As the largest IP in China's classical novels, The Journey to the West has many fans all over the world, but Koreans seem to be particularly keen on it, and the film and television industry will adapt it from time to time. The variety show "new journey to the west" in previous years is also very popular, and it has been produced for four seasons this year. Why are Koreans keen on adapting Journey to the West? What is the spread and acceptance of The Journey to the West in South Korea?
Korean drama "Flower Travel Notes" poster
Journey to the west spread eastward.
Due to the influence of geographical environment, Korean Peninsula literature has been influenced by China literature until the end of 19. Before the emergence of Korean characters in the middle of15th century, Chinese characters and Chinese characters were the only writing system on the Korean peninsula in recent 1500 years. This phenomenon is unique even in the whole East Asian cultural circle. For this reason, for a long time, China's classical literary works could be digested by scholars on the Korean Peninsula at that time without translation.
It is generally believed that The Journey to the West, a popular novel of China in the Ming Dynasty, was introduced into the Korean peninsula at the end of the Korean Dynasty (9 18- 1392). For example, a part of The Journey to the West Pinghua in Yuan Dynasty was included in the popular Chinese textbook "Ordinary Type" at that time. The compilation date of "Park Tong Shi" is 1347, from which it can be seen that The Journey to the West was introduced into Korea at the latest in the later period of Korea.
Now, the Yuan Dynasty's Journey to the West Pinghua is usually regarded as the mother tongue of The Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'en later. Unfortunately, the original work has been lost. Yongle Dadian only records the main content of Dream Breaking the Dragon, and the rest is unknown. The original version of "Park Tong Shi" contains the book "Che Chi Guo Dou Sheng", which provides first-hand materials for the study of The Journey to the West's early story forms.
"Tong Shi" in "Park Tong Shi" is a translation, and "Park Tong Shi" is a translation of Park's surname.
Journey to the West tells the story of Tang Sanzang and his disciples going to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures. The Koryo dynasty respected Buddhism, saying, "Li Zheng is extremely benevolent, and Buddhism forbids killing, so he is not a king, does not eat sheep gizzards, and is not good at slaughtering" ("Koryo Painting Sutra"), and built towers and temples everywhere, resulting in the national treasure of North Korea today. The launch of The Journey to the West at this time may have its background.
During the Koryo period, Bodhisattva Muguanyin was seated. It's at the Seoul National Museum now.
At present, the earliest document recorded in The Journey to the West that South Korea can confirm can be found in the Postscript to the Journey to the West, Happiness Draft, written by North Korean scholar Xu Yun (1569- 1665438). Volume 13:
"I have to say dozens of dramatists? There is a journey to the west. Out of the Sect, that is, Xuanzang learned from the scriptures. Its cover is slightly seen between the interpretation of the spectrum and the biography of monks, doubt and faith. Now his books are specially used for cultivation. For example, the Monkey King meditates, that is, refining himself, and the bodhi old zu palace steals Dan, that is, swallowing pearls. Making trouble in the Heavenly Palace, that is, refining the mind, waiting on the division to the west, that is, what car to carry, fire Enzan Ijuin and Hon Hai, that is, fire Hou, Heihe Tongtianhe, that is, retreat Hou. West to east, that is, the west tiger crosses the east dragon, and one day goes west, that is, the number of cluster days is saved at one time. Although it is diffuse, its words are not strong words, and all kinds of fake alchemy are also made, which cannot be abolished! "
After The Journey to the West was introduced into the Korean peninsula, it aroused great interest of scholars. Hong Wanzong's Five Records in Ten Days, Shen? There are all The Journey to the West's books, such as Li's "A Talk on the Spring" and "Dialectics of Novels". They even specially collected the incomprehensible vernacular words in The Journey to the West, first sorted out The Journey to the West's interpretation in the form of a manuscript, and then reprinted it, which was all the rage.
Now we know that The Journey to the West, the earliest Korean manuscript, was recorded in the cover page of "Reunion in Yuyuan Garden" by Zheng (1725- 1799) from 1786 to 1790. In addition, the preface to the translation of The First Strange Proverbs by Hong Yifu (1794- 1859) also mentions The Journey to the West, one of the representative novels of China, which was popular in late Korea.
Korean Translation in The Journey to the West
Needless to say, the spread and influence of The Journey to the West in China, after 1949, People's Literature Publishing House alone printed nearly 3 million copies, and other reprints and abridged editions are too numerous to mention. The influence is as Lu Xun said: "Cheng En is good at making jokes, telling the joys and sorrows of monsters close to human feelings, so everyone likes to watch them. "
The Journey to the West published by People's Literature Publishing House is the best-selling edition in China.
Although the Korean Peninsula was first introduced to The Journey to the West, the earliest foreign language translation was the contribution of the Japanese. Japanese novelist Nishida Wei began to translate the popular Journey to the West from 1758 under the pseudonym of Guomushan, and it was not officially completed until 183 1, after 74 years of efforts of three generations.
Korean translation in The Journey to the West appeared late, which is related to the particularity of local language development. You know, although Chinese characters were introduced to the Korean peninsula earlier, they did not create their own characters as early as the Japanese, but made continuous progress on the road of learning Korean culture. Even at the beginning of the creation of Korean characters in the15th century, it was opposed by some literati, because "from my ancestors, I was sincere in everything and always followed the system of China. Today, the same words are on the same track, creating proverbs and listening in horror (A Record of the Korean Dynasty). Of course, in the eyes of modern Koreans whose values have changed, the worship and attention to China literature at that time seemed to lack national autonomy. However, in a long historical period, the high level of China literature on the Korean Peninsula was not only affirmed by China, but also made them deeply proud.
This attitude didn't change until the Qing Empire was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War in 19. The status of Chinese characters in the East Asian cultural circle has quietly changed, and the national consciousness of the Korean Peninsula has also awakened with the world trend. As a symbol of national subjectivity, Chinese characters have begun to receive unprecedented attention.
After the end of World War II, due to Japanese colonial rule and Korean cultural policy after the war, people and intellectuals did not master China culture as well as before and could not directly digest China's classical literature. Therefore, works that annotate, translate and explain China's traditional literature in Korean came into being.
At present, there are mainly the following Korean versions of Journey to the West: 1, You Yonghan, Yin Minshe1966; 2. Jin Guangzhou, Andrew Society 1967 Edition; 3. Yu, Ruiwentang 1975; 4. Jin Guangzhou and Jin Haocheng, Civilization Hall 1983 Edition; 5. Companion, 1993 version; 6. An Yiyun, Samsung Press, 1994 edition; 7. Ren Hongbin, Society of Literature and Intellectuals, 2003 edition.
But in a strict academic sense, only Ren Hongbin has translated the real Korean translation. First of all, The Journey to the West published by Yin Minshe, Yin Zhengshe, Ruiwentang and Mingwentang has not been collated and inspected, and some translations have partially abridged the original poems or details, so it is not appropriate to call it a complete translation. The works published by "Companion" were translated collectively by Korean professors of Yanbian University in China, and then published in Korean, so they were not translated by South Korea. So is the translation published by Samsung Publishing House. Translator An is a Korean translator in foreign languages press, Beijing.
It was not until 2003 that Ren Hongbin's translation of The Journey to the West was published that it was regarded as a complete translation product completely independently completed by Koreans. In the preface, translator Ren Hongbin said that his translation was based on the version of Ten De Tang in Jinling in Ming Dynasty, that is, about 1587, and was cross-checked with Li Zhuowu's criticism of The Journey to the West in Ming Dynasty and six versions in Qing Dynasty.
In addition to the full translation, the intensive reading, fairy tales and cartoons of Journey to the West in Korea are also endless. Not only that, there are not a few master's and doctoral theses about Journey to the West among Korean college students.
Magical Thousand Characters: Korean Primary School Chinese Character Course
With the help of a large number of translations and the spread of popular culture such as comics, it is not difficult to understand why Journey to the West has such a solid mass base in South Korea, and even becomes a right-hand man for Korean primary school students to learn Chinese characters.
"Magic Thousand-character Text" was originally based on The Journey to the West's adaptation of Chinese characters to learn comics. Comics try to let children learn Chinese characters naturally by telling stories. Since the publication of the first volume in June 2003, it has quickly become popular among Korean children.
The hero of the story is the Monkey King of Huaguoshan. One day, in order to resurrect the demon king who was sealed in the thousand-character tablet three thousand years ago, the devil king's subordinate, the devil incarnate, broke into Guo Huashan to look for the thousand-character tablet scattered all over the world and injured Guo Huashan's monkey. The Monkey King saw the magical power of Chinese characters. In order to protect Huaguoshan, he decided to fight the devil incarnate and become powerful by learning Chinese magic. Entering Daoshu Island, I studied under McDonnell Douglas, and learned Chinese character magic with good friends such as Sanzang and Yutong. Later, in order to save Sanzang, who was bewitched by the Chinese characters of the Great Devil, and prevent the Great Devil from resurrecting, Wukong and his friends launched a thrilling adventure in heaven.
In 2004, the cartoon was rated as "Top Ten Best-selling Goods in 2004" by Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI), and was also recommended as an excellent reading for teenagers, won the Cultural Industry Revitalization Fund of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and was awarded the Education Industry Award of the Korea Publishing Ethics Committee. Subsequently, derivative products such as musicals, handheld games, movies, animations, TV series were launched one after another, and children's food was produced in cooperation with Haoliyou and Lotte Company, which became a model of multi-functional and entertaining publications in Korean publishing industry.
The magical effect and adventure theme of fantasy make the magic thousand words very popular with children.
What needs to be explained is that the comic magic thousand-character works only absorb the material of the characters in Journey to the West, and tell the adventure stories of the Monkey King, Sanzang and others who learn China magic and fight against evil forces. The main reason for its great success lies in highlighting the localization and adaptation of Korean national characteristics.
For example, The Journey to the West's main content is that Tang Priest and his disciples went to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures, and they experienced 81 difficulties on the way. The magical thousand-character essay tells that the Monkey King learned Chinese magic with his friends and collected thousands of pieces to prevent the resurrection of the Great Devil.
In addition, there are two honorifics in Korean. Friends can use honorifics for each other, for younger generations, and for elders or strangers. Otherwise, it is impolite and disrespectful. The Monkey King in the cartoon didn't use honorifics at first, but spoke to everyone in plain language. But when he wanted to learn from McDonnell Douglas, McDonnell Douglas accepted him as an apprentice on the condition of honorific words. This not only embodies the characteristics of Korean, but also shows the thinking mode and cultural tradition of respecting teachers and teaching in Korean society.
For example, in the role setting, Sanzang in Magic Thousand Characters is a kind girl who loves to learn, while Pig Bajie, as the grandfather guarding Magic Thousand Characters on Pig Island, has only appeared in one episode, and the Monkey King's weapon golden hoop has also been changed into a pen that can write Chinese characters and talk.
As we all know, Korea and Japan belong to the cultural circle of Chinese characters. Korean is a kind of phonography, in which there are more than half of Chinese characters. The ancient Korean peninsula absorbed China's writing and culture. At that time, many official documents were recorded in Chinese characters, and Chinese character education had a long history. After King Sejong of South Korea issued "Training the Correct Voice of the Nationals" in 1446, the use of Korean language gradually became popular, but Chinese characters still occupy an important position in the daily life of Koreans. In modern times, due to the increasing awareness of the concept of modern nation-state, South Korea's writing policy is tangled and changeable, hovering between the policies of Korean-only, Korean-Chinese use and adding Chinese characters. As a result, the whole society is confused about Chinese characters.
Correcting people's pronunciation means "teaching people to pronounce correctly". It was not until the15th century that the Korean peninsula created a writing system suitable for marking Korean pronunciation.
Now Koreans are more and more aware of the significance of Chinese characters for the sustainable development of Korean language and Korean national civilization. On the other hand, China's growing comprehensive national strength and international status have also caused a persistent "Chinese fever" in South Korea. As a result, various publications on children's Chinese character learning came into being and became popular. The best-selling of the magic thousand-character script reflects this point.
Since its publication, The Magical Thousand-character Text has won unanimous praise from Korean education and publishing circles. As a successful case of entertaining, it not only spawned cartoons and movies, but also cooperated with Japan to make a Japanese version of the Chinese character learning animation "Taiji Thousand Characters".
"Tai Chi Thousand Characters" is a TV animation co-produced by Toyo Animation in Japan and KBS***, a state-run broadcasting company in South Korea, which has received great praise from the educational circles.
A few years ago, there was a farce that The Journey to the West was "conquered" by South Korea on the Internet. The reason is that there are news reports that after long-term and unremitting argumentation by Korean scholars, it is confirmed that the origin of the myth story of Westward Journey is undoubtedly South Korea, which immediately aroused large-scale condemnation from domestic netizens. But it turned out to be false news.
Abuse is no substitute for thinking. In fact, compared with the struggle for the right of invention, how to make the classic traditional culture develop creatively in modern society is really worth learning from Koreans.