 "Samguk Yusa," a collection of Korean legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms, was translated into Czech. / Courtesy of Lidove Noviny |
By Do Je-hae
The Czech translation of the important Korean chronicle “Samguk Yusa,” a collection of legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms, was recently published by the Prague-based Lidove Noviny publishing house.
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean Peninsula and parts of Manchuria from 57 AD until Silla’s conquest of Goguryeo in 668.
Translated from classical Chinese by Miriam Lowensteinova and Marek Zemanek, it is a milestone for Korean studies in Czech.
“Samguk Yusa,” the oldest preserved unofficial Korean chronicle and a treasure of Korean literature of the 13th century, known as one of the most remarkable books that has ever been written in Korea. Published in 1281, it contains myths, historical stories, anecdotes of kings and eminent monks.
Its author, Buddhist monk Iryeon, wrote the book in an amusing way that it could speak even to the postmodern European reader.
Translating such a complex collection of books, full of rich details and information, is not an easy task, and therefore there are only a few complete translations into other languages, such as two in English and one in German.
The Czech edition is based on deep research and includes a thorough commentary for the contemporary reader.
Therefore there are more than 1,000 footnotes and commentaries as well as chronological tables of Korean kings and Chinese dynasties, official titles and a glossary of Buddhist terms.
“As the cultural and time difference encountered was enormous, the translators had to effectively transmit a message written by a 13th century Korean Buddhist monk to 21st century Czechs,” translator Zemanek said in a press release. The translator studied Korean Buddhism at Dongguk and Seoul National universities for seven years.
“The readers naturally lack the basic knowledge for understanding the book. Hence, we had to explain hundreds of terms, concepts and whole historical and philosophical contexts. In order to avoid simplification and using misleading terms, we employed the system of notes and commentaries to solve these problematic issues,” he added.
Although partial Czech translations were made by both translators on several occasions in the last decade, the final decision to translate and publish the chronicle as a whole was made some five years ago when Zemanek teamed with Miriam Lowensteinova, associate professor and author of several monographs as well as translations from Korean literature, and head of the dept. of Korean Studies at Charles University in Prague.
Their work was supported by the “Overseas Leading University Program for Korean Studies” of the Academy of Korean Studies in Seoul. The Czech edition received a publication grant from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.
The cover of the book features a famous portrait of Iryeon by Jung Tak-young, professor emeritus of the Seoul National University, a great opportunity to introduce a piece of contemporary Korean art to Czech readers.
