chưng

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕɨŋ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕɨŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [cɨŋ˧˧]

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 張 (“to set out, to display”, SV: trương). Doublet of trưng and trương.

chưng

1. to show off, to sport

Sino-Vietnamese word from 蒸 (“steam”).

chưng

1. to distill

• chưng cất

In pre-modern writing of a more colloquial nature and original works, chưng was used as a preposition to indicate place and time. However, this particle/preposition was also a literary device widely used in translation of Chinese texts, as a "stand-in" of sort for the Chinese markers 之 (zhī) and 夫 (fú). See Washizawa (2017) for more information.

chưng

1. (obsolete) in; on; at

   • 祼將于京 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     祼将于京 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Quán tương vu kinh [Pinyin]

     Assist at the libations in [our] capital

   • late 18th - early 19th century CE, Thi kinh đại toàn tiết yếu diễn nghĩa (詩經大全節要演義 "Explaining the Meanings of the Essentials in the Classic of Poetry"), volume IV, page 2b:

     淬𲆾助祭烝几𢄂茹周

     Rót rượu trợ tế chưng kẻ chợ nhà Chu.

     Assist at the sacrificial libations in the Zhou capital

   • late 17th - early 18th c. CE, Thiên Nam Ngữ Lục Ngoại Kỷ (天南語錄外紀 "Peripheral Records in the Language of the Southern Sky"), 63b

     碎俸蔑𠇮落典蒸低

     Tôi bỗng một mình lạc đến chưng đây.

     I suddenly became lost, alone, and ended up at this place.

2. (obsolete) due to; because
   • 古珠法雲佛本行語錄 Cổ Châu Pháp Vân phật bổn hạnh ngữ lục ("Record of what has been said about the origin and deeds of the Cloud Dharma Buddha at Cổ Châu"), Vietnamese translation possibly by Viên Thái 圓態, 1752 version, 4b

     𡛔庄固重麻䐗實時磊意蒸埃

     Gái chẳng có chồng mà chửa, thực thời lỗi ấy chưng ai?

     An unwed girl getting pregnant; verily, because of whose fault?

In the spoken/colloquial form of pre-modern Vietnamese, at least the compound vì chưng (“because of”) used to enjoy some popular usage, although the presence of chưng as a stand-alone word is much less widespread than in the various giải âm (解音) and giải nghĩa (解義) texts. Note the position of Chinese 之 and Vietnamese chưng in relative to 災／灾 (zāi, “disaster”) and "boiling water and fire" in the example below.

13th century (original Chinese), Trần Thái Tông, translated by Khoá hư lục 課虛錄, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

活(hoạt)遭(tao)湯(thang)火(hoả)之(chi)災(tai)

[If one is] to live [again], [they] would be subjected to boiling water and fire.

14th century (giải âm/giải nghĩa), giải nghĩa by Tuệ Tĩnh, Thiền tông khoá hư ngữ lục 禪宗課虛語錄:

群(còn)𤯩(sống)吏(lại)及(gặp)蒸(chưng)災(tai)渃(nước)燶(nóng)共(cùng)焒(lửa)催(thui)

Even [if] one is to be resurrected, [they] would be greeted with boiling water and scorching fire.