General Literary Chinese from Scratch/In Discourse with Jibong

thumb|300px|Chapter detailing brushtalks with Ryukyu ministers. Some scholars from East Asia would log their travels across different areas. Some of these sources are now the only ones for the culture and history behind many nations, such as Qocho and the Khmer Empire. Yi Sugwang 李睟光, also known by his pen name Chibong 芝峰, a Joseon diplomat, compiled an encyclopaedia called "Chibong Yusol" 芝峰類說, or, in English, "Topical Discourses of Chibong". In his book, he details exchanges with the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Ming dynasty (Great Ming 大明), Vietnam (Dai Viet 大越), and even Thai people (泰國人)! It is a brilliant representation of how we want to learn. In the last lesson, we discussed character variants. We will be looking at how these were received in pan-Asian culture. Yi Sugwang had a lot to say here. Grammar In this text, Yi Sugwang uses decently formulaic grammar, which is similar to what you have seen before. Let's talk about it! 謂甲為乙 This is, literally, "to call X Y". You need to use 為 "act as" to say this in Literary Chinese. 以甲 以 is one of the most important characters in Literary Chinese and recognising it as it appears is crucial. It literally means "to use, take, and/or bring," ans forms many idiomatic structures such as 以甲為乙, which would be to "take X as Y" or "use X as Y". 甲猶乙 猶 literally means "similar to"; it can also be "still or yet" when seen with verbs. 故 故 literally means "therefore, thus." These are extremely useful for writing arguments and experiences. You will see them a lot, and I strongly urge you to write using the words you know using these structures. Take notes using them. Text You will see a variant of 為, 爲, in this text, which is used quite often in Literary Chinese, especially more conservative texts. 芝峰類說·李睟光 倭國謂田爲畠。謂水田爲田。火田爲畑。猶我國以水田爲畓也。故官名有畠山殿。地名有畑島云。 Gloss 名 - Name, to be called 官 - Office 畠山殿 - Placename 畑島云 - Placename As you have now learned 名, I will start using this in glosses to describe nondescript things. For example... 畠山殿，地名。 臣，官名。 I want you to start using Literary Chinese to learn Literary Chinese over time! Discussion Which country uses 畠 and 畑? What is up with 田 in 倭國? What does Joseon call a 水田? Cangjie codes 李: 木弓木 (DND) 睟: 月山卜人十 (BUYOJ) 光: 火一山 (FMU) 芝: 廿戈弓人 (TINO) 峰: 山竹水十 (UHEJ) 類: 火大一月金 (FKMBC) 說: 卜口金口山 (YRCRU) 明: 日月 (AB) 越: 土人戈女 (GOIV) 泰: 手大水 (QKE) 國: 田戈口一 (WIRM) 謂: 卜口田月 (YRWB) 甲: 田中 (WL) 為: 戈大弓火 (IKNF) 乙: 弓山 (NU) 以: 女戈人 (VIO) 猶: 大竹廿金田 (KHTCW) 故: 十口人大 (JROK) 爲: 月竹弓火 (BHNF) 倭: 人竹木女 (OHDV) 畠: 竹日田 (HAW) 畑: 火田 (FW) 我: 竹手戈 (HQI) 畓: 水田 (EW) 也: 心木 (PD) 官: 十口中口 (JRLR) 名: 弓戈口 (NIR) 有: 大月 (KB) 殿: 尸金竹弓水 (SCHNE) 地: 土心木 (GPD) 島: 竹日卜山 (HAYU) 云: 一一戈 (MMI) 臣: 尸中尸中 (SLSL) References 《芝峰類說·李睟光》