5.
The journey of translator Jeong Su-il



When Hyecho was young, he risked his life on foot to travel to the Western Regions.
The arduousness of the journey can be guessed from the passage in the poem where, on the way back, with the Pamir Plateau in front of him, he writes, “The road is rough and the snow-covered mountain peaks are hazy… I have never shed a tear in my life, / but today, I shed endless tears (p. 406).”
After returning to Chang'an, he devoted the rest of his life to the study of esoteric Buddhism.
The history of Jeong Su-il is somewhat similar to that of Hyecho.
Born in China, Mr. Jeong Su-il studied in Cairo and traveled to dozens of countries around the world, including Morocco, Tunisia, and Malaysia.
His somewhat hoarse voice is said to have changed after suffering from an endemic disease during his travels in Africa.
His career as an Islamic scholar put him at the center of a national tragedy.
But now, here in Seoul, he is focusing on establishing the unfamiliar discipline of civilization exchange studies based on the knowledge he has accumulated from various places around the world.

Translating a book in three languages, a feat rarely seen even abroad.
Although there have been instances of a single translator translating classics in one or two languages, both in the East and the West, it is difficult to find a case of a translator translating classics in three languages, especially languages ​​that encompass both the East and the West, as well as languages ​​in between.
The translator of this book, Jeong Su-il, has translated the classic 『A Road to China』 (Sageseol) in English and the classic 『The Travels of Ibn Battuta』 (Changbi) in Arabic, and has now translated the classic 『Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon』 in Chinese for the third time, becoming a translator of books in three languages.


6.
etc



This book contains the first ever 3D digital reconstruction of Hyecho.
It recreates the scene of Hyecho, around the age of 23, passing by the Great Stupa of the Mahabodhi Temple in the center of India.
It was produced through the research of costumes by Director Yoo Hee-kyung of the Costume Culture Center (former professor at Ewha Womans University) and Professor Kim Mi-ja of Seoul Women's University, and with the participation of translator Jeong Su-il, digital restoration expert Park Jin-ho, and Dream Hans Co., Ltd., a digital restoration company for cultural prototypes.
Appendix: Original text (reprint) of 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 provided
The original text (reprint) of 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 is provided as a separate appendix.
This is a re-photograph of the original that the Ministry of Culture and Public Information had stored in the National Library of Paris in 1987. The original, which was 28.5 cm long, was reduced to 20 cm in length.
The scrolls were joined by hand and placed in specially made envelopes for them.



Considering that 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 is a classic Korean work, we put a lot of effort into the design of the book to give it a sense of both antiquity and sophistication.
It was bound in high-quality cloth and the cover with the restored image of Hyecho was put back on.
Considering that the annotations to the original text are no different in importance from the original text or the translation in terms of length and content, they are presented in footnote format in somewhat larger font.
The search is detailed by place name, person name, and details, and of course includes vocabulary from the footnotes.




Travelogues, characterized by the vivid transmission of facts, enable us to establish a correct view of civilization, including the view of others, and as an interesting literary genre, they evoke a unique aesthetic feeling in readers.
The Hakgojae "Civilization Journey" series was designed to reflect on the spirit of our ancestors who embarked on uncharted paths and to illuminate the wisdom of civilization they discovered.
There are many travel stories around us that transcend time and space and have a deep globality.
Among them, we will prioritize selecting works that have not been properly introduced in Korea, and we will focus on rigorous translations based on the original text as much as possible to avoid the pitfalls of translation, while also adding detailed annotations.
This will be a work that brings together the best travelogues of the East and the West, exploring different civilizations from ancient times to the modern era, through the perspective of those of us living in this land today.

1.
outline

This book is a travelogue of India and Central Asia from 1,200 years ago, revived in the 21st century.
This is a translated version of 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』, published after painstaking research by Professor Jeong Su-il, a world-renowned scholar in the fields of civilization exchange and Islamic studies.
As one of the new volumes in the "Civilization Travels" series published by Hakgojae, we wanted to publish the first volume of a global travelogue written by a Korean.
『Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon』 has been studied in many countries for nearly a hundred years since it was discovered by French explorer Pelliot in the Dunhuang Grottoes in 1908.
However, in Korea, the hometown of the author who wrote this book, research is far behind, and apart from the six or seven translated works published so far, there has not been a single decent translated work.
This is precisely what caused the translator of this book (Jeong Su-il) to feel a sense of guilt for not being able to properly honor our great ancestors, and what finally led him to begin the translation work.
『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 is a record left by Hyecho, a great monk of Silla, after traveling around India, Arabia, Persia, and Central Asia around 720.
To understand a text written in Chinese characters about 1,200 years ago, and especially one about a distant country that is not our own, a translated text, not a simple translation, is absolutely necessary.
Accordingly, the translator compared and analyzed existing research papers and compared them with related books such as 『Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty』 and 『Records of the Buddhist Kingdoms』.
He also used his knowledge of Chinese language and cultural exchanges, Islam, Central Asian history, culture, and geography to publish Hyecho's "Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon", a translated and annotated version of the original text with detailed and rich annotations.
One of the purposes of reading travelogues is to look at myself through the eyes of others.
This translation by Jeong Su-il breathes new life into an ancient document that had been dormant for 1,200 years, and brings a story from a distant place back to life in the present, here and now.


2.
composition

At the very beginning of the book, there is a map showing Hyecho's travel route, the first attempted restoration of Hyecho, and color plates related to the 『Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon』, including the Dunhuang Grottoes, India, and Xi'an, China.
The commentary on the 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 that follows includes information on Hyecho's life, the process and content of his travelogue's discovery, his personality, Hyecho's journey to the West and its significance in the history of civilization, existing research results, and future research tasks.
Next comes the original text of the 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』, divided into 227 lines as it was transcribed on a scroll.
The text is divided into 40 sections by region based on the original text of 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 and arranged in the order of translation, original text, and annotations.
It starts from Vaishali in central India and ends in Karashahr in Central Asia.
The back contains a chronology and index of Hyecho's reign, and a reprint of the "Hyecho Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon" section from Hyelin's "Ilchegyeong-eumui," which served as a basis for understanding the true nature of "Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon."
The search is detailed and categorized by place name, person name, and details.
In addition, the original text of 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』, stored in the National Library of Paris, is being produced as a reprint and provided as a special appendix.

3.
Meaning



So far, domestic research on the Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon has consisted of only a few papers and translations.
So, it is difficult to understand the content of this travelogue just by looking at the translated version that explains the sentences.
First of all, it is a story from a long time ago in a far away place.
Because it is a short book of about 6,000 characters and summarizes what was seen and heard in about 40 regions, the content is brief, and when it was discovered, the beginning and end were cut off, and there are many letters that have been erased and are faint or no longer in use.
In order to properly understand, a translation that provides accurate explanations of the history, geography, and culture of the region at that time and that includes thorough annotations for Chinese characters with ambiguous meanings or forms is essential.
Translator Jeong Su-il has long lamented the reality that there is not a single decent translation.
Thus, based on an accurate translation, we finally published the first translated book in Korea with 503 detailed annotations, which is approximately ten times the length of the original text.


4.
Research Results: Providing Answers to Controversial Issues in Previous Research



The current 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 was discovered as a single scroll, and its contents are continuous without any paragraph breaks.
However, in Hyelin's 『Ilchegyeong-eum-ui』, which served as the basis for defining this scroll as 『Wangocheonchukgukjeon』, the annotations of the vocabulary appearing in 『Wangocheonchukgukjeon』 are classified into upper, middle, and lower volumes.
This is the reason why there is controversy over whether the existing 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 is a draft, an abridged version of the original, or a copy of the original.

The translator meticulously compared the number of words and the order of appearance among the words annotated in 『Ilchegyeongeumui』 and the words included in the existing 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』.
And it is concluded that the existing 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 is an abridged version of the original three volumes.
In addition, based on the frequency of annotated vocabulary selected from 『Ilchegyeongumui』, the amount of text cut out from the existing 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 was also estimated for the first time.




There are many different opinions about the route Hyecho traveled.
This is because the travelogue contains a mix of places I visited personally and places I heard about.
The translator distinguished between travelogues and specialized journals by considering the accuracy and specificity of the description, geographical location, purpose of travel, and the fact that Hyecho wrote the opening sentences for the places he visited in a certain format.
And, breaking the prevailing academic opinion that Hyecho did not go as far as Persia and Arabia and wrote about these places based on what he heard, he presented valid evidence that he was the first Asian to travel to the Arab Empire.
However, this is based on the premise that the Arab Empire (Greater Food Nation) of that time had a different regional scope and concept from the Arab world of today.
According to the translator, Hyecho went to Nishapur (NDshApEr, present-day Mashhad in northeastern Iran), which was the Central Asian jurisdiction of the Arab Empire at the time and a passage to the East.



Hyecho's travel route, newly estimated by the translator, is as follows.
Departing from Guangzhou, China ⇒ South China Sea ⇒ Sumatra ⇒ Lion Country (Ceylon, Sri Lanka) ⇒ Eastern India ⇒ Vaishali ⇒ Kusinagara ⇒ Varanasi ⇒ Mageeta Country (4 major holy places including Rajasthan, Mahabodhi, etc.) ⇒ Kanyakubja, the capital of Central India ⇒ Nasik ⇒ Alor ⇒ Sarandala (Jalandhara) ⇒ Taksa Country (Takshar) ⇒ Sindhugura Country (Sindhugurjara) ⇒ Sarandala ⇒ Kasyapamira Country (Kashmir) ⇒ Gantara Country (Gandhara) ⇒ Udhyana ⇒ Chitral ⇒ Gantara Country ⇒ Lampa Country (Rampaka) ⇒ Kepong Country (Kapish) ⇒ Sayul country (Zabulistan) ⇒ Beomin country (Bamiyan) ⇒ Tohwara (Tokharistan) ⇒ Pasa (Persia) ⇒ Daishi (Nishapur) ⇒ Tohwara (Tokharistan) ⇒ Rye country (Wakhan) ⇒ Pamir Plateau (Chongryeongjin) ⇒ Soreuk country (Kashgar) ⇒ Kucha country (Kucha) ⇒ Ongi country (Karashahr) ⇒ Dunhuang ⇒ Lanzhou ⇒ Arrival at Chang'an
Previous researchers believed that Hyecho went to India via the Nicobar Islands and stopped by Yangdongguk (northern Bhutan) and Ugi (Khotan) on his way back.
The translator pointed out that the 'naked' in the first part of the travelogue does not refer to primitive humans being naked, but to the appearance of religious practitioners, and he believed that this part was likely written about Vaishali, not the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean or the northern west coast of the Malay Peninsula, and that he wrote about Yangdong, which is located across the Himalayas, or the rainy season beyond the Taklamakan Desert, based on what he heard and heard, rather than directly visiting.
1.
outline

This book is a travelogue of India and Central Asia from 1,200 years ago, revived in the 21st century.
This is a translated version of 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』, published after painstaking research by Professor Jeong Su-il, a world-renowned scholar of civilization exchange and Islamic studies.
As one of the new volumes in the "Civilization Travels" series published by Hakgojae, we wanted to publish the first volume of a global travelogue written by a Korean.
『Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon』 has been studied in many countries for nearly a hundred years since it was discovered by French explorer Pelliot in the Dunhuang Grottoes in 1908.
However, in Korea, the hometown of the author who wrote this book, research is far behind, and apart from the six or seven translated works published so far, there has not been a single decent translation.
This is precisely what caused the translator of this book (Jeong Su-il) to feel a sense of guilt for not being able to properly honor our great ancestors, and what finally led him to begin the translation work.
『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 is a record left by Hyecho, a great monk of Silla, after traveling around India, Arabia, Persia, and Central Asia around 720.
To understand a text written in Chinese characters about 1,200 years ago, and especially one about a distant country that is not our own, a translated text, not a simple translation, is absolutely necessary.
Accordingly, the translator compared and analyzed existing research papers and compared them with related books such as 『Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty』 and 『Records of the Buddhist Kingdoms』.
He also used his knowledge of Chinese language and cultural exchanges, Islam, Central Asian history, culture, and geography to publish Hyecho's "Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon", a translated and annotated version of the original text with detailed and rich annotations.
One of the purposes of reading travelogues is to look at myself through the eyes of others.
This translation by Jeong Su-il breathes new life into an ancient document that had been dormant for 1,200 years, and brings a story from a distant place back to life in the present, here and now.


2.
composition

At the very beginning of the book, there is a map showing Hyecho's travel route, the first attempted restoration of Hyecho, and color plates related to the 『Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon』, including the Dunhuang Grottoes, India, and Xi'an, China.
The commentary on the 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 that follows includes information on Hyecho's life, the process and content of his travelogue's discovery, his personality, Hyecho's journey to the West and its significance in the history of civilization, existing research results, and future research tasks.
Next comes the original text of the 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』, divided into 227 lines as it was transcribed on a scroll.
The text is divided into 40 sections by region based on the original text of 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 and arranged in the order of translation, original text, and annotations.
It starts from Vaishali in central India and ends in Karashahr in Central Asia.
The back contains a chronology and index of Hyecho's reign, and a reprint of the "Hyecho Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon" section from Hyelin's "Ilchegyeong-eumui," which served as a basis for understanding the true nature of "Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon."
The search is detailed and categorized by place name, person name, and details.
In addition, the original text of 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』, stored in the National Library of Paris, is being produced as a reprint and provided as a special appendix.

3.
Meaning



So far, domestic research on the Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon has consisted of only a few papers and translations.
So, it is difficult to understand the content of this travelogue just by looking at the translated version that explains the sentences.
First of all, it is a story from a long time ago in a far away place.
Because it is a short book of about 6,000 characters and summarizes what was seen and heard in about 40 regions, the content is brief, and when it was discovered, the beginning and end were cut off, and there are many letters that have been erased and are faint or no longer in use.
In order to properly understand, a translation that provides accurate explanations of the history, geography, and culture of the region at that time and that includes thorough annotations for Chinese characters with ambiguous meanings or forms is essential.
Translator Jeong Su-il has long lamented the reality that there is not a single decent translation.
Thus, based on an accurate translation, we finally published the first translated book in Korea with 503 detailed annotations, which is approximately ten times the length of the original text.


4.
Research Results: Providing Answers to Controversial Issues in Previous Research



The current 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 was discovered as a single scroll, and its contents are continuous without any paragraph breaks.
However, in Hyelin's 『Ilchegyeong-eum-ui』, which served as the basis for defining this scroll as 『Wangocheonchukgukjeon』, the annotations of the vocabulary appearing in 『Wangocheonchukgukjeon』 are classified into upper, middle, and lower volumes.
This is the reason why there is controversy over whether the existing 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 is a draft, an abridged version of the original, or a copy of the original.

The translator meticulously compared the number of words and the order of appearance among the words annotated in 『Ilchegyeongeumui』 and the words included in the existing 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』.
And it is concluded that the existing 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 is an abridged version of the original three volumes.
In addition, based on the frequency of annotated vocabulary selected from 『Ilchegyeongumui』, the amount of text cut out from the existing 『Wang Ocheonchukgukjeon』 was also estimated for the first time.




There are many different opinions about the route Hyecho traveled.
This is because the travelogue contains a mix of places I visited personally and places I heard about.
The translator distinguished between travelogues and specialized journals by considering the accuracy and specificity of the description, geographical location, purpose of travel, and the fact that Hyecho wrote the opening sentences for the places he visited in a certain format.
And, breaking the prevailing academic opinion that Hyecho did not go as far as Persia and Arabia and wrote about these places based on what he heard, he presented valid evidence that he was the first Asian to travel to the Arab Empire.
However, this is based on the premise that the Arab Empire (Greater Food Nation) of that time had a different regional scope and concept from the Arab world of today.
According to the translator, Hyecho went to Nishapur (NDshApEr, present-day Mashhad in northeastern Iran), which was the Central Asian jurisdiction of the Arab Empire at the time and a passage to the East.



Hyecho's travel route, newly estimated by the translator, is as follows.
Departing from Guangzhou, China ⇒ South China Sea ⇒ Sumatra ⇒ Lion Country (Ceylon, Sri Lanka) ⇒ Eastern India ⇒ Vaishali ⇒ Kusinagara ⇒ Varanasi ⇒ Mageeta Country (4 major holy places including Rajasthan, Mahabodhi, etc.) ⇒ Kanyakubja, the capital of Central India ⇒ Nasik ⇒ Alor ⇒ Sarandala (Jalandhara) ⇒ Taksa Country (Takshar) ⇒ Sindhugura Country (Sindhugurjara) ⇒ Sarandala ⇒ Kasyapamira Country (Kashmir) ⇒ Gantara Country (Gandhara) ⇒ Udhyana ⇒ Chitral ⇒ Gantara Country ⇒ Lampa Country (Rampaka) ⇒ Kepong Country (Kapish) ⇒ Sayul country (Zabulistan) ⇒ Beomin country (Bamiyan) ⇒ Tohwara (Tokharistan) ⇒ Pasa (Persia) ⇒ Daishi (Nishapur) ⇒ Tohwara (Tokharistan) ⇒ Rye country (Wakhan) ⇒ Pamir Plateau (Chongryeongjin) ⇒ Soreuk country (Kashgar) ⇒ Kucha country (Kucha) ⇒ Ongi country (Karashahr) ⇒ Dunhuang ⇒ Lanzhou ⇒ Arrival at Chang'an
Previous researchers believed that Hyecho went to India via the Nicobar Islands and stopped by Yangdongguk (northern Bhutan) and Ugi (Khotan) on his way back.
The translator pointed out that the 'naked' in the first part of the travelogue does not refer to primitive humans being naked, but to the appearance of religious practitioners, and he believed that this part was likely written about Vaishali, not the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean or the northern west coast of the Malay Peninsula, and that he wrote about Yangdong, which is located across the Himalayas, or the rainy season beyond the Taklamakan Desert, based on what he heard and heard, rather than directly visiting.