Beijing, Nov. 5 (ZXN) -- Why is the Japanese language mixed with Chinese characters? Why does Chinese script appear in Korean dramas? Chinese is written beyond time and space, which is why it has become the common language of East Asia. Although the East Asian world seems to be "the same language", different national cultures have developed in different countries. Therefore, the East Asian world behind the Chinese character cultural circle is actually different and complex.
Recently, New Classic Culture published the book "Chinese and the East Asian World" by Japanese and Korean scholar Kim Wen-kyung. The original Japanese version of this book is one of Iwanami's new books, which is praised as a model of comparative cultural studies, and is also the first academic popularization work introduced by Chinese mainland to introduce Chinese language training, so it has attracted the attention of many scholars at home and abroad.
On the evening of the 4th, Kohiko Baba , former editor-in-chief of Iwanami Shoten, Liu Xiaofeng, professor of history of Tsinghua University, Wu Guangxing, researcher of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Song Nianshen, professor of the Institute for Advanced Study of Humanities and Social Sciences of Tsinghua University, four guests from the academic world gathered together to interpret this classic work.
From left: Song Nianshen, Baba Gongyan, Liu Xiaofeng, Wu Guangxing, four guests from the academic world gathered together to interpret the book "Chinese Language and the East Asian World". Photo courtesy of New Classic Culture
A Korean rewrites his Japanese writings with Chinese
Jin Wenjing, the author of "Chinese and the East Asian World", was born in 1952, and this year is already a rarity. He was a professor and director of the Institute of Human Sciences at Kyoto University, Japan, and the chairman of the Japan China Society. He has devoted himself to the study of classical Chinese opera and novels for many years, and in recent years, he has also been interested in the history of exchanges between East Asian Chinese character cultural circles.
Kim Wen-kyung has a unique identity, he was born and lived in Japan, but retains his Korean citizenship. As a Korean in Japan, he chose to specialize in Chinese classical literature. He cared about Eileen Chang and Jin Yong, and once translated Jin Yong's novels into Japanese.
He is proficient in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Chinese, and surprises readers with his fluent Chinese. In the book "Chinese Literature and the East Asian World", he tries to re-establish the coordinate system of the Chinese character cultural circle from a unique East Asian perspective.
The Chinese edition of "Chinese and the East Asian World" was also translated into Chinese by Kim Wen-kyung himself, saying that it is a translation, which is actually equivalent to a new book, and the Chinese edition is rewritten for Chinese readers and adds the latest achievements in the academic community.
Therefore, the publication of this book is strange: a Korean in Japan rewrote his Japanese work with Chinese.
In the book "Chinese and the East Asian World" by Japanese and Korean scholar Kim Wen-kyung. Photo courtesy of New Classic Culture
Chinese, Precepts and the East Asian World
In ancient East Asia, there was an interesting phenomenon. Despite the different languages, the merchant envoys from China, the Japanese archipelago, the Korean Peninsula, Vietnam and other countries and regions did not say a word, but with just a stroke of paper, they could also convey their feelings and witty words through Chinese "pen talks". Such a spectacle is only because East Asian countries have shared similar cultures in history, and Chinese characters are the essence of this.
Everyone knows that Chinese characters are Chinese characters, which are said to have been invented by the ancient Cangjie. Chinese characters are not only Chinese characters, but also the foundation of Chinese culture as a whole. For a long time, China was the only source of civilization in East Asia. Ancient China's neighboring countries, nationalities, and regions, influenced by Chinese culture, borrowed Chinese characters, read books written in Chinese characters, or wrote articles in Chinese characters, which is called "Chinese language".
In Chinese and the East Asian World, the author focuses on a concept called "precept reading." Reading is reading the meaning of Chinese characters in one's own language. For example, the Chinese character for "mountain" is pronounced "yama" in Japanese, and "moe" may be pronounced by ancient Koreans. This is like a sign prohibiting smoking, Chinese see this sign and read it as "no smoking", and the British and Americans read it as "No Smoking", everyone interprets this symbol in their own words, which is the principle of reading.
There are a lot of Chinese characters, and it is difficult enough for foreigners to memorize the meaning of glyphs, and it is too troublesome to memorize the pronunciation. Moreover, in ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and for the vast majority of people on the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, I am afraid that they would never have the opportunity to go to China in their lifetime, nor would they have the opportunity to talk directly with Chinese.
Therefore, for them, to read books written in Chinese characters, or to write articles in Chinese characters, as long as they know the meaning of the characters, as for the sound of Chinese characters, they do not have to know, you can read them in your own language.
In this way, books written in the same Chinese characters, such as the Analects, face the same text, Japanese and Korean readers have different pronunciation and reading methods than Chinese. The Chinese they write is also different from the Chinese they write Chinese. The culture and even concepts developed from this are not small differences from Chinese. This is the history of the East Asian Chinese character cultural circle that many Chinese are probably not familiar with.
Does culture have "boundaries"?
After the publication of "Chinese and the East Asian World", it attracted attention and was recommended by many well-known Japanese media. In China, many scholars have also paid attention to this book. For example, Pan Jun, a professor in the Japanese Language Department of Peking University's School of Foreign Chinese, has written two long reviews on this subject. In his book review, he lamented: "The author takes the origin and historical changes of the Chinese language training reading that people are accustomed to but has various mysteries as the title, and goes deep into simple terms, and quotes from the side, especially with the training reading as the longitude and latitude, using plain and simple language to depict the formation and overview of the Chinese cultural circle, which is tantamount to taking readers on a tour of East Asian history and culture." ”
During the event, four guests, Kohiko Baba , Liu Xiaofeng, Wu Guangxing and Song Nianshen, made a detailed analysis of the connotation and extension of Chinese and the East Asian world, and had a heated discussion.
Kōhiko Baba , former editor-in-chief of Iwanami Shoten, made a speech. Photo courtesy of New Classic Culture
Baba Kōhiko first introduced the background of the original Japanese version of the book: "Around 2010, the Japanese education sector wanted to reduce Chinese language classes, and there was a great shortage of teachers who could teach Chinese at that time, and Japan gradually replaced the so-called cultural tradition of reading Chinese. With this situation, it is worth noting that the number of Chinese literature departments in Japan is decreasing. ”
Liu Xiaofeng said: "Even if Chinese characters are not pronounced with a standard phonetic sound, it does not affect the correct transmission of their meanings, which actually forms a world in the whole of East Asia that uses another phonetic pronunciation but correctly understands Chinese characters, and this book actually tells us how big the world is when Chinese characters go beyond China's borders." I think this book is particularly important for us to Chinese understand our own Chinese character culture. ”
Wu Guangxing said: "I think Kim Wenjing is certainly a very good author and professor, but I want to remind everyone that he is a thinker. Although his book is not very large, it is extremely rich in content and dimensions. ”
Song Nianshen proposed: "The world we are talking about today is a world with defined boundaries, and it is very easy to have a cultural concept of private property rights. But in fact it may not have been this concept in ancient times, it was shared. And sharing doesn't necessarily mean that I have to share in your way, I can share and develop a completely different, my own way. ”
"We are native speakers, and a lot of times we don't think about Chinese culture or what Chinese character culture means to us. The so-called cultural ownership is that this is ours, with the addition of a 'we'. This book challenges the concept of 'we' by telling us that Chinese characters are not just 'we'. How to redefine 'we' and whether 'we' is defined only in Chinese characters is a question. Finally, Song Nianshen left this question to everyone's consideration. (End)