistake might be due to the homonyms (or homophones) AND two different meanings are relevant in this context.  
> **username_2**: @VincentJ.Ruan on Wiktionary, both are listed as valid spellings (see https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/b%E1%BA%A3o_t%C3%A0ng). I don't have a comprehensive Vietnamese dictionary on hand (one that lists a Chinese origin, if any), so I can't independently confirm whether these are both valid spellings. What is true is that 寶藏 and 保藏 are both valid Chinese words, so I think both spellings are valid for *museum*. If someone wants to express the meaning *treasure* or *preservation* instead, obviously they are no longer interchangeable.  
> **username_1**: oooops, my ignorance :(  

---

