(Translation) 鄭澈 戒酒文

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  鄭澈 戒酒文(2)

Original Script

Classical Chinese

English

某之嗜酒有四。不平一也。遇興二也。待客三也。難拒人勸四也。不平則理遣可也。遇興則嘯詠可也。待客則誠信可也。人勸雖苛。吾志旣樹。則不以人言撓奪可也。然則捨四可。而就一不可之中。終始執迷。以誤一生。何也。余休官退處。五承恩旨。到今年春。迫不得已。力疾趨召。陳疏乞退。志在丘壑。則當杜門斂跡。愼言與行可也。 而動靜無常。言語失宜。千邪萬妄。皆從酒出。方其醉時。甘心行之。及其醒也。迷而不悟。人或言之。則初不信然。旣得其實。則羞媿欲死。今日如是。明日又如是。尤悔山積。補過無時。親者哀之。疏者唾之。褻天命。慢人紀。見棄於名敎者不淺焉。月之初吉。辭家廟。出國門。臨江將濟。送者滿舟。回首洛中。追思旣往。則恰似穿窬之人。抽身鋒鏑。白日對人。惶駭窘迫。無地自容。終日踧踖。如負大罪。 及去而更來于江上也。先忌適臨。嗚咽呑聲。哀慘之中。善端萌露。遂慨然自訟曰。喜獵何到於明道。而萌動於十年之後。好色何到於澹菴。而繫戀於動忍之餘。難操者心。易失者志。心兮志兮。孰主張之。主人翁兮。常惺惺兮。苟不如此言。吾何以更見江水兮。 萬曆五年丁丑四月七日。書于西湖亭舍。

There are four reasons that I indulge in alcohol. First, it is that I encounter injustice. Second, it is that I am in a jolly mood. Third, it is that I have to receive guests. Fourth, it is that I find it difficult to turn down people’ offer to drink. When I encounter injustice, I can just resolve [my grievances] with reasons. When I am in a jolly mood, I can just sing songs. When I have to receive guests, I can just treat them with sincerity. Although it is difficult to turn down people’s offer to drink, if my will is strong as a tree, I can just not be tempted and submitted to people’s words. However, if one abandons these four ways [to resist alcoholism] and gives in one time, he or she would fall into obsession and ruin his or her life. How is this so? I had taken a break from my office and retreated to my home. Five times had I received imperial edicts [that requested me to go back to the court.] In Spring this year, I suffered from an unmanageable illness and had no choice but to memorialize and plead for retirement. My will was as unmovable as mountains. All that I had to do was withdrawing into my home, limiting my presence and being mindful of my words and actions. However, aberrant actions and indecent words, all kinds of evils and audacities, all begin from alcohol. When I was drunk, I did whatever my heart told me to. When I later became sober, I was confused and did not understand [what happened]. When people told me what happened, I did not believe them at first. Then I began to realize the truth and was embarrassed to death. Today I made this kind of mistake. Tomorrow I would too make this kind of mistake. People close to me were sorrowful. People distant from me scorned me. I have desecrated Heaven’s will, disturbed human’s relations and abandoned the way of the Grand Masters (1). In the beginning of this month, I bid farewell to my home and ancestral hall, walked out of the capital’s gate and was about to board by the riverside (2). The boat was full of people who came to see me off. I looked back to the capital and reminisced about the past. I was like a disdained man who had to evade from the onslaught of blades and arrows (3). When I met people in broad daylight, I felt anxious and shamed and had nowhere to hide my face. All day I walked crouchingly as if I was a great criminal. I departed and [the boat] was on the river. Just then, I received the news of my parents passing away and wept piteously. In the midst of grieve and sorrow, a seed of goodness in my heart sprouted up (4). (1) Grand Masters here refer to the Grand Masters of Confucianism (2) The phrase “初吉” in the original text refers to the first to the seventh day of a month. For simplicity, the phrase is translated as “the beginning of this month.” (3) The phrase “穿窬之人” in the original text literally means “a person who sneaked through a hole in the wall” and commonly refer to thieves or, in broader interpretation of the word, any undesirable individual in society. For simplicity, the phrase is translated as “a disdained man.” (4) The phrase “善端” in the original text literally means “the beginning or inkling of goodness.” The author likely invokes the phrase here to refer to

Translation

(sample) : Jaeyoon Song

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• Discussion Questions:

Student 1 : Yishu Ma

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• Discussion Questions:

-Does the action of drinking wine represent the writer's political standpoint?

-What can the abstinence of drinking reveal to us, such as the struggles between the ideality and the real life of the writer?

-In a large picture, how should we understand the wine-politics relationship during the 16th century?

Student 2 : Samuel Sai Hay Chan 陳世熙 진세희

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• Discussion Questions:

Why did 鄭澈 write the essay? Who were the readers? How was the essay distributed and circulated? Was it commercially exchanged?

What did the essay tell us about Korean culture? In particular, what did it tell us about alcohol consumption in pre-modern Korea? What was the incentive of encouraging people to take on a more healthy drinking habit? Neo-confucianism emphasizes personal cultivation. Do you think the call to restrain oneself from drinking excessively was related to the rise of Neo-Confucianism in Choson Korea?

Did the essay tell us anything about the factional conflicts in 16th century Korea? Try thinking about the relationship between 鄭澈's career and the writing of this essay.

Student 3 : Younès M'Ghari

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• Discussion Questions:

Is this essay intended to anyone? Is it something that the author wrote for himself? If so, was it a common practice among scholars?

Would it be possible that the author was trying to avoid having any link with the king of the time?

Has the author written anything related to his father's death in another manuscript?

Student 4 : King Kwong Wong

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• Discussion Questions:

Considering the political situation of Chŏng Ch'ŏl (Jeong Cheol), why did he wrote this prose? What are the points he was try to make?

Student 5 : (신동조)

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• Discussion Questions:

Why does 정철 come up with this idea of quitting drinking at this particular time? Can we think of any political and/or private conditions that led him to this resolution? The year of 1577 was when he was purged in a factional fighting after his father and mother dies in 1571 and 1574, respectively.

Student 6 : Stacey Lui

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• Discussion Questions:

What was Chŏng Ch'ŏl's position in the central government? Why was he so desperate to leave?

Do you think alcohol is used as a wider analogy for socio-political issues?

Student 7 : Russell Guilbault

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• Discussion Questions:

1. The piece flows between admonitions against drinking and a personal narrative about Jeong Cheol's personal misfortunes. Many of his misfortunes seem to have more to do with political infighting, etc., than with drinking. So are they mentioned just to elicit sympathy? Or does he consider alcohol partly responsible for the problems he sees in Joseon political culture more broadly?

Student 8 : Q

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• Discussion Questions: Would it be more appropriate to translate this text as a personal essay regretting his drinking habits with multiple footnotes offering possibly alternate readings referencing many deaths caused by his politics, or should we try to create a text in which words and phrases are chosen to hint that the actions he claims not to remember resulted in not only "terrible behavior" but murderous ones?

Student 9 : (Write your name)

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• Discussion Questions:

Student 10 : Yeonjae Ra

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• Discussion Questions:

1. <戒酒文> has specific date according to the author’s writing. When his father actually is died(maybe can check their 족보) Was there any commemorating writings for his father in his anthology? Could we compare that?

2. 정철 is very known for his poems(or rhapsody), also he writes “장진주(將進酒)” comparing to 이백(李白)’s 장진주(將進酒). This writing is exactly the opposite side of <戒酒文>. Can we assume when 將進酒 was written?

Student 11 : (Write your name)

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• Discussion Questions:

Student 12 : (Write your name)

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• Discussion Questions: