Chosun was placed as a member of East Asia through the submissive diplomacy toward China. Such international situation necessarily required the cultivation of ‘Tongsas,’ i.e. interpreters for diplomatic activities. Thus, the state should prepare s...
Chosun was placed as a member of East Asia through the submissive diplomacy toward China. Such international situation necessarily required the cultivation of ‘Tongsas,’ i.e. interpreters for diplomatic activities. Thus, the state should prepare systematic measures to cultivate interpreters, and desperately needed translation books. Nogeoldae and Baktongsa in Goryeo, and Hunsepyeonghwa and Oryunjeonbi in Chosun are representative examples. Here, we feel that there would have been certain interrelationships along with changes triggered by the demands of the times in the establishment of such translation books. In particular, the translation books are worth noticing on the side of the history of novels because they were connected to novels. Baktongsa and Hunsepyenghwa contain parts of Seoyugi and Jeondeungsinhwa, and Oryunjeonbi the play itself.
The translation books should set situations in everyday life due to their purpose to acquire colloquial languages, and Baktongsa had been loved in this respect for a long time. Thus, novels conformed to the properties of the translation books since they were equipped with ‘routineness’ and ‘narratives.’ However, while admitting it, Chosun took instructional properties to be important. Hunsepyeonghwa is the very textbook taking account of this point, and Aegyeongjeon in Jeondeungsinhwa was also recognized for its ‘popularity’ and ‘morality.’ Oryunjeonbi bore ‘practicality’ to the effect that it was constructed in written colloquial Chinese, an actual colloquial language, as well as ‘morality.’ As such, the translation books were resulted from the necessity of the cultivation of interpreters, the state's requirement, and the endeavor of interpreters familiar with Chinese society, and novels played a role to conform to this situation.