''Bak Tongsa'' () is a textbook of colloquial northern Chinese published by the

Bureau of Interpreters The Bureau of Interpreters or Sayŏgwŏn was an agency of the Joseon government of Korea from 1393 to 1894 responsible for training and supplying official interpreters. Textbooks for foreign languages produced by the bureau aimed to accurately de ...

in Korea in various editions between the 14th and 18th centuries. Like the contemporaneous ''

Nogeoldae The ''Nogeoldae'' ('Old Cathayan') is a textbook of colloquial northern Chinese published in Korea in several editions from the 14th to 18th centuries. The book is an important source on both Late Middle Korean and the history of Mandarin Chinese ...

'' ('Old Cathayan'), it is an important source on both Late

Middle Korean Middle Korean is the period in the history of the Korean language succeeding Old Korean and yielding in 1600 to the Modern period. The boundary between the Old and Middle periods is traditionally identified with the establishment of Goryeo in 91 ...

and the history of

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

. The ''Nogeoldae'' consists of dialogues and focuses on travelling merchants, but ''Bak Tongsa'' is a narrative text covering society and culture.

Editions

The original Chinese text was written in the mid-14th century, but it is no longer extant. The ''Bak Tongsa'' and the ''Nogeoldae'' were very popular, and are mentioned in Korean records of 1426 as required texts for government translators. In 1480, the royal instructor ordered revisions of both textbooks to match the very different Middle Mandarin of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. In 1517, the Korean scholar

Choe Sejin Choe Sejin (, ͡ɕʰwe̞ sʰed͡ʑin 1465 – February 10, 1542) was a Korean linguist, and a translator and interpreter of the Chinese language during the Joseon Dynasty. He is of the Goesan Choe clan and his courtesy name was Gongseo (공� ...

augmented this edition with Chinese pronunciations written in

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

and a Korean translation. This edition is now conventionally called the ''Beonyeok Bak Tongsa'' (飜譯朴通事 New Translation of Pak the Interpreter) to distinguish it from the original. This edition was believed to have been lost during the Manchu invasions of Korea, but one volume was rediscovered in the 1950s. The Korean version is written in a colloquial style, giving unique insight into Late

. The ''Bak Tongsa eonhae'' (朴通事諺解 Vernacular Exposition of Pak the Interpreter) was published in 1677. Prepared when the earlier ''Beonyeok Bak Tongsa'' was believed lost, this edition was based on Choe Se-jin's ''No-Bak Jimnam'' (老朴集覽 Glossary of the ''No eoldae' and ''Bak ongsa').. The Chinese text is identical with that of the ''Beonyeok Bak Tongsa'', but the pronunciations and the Korean translation were completely revised. ''Bak Tongsa Sinseok eonhae'' (朴通事新釋諺解 New Edition Vernacular Exposition of Pak the Interpreter), a further revision by Kim Chang-jo, was published in 1765.

References

Works cited * * * * * *

External links

* {{commons category-inline, 朴通事新釋諺解, ''Bak Tongsa Sinseok eonhae'' * ''Bak Tongsa Sinseok eonhae'' at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

vol. 1vol. 2

Joseon dynasty texts
at the

Academy of Korean Studies Academy of Korean Studies (한국학중앙연구원, AKS) is a South Korean research and educational institute with the purpose of establishing profound research on Korean culture. It was established on June 22, 1978, by Ministry of Education & ...

, including ''Bak Tongsa eonhae'' and ''Bak Tongsa Sinseok eonhae''. Chinese-language education Korean language Old Mandarin 14th-century books

Editions

References

Further reading

External links