Orthodox Church Published Classical Chinese NT

Apparently the Orthodox Church in China already published a New Testament in Classical Chinese:

While Fr Isaiah with the passing of time made the language of his translations ever simpler, Fr Gury preferred to use the classical language instead, making his text not too close to the original. After 1864, that text^[7] for a long time was not republished, and so it gradually became forgotten. Thus I. Korostovec in his historical account of the Beijing Spiritual Mission does not mention at all of its existence^[8]. As a matter of fact, even in our time the translation work of Fr Gury did not arouse much attention from the researchers^[9].

As the quote states, it was soon forgotten. I have been unable to locate an online version of this translation. As for Catholics, John C. Wu did publish a Classical Chinese translation of NT and a loose paraphrase of the Psalms almost a century after in the 1946 and online versions can be found easily. Also, The Protestant Chinese Union Version was supposed to be published in Classical Chinese, before the translators decided to only make a vernacular Mandarin translation.

價家(가가) – The Ga Family: An Exercise in the Korean Language

價家(가가)

The Ga Family

價家暇:
가 가족이 휴가할떼:
When the Ga family rests,

跏, 稼柯, 可加枷, 訶佳佳哥
책상다리하고, 가지를 심고, 가히 칼을 들고, 좋은 노래를 부르다.
Sits cross-legged, plants eggplants, carries a knife, and sings a very beautiful song

價家賈:
가 가족이 장사할떼에
When the Ga family works,

價嘉珂嫁, 加假架, 駕軻,苛
가양은 시집가고, 큰 시렁을 들고, 수레를 타고, 서둘다.
Ms. Ga Gaga gets hitched, gets a large shelf, rides a cart, and hurries up

呵呵.
Laugh, laugh.

한글이 부족하다고 논증하기 위해, 이 詩(시)를 써다. 이 詩에 모든 한자의 음독은 “가”이며 경상도 사투리를 흉낸다.
I wrote this poem to show that Hangul cannot capture everything. All the characters here is read as “가” and is an imitation of the Gyeongsangdo dialect.

卿是磐石 – Tu Es Petrus – Updated Translation

I have updated this translation, and have added translation notes. I translated the hymn “Tu Es Petrus” (Thou Art Peter) in support of the Holy Father when he was being criticized for his comments on AIDs in Africa. I originally posted it on my previous blog, but since I have taken it down I have posted it here as well.

敎宗聖下, 卿是磐石. (교종성하, 경시반석)
(Papa nostra), Tu es Petrus – 교종성하, 경은 반석이오,

玆磐石上, 朕建敎會. (자반석상, 짐건교회)
et super hanc petram ædificabo ecclesiam meam – 이 반석위에 짐이 교회를 짓겠소.

地獄之門, 不破夫矣. (지옥지문, 불파부의)
et portæ inferi non prævalebunt adversus eam – 지옥의 문은 교회를 파멸하지 못한다.

朕下賜卿, 天堂之鍵. (짐하사경, 천당지건)
Et tibi dabo claves regni cælorum – 짐은 경에게 천당의 열쇠를 하사하겠소.

Notes:

1. 敎宗(교종) is the archaic term for “Pope” in Korean, however is still used by Chinese-speaking Catholics
2. I used the royal first person pronoun (朕, 짐) in reference to Jesus Christ.
3. I used the character “卿” for “thou” for Peter. It has the double meaning of “thou” and “minister” (벼슬).
4. Likewise, the word for a royal bestowal 下賜(하사).

Phonology of Classical Chinese – 施氏食獅史

I am not too familiar with how Classical Chinese was actually pronounced, but I know some of my readers are. interested in the subject. I found this poem written in the 20th century in Classical Chinese, called the “Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den” on Wikipedia:

《施氏食獅史》

石室詩士施氏，嗜獅，誓食十獅。

氏時時適市視獅。

十時，適十獅適市。

是時，適施氏適市。

氏視是十獅，恃矢勢，使是十獅逝世。

氏拾是十獅屍，適石室。

石室濕，氏使侍拭石室。

石室拭，氏始試食是十獅。

食時，始識是十獅，實十石獅屍。

試釋是事。

The entire poem is pronounced “shi” in Mandarin Chinese. The poet did this to show how impractical Classical Chinese is as a spoken language and to promote vernacular Chinese (though I still think it’s a pretty good written language). It also showcases how far modern Mandarin has developed from when Classical Chinese was actually spoken. When pronounced in Korean or Japanese Onyomi, or even other dialects of Chinese, there are other separate distinct syllables. Here is how the poem would be pronounce had it been read using Korean Hanmun pronunciations:

시씨식사사 (Shi-Ssi-Shik-Sa-Sa)

석실시사시씨 기사 서식십사 (Seok-Shil-Shi-Sa-Shi-Ssi, Gi-Sa Seo-Shik-Ship-Sa)

씨시적시시사 (Ssi-Shi-Jeok-Shi-Shi-Sa)

십시, 적십사적시 (Ship-Shi, Jeok-Ship-Sa-Jeok-Shi)

시시, 적시씨적시 (Shi-Shi, Jeok-Shi-Ssi-Jeok-Shi)

씨시시십사, 시시세, 사시십사시세 (Ssi-Shi-Shi-Ship-Sa, Shi-Shi-Se, Sa-Shi-Ship-Sa-Shi-Se)

씨습시십사시, 적석실 (Ssi-Seup-Shi-Ship-Sa-Shi, Jeok-Seok-Shil)

석실습, 씨사시식석실 (Seok-Ship-Seul, Ssi-Sa-Shi-Shik-Seok-Shil)

석실식, 씨시시식시십사 (Seok-Shil-Shik, Ssi-Shi-Shi-Shik-Shi-Ship-Sa)

식시, 시식시십사, 실십석사시 (Shik-Shi, Shi-Shik-Shi-Ship-Sa, Shil-Ship-Seok-Sa-Shi)

시석시사 (Shi-Seok-Shi-Sa)

In the Korean reading, there are more syllables than just “Shi.” To be exact, there are 11 distinct syllables: 기, 사, 세, 석, 습, 시, 식, 십, 실, 씨, 적.

Korean Bible Translations

The Catholic translations of the Bible into Korean have seemed to me a bit pedestrian. The language used is quite vulgar and not elevated. To get a idea of the difference for the English speaker, imagine the difference in language between the extremely pedestrian NAB versus the highly elevated (and sadly archaic) Douay Rheims Bible. The reason that I have deduced why the Korean language used in Catholic translations of the Holy Bible is so pedestrian is that these were originally targeted for the poor and uneducated. However, we no longer find ourselves in such a situation. I find even Protestant Korean translations better in this respect. Here is an example of Gospel of according to St. John Ch. 1, verse 1 from a few Korean translations.

1. Korean Bible Association (Protestant) – 요한복음

태초에 말씀이 계시니라 이 말씀이 하나님과 함께 계셨으니 이 말씀은 곧 하나님이시니라

2. Four Synoptic Gospels (Catholic) -  四史福音 (聖 요왕 복음)

一 비롯음에 말씀이 계시고 말슴이 또 천주께 계시니 말  씀이 곧 천주시러라.

3. 200th Anniversary New Testament (Catholic) – 200주년 신약성서 – (요한 복음서)

1. 맨 처음에 말씀이 계셨다. 말씀이 하느님과 함께 계셨으니 그 말씀은 하느님이셨다.

4. Ecumenical Translation (Catholic-Protestant) – 공동번역성서 – (요한복음서)

1. 한처음, 천지가 창조되기 전부터 말씀이 계셨다. 말씀은 하느님과 함께 계셨고 하느님과 똑같은 분이셨다.

As you can see, the Protestant translation is the least pedestrian out of all of them, having used such terms as “태초(太初).” The fourth one sounds more like a paraphrase than an actual translation.

For those of you that are interested Classical Chinese, John C. H. Wu also made a translation of the New Testament and of the Psalms in 1946 (Pope Pius XII wrote the preface), and this first line is in the following manner:

一 太初有道，與天主偕。道即天主，

Some of us might find his translation more suitable to such a noble genre of translations of Holy Writ. Unfortunately, for those that prefer more direct translations, his translation is rather poetic and overly florid. However, Abbot Dom Pierre Celestine Lou mentioned earlier in this blog, wrote the following of John C.H. Wu’s translation:

The whole evangelical account and exposition of Saint John attains for us Chinese, in this so faithful version of Mr. Wu Ching-hsiung, a beauty and a profundity that the versions in alphabetic languages could never equal for us! It offers to us the announcement of the Good News in such a manner that, as I am intimately assured, Saint John himself would have presented and written it, if God had disposed that he should be a Chinese and had made him one.

To find out more on John C. H. Wu, here is a short biography.

朝鮮王朝實錄 – Annals of the Chosun Dynasty

Those of you who are interested in Hanmun from Korean sources should check out the Annals of the Chosun Dynasty. The Korean Government has taken its time and effort to scan and digitize the records of the last Korean dynasty. Readers can find important figures and events detailed in these records. For instance, you can find one of the first Korean Catholics, Yi-Seunghun:

Yi-Seunghun (李承薰) mentioned in the Annals

There are three formats available: the Korean translation, the original Hanmun text digitized, and the scan of the manuscript itself. For this particular line:

以金熙采爲平澤按覈御史。 初, 李東郁子承薰, 濡染西洋天主敎, 居澤縣三年, 不拜聖廟。

김희채(金熙采)를 평택 안핵 어사(按覈御史)로 삼았다. 당초 이동욱(李東郁)의 아들 이승훈(李承薰)이 서양의 천주교(天主敎)에 물들어 평택 고을에 사는 3년 동안 공자의 사당에 참배하지 않았다.

My translation from the Hanmun checked with the Korean:

Kim Heuichae (金熙采) became a royal spy (按覈御史) in Pyeongtaek (平澤). At first, the son of Yi-Donguk (李東郁), Seunghun (承薰), became imbued with western Catholicism, and in the three years he resided in the town of Pyeongtaek, he did not bow down at the [local] holy shrine (聖廟).

To get an idea how offended the Confucian court officials at the time were at this idea of not attending to the local ancestral shrine, we see the following a little later on:

敎曰: “君師父一體, 不拜於其君其父者, 非人類, 卽禽獸。

[we] teach and proclaim: “the king, the teacher, and the father are of one body (一體), and he who does not bow down (拜) to that king, teacher, or father, is not human, but a beast.”

Primer on Classical Chinese – Copulative

I apologize that I have not posted any more posts on Hanmun grammar in awhile. I have decided to break it down into smaller chunks. This particular post is on copulatives. A copulative is the main linking verb, which in English is “to be.” So for example, in the sentence “the bike is blue” the verb “is” here is the copulative. There are primarily three ways to express this in Classical Chinese.

1. Implicit (no verb)

No character is written between the two nouns being linked by a copulative.

山高水長 (산고수장) – 산이 높고, 물이 길다.

The mountain (山) is high (高); the water (水) is long (長).

In some cases a final character (終結詞) is added. I believe the character 也 is more often to express this. Be careful as 也 has multiple other meanings. Here is another example from 禮記 of 中庸 (Doctrine of the Mean, 중용):

天地之道：博也，厚也，高也，明也，悠也，久也. (천지지도, 박야, 후야, 명야, 유야, 구야) – 천지의 道는 넓다, 두텁다, 높다, 밝다, 멀다, 영원하다.

The Tao (道) of (之) heaven and earth (天地) is (也): wide (博), thick (厚), high (高), bright (明), distant (悠), and eternal (久).

2. 是

This character too has multiple meanings. It can be a demonstrative (“this”) and an adjective (“to be correct”). 是 can be also used for “to be” in Classical Chinese, and is still used in this manner in modern Chinese. Here is an example from the Records of the Grand Historian (史記):

此必是豫讓也 (차필시예양야) – 이 사람은 반드시 예양이다.

This person (此) must (必) be (是) Yeyang (豫讓也).

3. 爲

This character too has several meaning such as “to do”, “to become”, or “for the purpose of.” It also can mean “to be.” Here is an example from the Analects:

知之爲知之, 不知爲不知 (지지위지지, 불지위불지) – 아는 것은 안다는 것이고, 모르는 것은 모른다는 것이다.

The thing (之) one knows (知) is (爲) the thing (之) one knows (知), the thing that one does not know (不知) is (爲) the thing one does not know (不知).

Out of the three covered here, in Korean texts, the character 也 is used as the copulative more often rather than the verbs 是 or 爲, as it mimics “-이다” which too appears at the end of a Korean sentence. In summary, here are the three ways to say “John (若望) is a boy (少年).”

若望少年(也) – (약망소년야)

若望是少年 – (약망시소년)

若望爲少年 – (약망위소년)

Feast of St. Mary Magdalen

St. Mary Magdalen

Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalen. This particular saint has garnered much controversy in modern times. This is because she was identified as the same sinner and penitent of the one found in Luke 7:36-50 by the Latins and was often depicted as a prostitute in later paintings. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia states that the Synoptic Gospels are not explicit about whether the Mary in Luke 7:36-60 is different from Mary Magdalen or Sister of Martha , and gives an explanation on the following on the subject:

… But here again we note that there is no suggestion of an identification of the three persons (the “sinner”, Mary Magdalen, and Mary of Bethany), and if we had only St. Luke to guide us we should certainly have no grounds for so identifying them. St. John, however, clearly identifies Mary of Bethany with the woman who anointed Christ’s feet (12; cf. Matthew 26 and Mark 14). It is remarkable that already in 11:2, St. John has spoken of Mary as “she that anointed the Lord’s feet”, he aleipsasa; It is commonly said that he refers to the subsequent anointing which he himself describes in 12:3-8; but it may be questioned whether he would have used he aleipsasa if another woman, and she a “sinner” in the city, had done the same. … St. Luke may have veiled her identity precisely because he did not wish to defame one who was yet living…

Jon Huer Would Hate This Blog

I found this article by John Huer called “Is Korean Language Scientific?” on the Korea Times. This article is so thoroughly erroneous, ridiculous, and offensive to reason and to Korean culture, and even counter-productive to what he proposes, that I have decided to comment on it and make a few points on this blog. I am not a linguist by training, so forgive me if I use jargon incorrectly.

1. Equivocation of the Korean language with the “scientific” Korean script (id est, Hangul): “the pride of Korean heritage is the reference to the Korean Language being the most-scientifically-superior among world languages.” I doubt he understands that many Koreans would not call the language itself “scientific.”
2. It is undesirable that there be a diversity in a language: “ [T]here are actually two Korean languages, one formal-written and the other colloquial-spoken!… but the difference is nothing like the gap between Korea’s Chinese-based language and its street variety.” In typical liberal fashion, he would like to see, no impose, uniformity, and views differences as inherently evil and undesirable.

3. The difference between formal and informal/colloquial are entirely class-based:  “The latter is the heavily Chinese-based version that members of the Korean elite…. The spoken variety is the ordinary street-level colloquial Korean used by commoners in family and interpersonal relations in everyday life.”  For one, formality in Korean also exists between members within a family.

4. Foreigners cannot possibly know Korean. This assertion is absurd.

The Onion Bought by the Chinese

In other news, The Onion, a source of fake, satirical news, has been taken over by the Chinese. The original owner has announced in a column that he has done so, because:

[The Chinese] offered to pay me what I’ve been assured is an appropriately absurd parcel of riches to take this tiresome publication off my feeble hands for good.

The Onion now appears like this. Will it be using Mixed Script (混用)? Who knows!

Onion