The Nine Cloud Dream with Heinz Insu Fenkl

February 20, 2019 - Korea’s most prized literary masterpiece: a Buddhist journey questioning the illusions of human life-presented in a vivid new translation by PEN/Hemingway finalist Heinz Insu Fenkl
Often considered the highest achievement in Korean fiction, The Nine Cloud Dream poses the question: Will the life we dream of truly make us happy? Written in 17th-century Korea, this classic novel’s wondrous story begins when a young monk living on a sacred Lotus Peak in China succumbs to the temptation of eight fairy maidens. For doubting his master’s Buddhist teachings, the monk is forced to endure a strange punishment: reincarnation as the most ideal of men.
On his journey through this new life full of material, martial, and sensual accomplishments beyond his wildest dreams, he encounters the eight fairies in human form, each one furthering his path towards understanding the fleeting value of his good fortune. As his successes grow, he comes closer and closer to finally comprehending the fundamental truths of the Buddha’s teachings. Like Hesse’s Siddhartha, The Nine Cloud Dream is an unforgettable tale that explores the meaning of a good life and the virtue of living simply with mindfulness.
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[@DrJonathanGemmill]

Highly interesting - thank you 👏👏👏. I have ordered the book 😀!

[@JoobieLoobieSoobie]

Does he mean it was originally written in Chinese, or in Korean using Hanja?

[@ianwoo5265]

Written in Classical Chinese

[@frukwandigga2458]

i failed at kumon

[@overcomer_g]

:(

[@TheKpopProf]

The fact that he continually calls them Chinese characters instead of either using an appropriate term like Sinographs, or using the Korean term, Hanja, really grates at me and makes me doubt his fitness to translate the text. During the 12 years of his project surely he must have been told that calling them Chinese characters is inaccurate and not very scholarly.

[@soyoltoi]

Why is it inaccurate? This is the standard term in English.

[@TheKpopProf]

@@soyoltoi it is not the standard term when referring to the characters used in Korea. In Korean they used a different pronunciation and presented written text in a way that conformed to Korean grammar and culture, therefore it's the same character but in Korea it is referred to as hanja, and in Japan it's kanji, and in academic discourse, these are Sinographs. In the Chinese context, Chinese characters would be totally accurate, of course. If you are Japanese and you're calling kanji 'Chinese characters' I'd like to ask you to consider why you would do that when academics call them Sinographs. Just look at the confusion below where Jill Sanders doesn't know if it was written in Chinese or in Hanja because of the term that Fenkl is using. Academics should use precise language.

[@soyoltoi]

@@TheKpopProf Chinese characters, or sinographs, are not only used in Chinese. In the Chinese context, you would call them hanzi. They're called Chinese characters because they were developed for writing Chinese. "The characters used in Korea" would also includes hangul, so that language not precise. The Chinese characters adapted to write Korean are hanja. I'm pretty sure Jill Sanders would still be confused if Frenkl had said "sinograph" because Frenkl said it was written in Chinese, specifically Classical Chinese. I think even more people would also be confused because their unfamiliarity with the term sinograph.

[@TheKpopProf]

@@soyoltoi You almost read what I said, but not completely. Sinograph is accurate, but broad, and does not include any baggage about China/Japan/ Korea. Hanja would be accurate. That's what I'm saying. Chinese characters should be used only when hanzi is the non-translated meaning.

[@soyoltoi]

@@TheKpopProf Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be making two claims. The first one is that Chinese characters should be called sinographs because they contain "baggage" from China. The second one is that he should call Chinese characters adapted to write Korean "hanja." I'm not addressing the second claim because he specifically said that the book was originally written in Classical Chinese. The term Chinese character is perfectly apt for this, and I think you would agree. That should answer Jill's question. As for your first claim, the word sinograph seems like a bad solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. First of all, it would be pointless to remove Chinese from Chinese characters since that's what they were developed for. Hanja are still Chinese characters, just adapted for Korean. Just because they're called "Chinese" characters doesn't mean it can only be used to write Chinese. This is like if you called the letters of hangul "coreographs" and used that word when you talked about its use in writing the Cia-Cia language. It's still hangul. Second of all, the word sinograph has the prefix sino-. In this sense, it does still contain "baggage," so the supposed problem has been moved, not solved. The only benefit I see in the word "sinograph" is that it's shorter than "Chinese character."