{"id":88,"date":"2014-08-31T09:27:49","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T09:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/?p=88"},"modified":"2022-03-07T02:17:24","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T02:17:24","slug":"the-sounds-of-our-country-interpreters-linguistic-knowledge-and-the-politics-of-language-in-early-choson-korea-1392-1592","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/the-sounds-of-our-country-interpreters-linguistic-knowledge-and-the-politics-of-language-in-early-choson-korea-1392-1592\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sounds of Our Country: Interpreters, Linguistic Knowledge and the Politics of Language in Early Chos\u014fn Korea (1392\u20131592)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>2014<\/strong> \u201cThe Sounds of Our Country: Interpreters, Linguistic Knowledge and the Politics of Language in Early Chos\u014fn Korea (1392\u20131592).\u201d In <em>Rethinking East Asian Languages, Vernaculars, and Literacies, <\/em>1000\u20131919<em>.<\/em> Leiden: Brill.<\/p>\n<p>In the frequent envoy exchange between Chos\u014fn Korea (1392-1910) and Ming China (1368-1644), Korean court interpreters who mastered spoken Chinese played indispensable roles as mediators of spoken language. Although the two courts communicated via classical Chinese, a literary language they shared, they could not dispense with the need for oral communication. In the course of their service to the Chos\u014fn court, interpreters also produced an extensive body of language manuals, many of which made use of the Korean alphabet in phonological glosses. Invented and promulgated in the mid-15th century, the ability of the new script to systematically represent the phonology of Sino-Korean made it readily adaptable to notating the phonology of spoken Chinese as well. The extensive use of the script by court interpreters demonstrated the importance of the script as a technology of mediation between two very different spoken languages: Korean and Chinese.<\/p>\n<p>The role of court interpreters thus revealed the centrality of this connection in the politics of language in the Chos\u014fn court. A consideration of this connection helps in the reexamination of the linguistic landscape of the period. On one hand, the invention of the alphabet, seen too often as either solely a prerequisite stage in the eventual elevation of the Korean &#8220;vernacular&#8221; over classical Chinese or a gesture of cleavage from the Ming, was in fact intimately connected to the Chos\u014fn court&#8217;s efforts to maintain cultural and political ties with the Ming court. On the other, the importance of spoken language was overshadowed by a graphocentrism that marginalized the essential roles played by interpreters as mediators of linguistic difference.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.brill.com\/products\/book\/rethinking-east-asian-languages-vernaculars-and-literacies-1000-1919-0\">http:\/\/www.brill.com\/products\/book\/rethinking-east-asian-languages-vernaculars-and-literacies-1000-1919-0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2014 \u201cThe Sounds of Our Country: Interpreters, Linguistic Knowledge and the Politics of Language in Early Chos\u014fn Korea (1392\u20131592).\u201d In&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/the-sounds-of-our-country-interpreters-linguistic-knowledge-and-the-politics-of-language-in-early-choson-korea-1392-1592\/\">Read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Sounds of Our Country: Interpreters, Linguistic Knowledge and the Politics of Language in Early Chos\u014fn Korea (1392\u20131592)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-chapters","category-publications"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/85687.jpg?fit=195%2C296&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Nhqs-1q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":451,"url":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/the-korea-now-podcast-110-literature-series-sixiang-wang-the-politics-of-language\/","url_meta":{"origin":88,"position":0},"title":"The Korea Now Podcast\u00a0#110\u00a0(Literature Series) \u2013 Sixiang Wang \u2013 \u2018The Politics of Language&#8230;","author":"Sixiang Wang","date":"August 1, 2021","format":"audio","excerpt":"This episode of the Korea Now podcast features an interview that Jed Lea-Henry conducted with Sixiang Wang. They speak about the exchanges between Choson Korea (1392-1910) and Ming China (1368-1644), the Korean envoys and interpreters who mediated between the two dynasties, the need of these interpreters to master spoken Chinese,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lectures, Talks, and Interviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lectures, Talks, and Interviews","link":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/category\/public-lectures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/r5xm7Mr00NM\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":155,"url":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/korean-eunuchs-as-imperial-envoys-relations-with-choson-through-the-zhengde-reign\/","url_meta":{"origin":88,"position":1},"title":"Korean Eunuchs as Imperial Envoys:  Relations with Chos\u014fn through the Zhengde Reign","author":"Sixiang Wang","date":"December 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"2019 \"Korean Eunuchs as Imperial Envoys: Relations with Chos\u014fn through the Zhengde Reign.\" Chapter 23 in The Ming World, edited by Kenneth Swope Introduction excerpt: The usual way to describe Ming relations with Korea is through the notion of the \u201ctributary system.\u201d The Ming emperor, with the moral and cultural\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Book Chapters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Book Chapters","link":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/category\/publications\/book-chapters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":101,"url":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/the-story-of-the-eastern-chamber-dilemmas-of-vernacular-language-and-political-authority-in-eighteenth-century-choson\/","url_meta":{"origin":88,"position":2},"title":"The Story of the Eastern Chamber: Dilemmas of Vernacular Language and Political Authority in Eighteenth-Century Chos\u014fn","author":"Sixiang Wang","date":"June 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe Story of the Eastern Chamber: Dilemmas of Vernacular Language and Political Authority in Eighteenth-Century Chos\u014fn\u201d Journal of Korean Studies 24, no.1 (March) \u00a0 When we think of writing in premodern Korea, we usually think of them as being in either literary Chinese (hanmun) or vernacular Korean (hang\u016dl), a linguistic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/category\/publications\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Story-of-Eastern-Chamber.png?fit=751%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Story-of-Eastern-Chamber.png?fit=751%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Story-of-Eastern-Chamber.png?fit=751%2C668&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Story-of-Eastern-Chamber.png?fit=751%2C668&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":225,"url":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/chosons-office-of-interpreters-the-apt-response-and-the-epistemic-culture-of-diplomacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":88,"position":3},"title":"Chos\u014fn\u2019s Office of Interpreters: The Apt Response and the Knowledge Culture of Diplomacy","author":"Sixiang Wang","date":"August 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"2020 \"Chos\u014fn\u2019s Office of Interpreters: The Apt Response and the Knowledge Culture of Diplomacy.\" The Journal for the History of Knowledge. https:\/\/journalhistoryknowledge.org\/article\/view\/11164 Abstract: From 1392 until its dissolution in 1894, Chos\u014fn Korea\u2019s Office of Interpreters managed diplomatic relations with its vastly more powerful Ming and Qing neighbors. The Office was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/category\/publications\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JHOK-Office.png?fit=1200%2C528&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JHOK-Office.png?fit=1200%2C528&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JHOK-Office.png?fit=1200%2C528&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JHOK-Office.png?fit=1200%2C528&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JHOK-Office.png?fit=1200%2C528&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":290,"url":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/boundless-winds-of-empire-rhetoric-and-ritual-in-early-choson-diplomacy-with-ming-china\/","url_meta":{"origin":88,"position":4},"title":"Boundless Winds of Empire: Rhetoric and Ritual in Early Chos\u014fn Diplomacy with Ming China","author":"Sixiang Wang","date":"November 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"2023. Boundless Winds of Empire: Rhetoric and Ritual in Early Chos\u014fn Diplomacy with Ming China. New York: Columbia University Press. For more than two hundred years after its establishment in 1392, the Chos\u014fn dynasty of Korea enjoyed generally peaceful and stable relations with neighboring Ming China, which dwarfed it in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Monographs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Monographs","link":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/category\/publications\/monographs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Book Cover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Boundless-Winds-Cover.png?fit=441%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":157,"url":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/compiling-diplomacy-record-keeping-and-archival-practices-in-choson-korea\/","url_meta":{"origin":88,"position":5},"title":"Compiling diplomacy: record-keeping and archival practices in Chos\u014fn Korea","author":"Sixiang Wang","date":"December 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"2019 \"Compiling diplomacy: record-keeping and archival practices in Chos\u014fn Korea,\" Journal of Korean Studies (2019) 24 (2): 255\u2013287 The Chos\u014fn court kept meticulous records of its interactions with their Ming, and later, their Qing neighbors. These materials, especially those that predate the nineteenth century, survive not in the form of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/category\/publications\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JKS-compiling-diplomacy.png?fit=973%2C558&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JKS-compiling-diplomacy.png?fit=973%2C558&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JKS-compiling-diplomacy.png?fit=973%2C558&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JKS-compiling-diplomacy.png?fit=973%2C558&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93,"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/93"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chosonhistory.org\/SixWang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}