(Translation) 擊蒙要訣
| Primary Source | ||
|---|---|---|
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Title | |
| English | Key to Breaking Folly's Hold | |
| Chinese | 擊蒙要訣 | |
| Korean(RR) | 격몽요결 (RR: Gyeogmongyogyeol, MR: Kyŏngmong yogyŏl) | |
| Text Details | ||
| Genre | Literati Writings | |
| Type | Children's Primer | |
| Author(s) | 李珥(1536-1584) | |
| Year | 1577 | |
| Source | ||
| Key Concepts | 革舊習 | |
| Translation Info | ||
| Translator(s) | Sanghoon Na | |
| Editor(s) | Sanghoon Na | |
| Year | 2017 | |
Introduction
This is an English translation of Yi I's Gyeongmong yogyeol, but contains only two parts of the book, which are the second chapter and the third chapter(Author's preface and the first chapter were already submitted to the Review of Korean Studies). There already appeared a complete English translation[1] for general readers in 2012, which is also uploaded on the website.[2] The published version, however, presents no more than a liberal translation without a primary text or an annotation. So here this one attempts to offer a new version which is more faithful to the primary source text and supplies a proper amount of footnotes that the reader can find useful.
Yi I 李珥 (1536-1584) was one of the most prominent Confucian scholars during the Joseon period. He was also an active politician, but left office in 1576 because of the factional strife between the Easterners and the Westerners.[3] The place where he went was his wife's hometown, Haeju in Hwanghae province (now located in North Korea).[4]
While he was in Haeju, a few students came to see him to ask questions about learning. At first he was reluctant to answer them because he had two problems. One belonged to himself, and the other to the students. He considered himself to be unqualified to teach and deemed them ineligible to learn unless they had a strong will. He wanted to give them something more than a makeshift solution or a desultory talk about learning.
In order to solve those two problems, he wrote Gyeongmong yogyeol 擊蒙要訣 (Key to Breaking Folly's Hold[5] in 1577.[6] By doing so, he did not have to teach them in person on the one hand, and he could provide them with something substantial, meaningful, and serious about learning.
There were two results he expected to get from himself and his readers. He wanted to alert himself with his book along with the Jagyeongmun 自警文 (Written to Alert Myself).[7] And furthermore, by his writing, he was eager to see the students' minds being cleansed and their decisions to learn being firmly made, and their actions being performed on the very day.
Besides the author's preface, the book consists of ten chapters that are unfolded as follows: making a resolution 立志, revamping the old habits 革舊習, conducting oneself 持身, reading books 讀書, serving parents 事親, performing mourning rites 喪制, conducting ancestral rituals 祭禮, staying at home 居家, treating others 接人, and finally, living in society 處世 in the last chapter.
Original Script
| Classical Chinese | English |
|---|---|
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(原文) 革舊習章 第二 02-01 人雖有志於學 而不能勇往直前 以有所成就者 舊習 有以沮敗之也 舊習之目 條列如左 若非勵志痛絶 則終無爲學之地矣
持身章 第三 03-01 學者必誠心向道 不以世俗雜事 亂其志然後 爲學有基址 故 夫子曰 主忠信 朱子釋之曰 人不忠信 事皆無實 爲惡則易 爲善則難 故 必以是爲主焉 必以忠信爲主而勇下工夫然後 能有所成就 黃勉齋所謂眞實心地 刻苦工夫兩言 盡之矣
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(Translation) 革舊習章 第二 Chapter 2. Revamping the Old Habits
Although one sets his mind on learning, the reason why he is not able to courageously proceed straight ahead to achievements is that the old habits prevent and discourage the mind. The list of the old habits is enumerated below. If one does not exert his mind and ruthlessly break the habits, then in the end there will be no base of learning.
The first habit is to be lazy with one's mind, loose his demeanor, think only of being free and idle, and deeply hate to be constrained. The second is to constantly think of moving, not being able to keep quietness, confusedly come and go, and spend a day just talking. The third is to like to be same [with others] but hate to be different, being familiarized with current customs, and slightly want to cultivate oneself with caution but be afraid of being separated from majority. The fourth is to prefer to gain fame by literary skills in the generation, and decorate flowery writings by plagiarizing the classics. The fifth is to put efforts in [fancy] composition, being indulged in music and wine, waste a year just playing, and talk to oneself that these are refined tastes. The sixth is to like gather idlers, play paduk(go) or chess, spend a day glutting oneself with foods, and only try fighting and competing. The seventh is to wish for riches and honor, hate poverty and lowliness, and be deeply ashamed of bad clothes and bad food.[8] The eighth is to enjoy carnal desires without self-control, not being able to cut them off, and property, wealth, music, and women as if they were sweets.
Those harmful to mind among habits are generally like these. The others are hard to enumerate in detail. These habits make people's resolution week and make their conduct insincere. What one has done today is hard to correct tomorrow. In the morning one regrets his misconduct but in the evening he is supposed to do so again. One must greatly stir the brave heart, as if he sharply cut off tree roots with a stretch of the sword, and cleanse his heart so that not the slightest stain would be left and always exert the effort of rigorous self-examination. Only after ridding this mind of every contaminated old smudge without a single dot, one would be able to consider the study of the advancement to learning.
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- Discussion Questions:
Footnotes
- ↑ For more information, see Yi Kwang Ho 2012.
- ↑ [1] (last retrieval Feb 17, 2017).
- ↑ For more information, see Kim 1973, 27-28.
- ↑ For more information, see Pak 2009, 164.
- ↑ Translating the title has been tried several times: On the Secret of Expelling Ignorance (Yi Kwang Ho, 2012), Essentials of Enlightenment (Yi T’aejun 2009, 148), Important Methods of Eliminating Ignorance (Haboush 1999, 23). However, none of them delivers the subtle meaning of the character ‘Gyeok 擊’, so this version attempts to convey its literal meaning by translating it into "Breaking." And moreover, the meaning of the character ‘Mong 蒙’ is not limited to mere ignorance. It should be extended to all kinds of "folly" which was adopted here. The expression "Breaking Folly's Hold" was borrowed from Waltke's commentary on the Book of Proverbs (Waltke 2005, 216).)
- ↑ For more information, see Yi Dong-in 2014, 24.
- ↑ It was written three years after the death of his beloved mother in 1551. For further details, see Pokorny and Chang 2011, 142: “The so-called Jagyeongmun 自警文 (Written to Alert Myself) is relatively brief, yet marks a watershed in Yulgok’ intellectual development. It represents his written resolution to henceforth wholeheartedly adhere to Confucian teachings while keeping any ‘false doctrines’ (wihak 僞學) at distance. The authoring of the Jagyeongmun concludes his yearlong sojourn in a Buddhist monastery at Geumgangsan 金剛山.”
- ↑ Analects 4.9. The Master said, "A scholar, whose mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food is not fit to be discoursed with." 子曰 士志於道而恥惡衣惡食者 未足與議也
Further Readings
Haboush, JaHyun Kim, and Martina Deuchler, eds. 1999. Culture and the State in Late Chosŏn Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center.
Han, Hyeong-jo 한형조. 2015. “Yulgok’ui sasip’isejak Gyeongmong yogyeol’ui seomun’gwa iljang’eul tong’hae ing’nEun yugyo simhak’ui kichowa kangnyeong” 율곡의 42세 작, 『격몽요결』의 서문과 1장을 통해 읽는 유교 심학의 기초와 강령 [Reading “The Secret of Expelling Ignorance”]. 정신문화연구 [Korean Studies Quarterly] 38(3): 7-29.
Kalton, Michael C. 1988. To Become a Sage: The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning, New York: Columbia University Press.
Kim, Han-sik 김한식. 1997. “Haengjang’eul tong’hae bon Yulgok’ui sasangsegye” 行狀을 통해 본 율곡의 사상세계 [Yulgok's Philosophical View Through His Posthumous Biography]. 한국정치학회보 [Korean Political Science Review] 30(4): 21-38.
Legge, James. The Chinese Classics. vol. 1, part 2. New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1870. <http://ctext.org/mengzi> (last retrieval Feb 2, 2017).
Pak, Kyun-seop 박균섭. 2009. “Eunbyeongjeongsa yeongu: hangmun’gwa hakpung” 은병정사 연구: 학문과 학풍 [Study of Eunbyeong Private Academy: Learning and Academic Tradition]. 율곡사상연구 [Study of Yukgok's Philosophy] 19: 163-196.
Pokorny, Lukas, and Wonsuk Chang. 2011. “Resolutions to Become a Sage: An Annotated Translation of the Jagyeongmun.” Studia Orientalia Slovaca 10 (1): 139-54.
Waltke, Bruce K. 2005. The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Yi, Dong-in 이동인. 2014. “Gyeongmong yogyeol’eul tong’hae bon Yulgok’eu sasang’gwa saeg’ae” 『격몽요결(擊蒙要訣)』을 통해 본 율곡의 사상과 생애 [Life and Thoughts of Yulgok in Reference to His Work Gyeongmong yogyeol’]. 사회사상과 문화 [Journal of Social Thoughts and Culture] 29: 23-50.
Yi, Kwang Ho 이광호. 2012. Gyeongmong yogyeol 격몽요결 [On the Secret of Expelling Ignorance]. Seoul 서울: Luxmedia 럭스미디어. <http://gutenberg.us/details.aspx?bookid=wplbn0003466791> (last retrieval Feb 17, 2016).
Yi, I 李耳. Gyeongmong yogyeol’ 擊蒙要訣 [Key to Breaking Folly's Hold]. 栗谷先生全書 卷27 [Complete Works of Yulgok, vol. 27]. <http://db.itkc.or.kr/index.jsp?bizName=MK> (last retrieval Aug 11, 2016).
Yi, T’aejun. 2009. Eastern Sentiments. Translated by Janet Poole. New York: Columbia University Press.
