NJ2018 Preface

Nongsa jikseol
Project Introduction Editor's Notes
Table of Contents
Preface Preparing the Seed Grain Plowing the Soil Cultivating Hemp Cultivating Rice Cultivating Proso and Foxtail Millet Cultivating Barnyard Grass Cultivating Soybeans, Red Beans, and Mung Beans Cultivating Barley and Wheat Cultivating Sesame Cultivating Buckwheat
Glossary Further Readings

Original Script

Text with Punctuation	Text Image
農者，天下國家之大本也。自古聖王莫不以是爲務焉。帝舜之命九官十二牧也，首曰：「食哉惟時。」誠以粢盛之奉，生養之資，捨是無以爲也 。 恭惟□太宗恭定大王嘗命儒臣, 掇取古農書, 切用之語，附註鄕言，刊板頒行，敎民力本。 及我主上殿下，繼明圖治，尤留意於民事。以五方風土不同，樹藝之法, 各有其宜，不可盡同古書，乃命諸道監司逮訪州縣老農，因地己試之驗具聞。 又命臣招就加詮次，臣與宗簿小尹臣卞孝文, 披閱參考，袪其重複，取其切要，撰成一編，目曰《農事直說》。農事之外，不雜他說，務爲簡直，使山野之民, 曉然易知。 旣進，下鑄字所，印若干本，將以頒諸中外，導民厚生，以至於家給人足也。 臣竊觀周詩，周家以農事爲國，歷八百餘年之久。今我□殿下惠養斯民，爲國長慮，豈不與后稷、成王同一規範乎? 是書雖小，其爲利益可勝言哉!

English Translation

Preface

Regulator-General Jeong Cho and others were ordered to compile A Concise Theory of Farming. The preface reads:

Farming is the great foundation of all states under Heaven. Since the ancient times, there has been no sage king who did not commit himself to farming. In the sage King Shun's order to his nine ministers and twelve governors, he first said:

"Crop yields! They depend entirely on timing."

Indeed, as they are used as offerings in sacrificial rites and sustenance, they must not be ignored.

As your subject reverently recalls, the late King Taejong once ordered his ministers to collect old writings on farming and select the essence, attach commentary in the common language, carve the woodblocks, print them out, distribute the copies, and enlighten the people and have them focus on the fundamental task of farming. My Lord, Your Majesty (King Sejong), inherited the grand design for governing from your illustrious predecessor (i.e. Taejong), devoting yourself even more to the people's affairs.

The natural features vary across the country. Therefore, each region has its own way of sowing and cultivating, and the old farming texts should not be blindly followed. And then, the governors of the all provinces were ordered to go around the counties and districts, call on the seasoned farmers, and listen carefully to their tried and true experiences on the land. Furthermore, (Your Majesty) ordered your subject (Jeong) Cho to complete the job of adding explanations. Next your subject (Jeong Cho), along with Royal Genealogist Byeon Hyo-mun, revised separate accounts in reference to other sources, eliminated the redundancies, selected the essentials, and completed a single volume called A Concise Theory of Farming.

[This text] does not cover other topics, such as horticulture and sericulture. The priority is on conciseness and straightforwardness, so that people from rural areas can clearly understand it without effort. (The order) for printing has been already handed down to the Bureau of Typecasting and several few copies shall be printed for dispersal throughout the country. This will guide the people and enrich their livelihoods; thereby the benefits shall extend to every household and provide for all the people.

Your subject pondered over the poetry of Zhou and [concluded that] the Zhou ruling house based the state on farming and thus it lasted over eight hundred years. Now Your Majesty's gracious nurturing of our people and long-held concern about the state, how is this standard not the same with that of Houji and King Cheng of Zhou? Though this book is small, its benefits cannot be expressed in words!

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