<노걸대>와 <박통사>

Abstract

Both Laoqita and Piaotongshi were originally published as textbooks for teaching Hànéryányŭ (漢兒言語), the official language of the Yuán (元) Empire. Each of these textbooks, however, underwent several revision processes as the official language of China changed when a new dynasty came in to rule the empire. During the Ming (明) dynasty, each of them was published as Revised Version to accommodate its official language Nánjīng Guānhuà (南京官話) and then for the Qīnɡ (淸) dynasty as New Annotated Version to suit the Beijing Mandarin. This version of Laoquita was also published as Reprinted Version for teaching standard Běijīng Guānhuà (北京官話). This paper makes claims concerning (1) the date of publication of the original Laoqita and Piaotongshi and (2) their authorship. We first claim that they were published almost the same time around the year of Bingxū (丙戌, 1346) during the period Zhìzhèng (至正) of Yuán. This claim is based on at least two passages in the texts, as follows: (1) Piaotongshi mentions in Lesson 39, entitled “The Goryeo Monk”, that Monk Boheo (步虛) of the Goryeo dynasty gave a sermon in the capital city of Yuán in the year of Bingxū (丙戌) and (2) in Story 105, entitled “Auspicious Day for Returning Home?” (筭卦), Laoqita also has a passage “May you have good fortune in this year of Bingxū (今年交大運丙 戌) that refers to the year of Bingxū (丙戌, 1346). The Original Laqoita also mentions about bǎochāo (寶鈔), a paper money used during the Yuan dynasty, reflecting the market price of Zhìzhèng (至正, 1341-1367) period, especially that of 1355-1368. Second, we claim that both Laoqita and Piaotongshi were written by some official government translators/interpreters of the Goryeo dynasty who were dispatched to the captial city of Yuán and stayed around there for a good portion of time. This claim is simply based on frequent references to persons and affairs related to Goryeo in the texts. Both Laogits and Piaotougshi were, however, textbooks for reading Hànyǔ (漢語), complementing and closely related to each other with interesting contents. Since both of them were used as textbooks for reading Hànyǔ texts, the contents mostly focused on learning Hànyǔ with their main topics covering from the names of Chinese dishes, proverbs, and idiomatic expressions to the ways of finding directions to a hospital, selling and buying things for trade or other daily affairs that might easily occur while living in a foreign city. They were textbooks for learning Hànyǔ as a living language. Laogits and Piaotougshi each aimed at different levels of difficulty in learning Hànyǔ. Laoqita aimed at the elementary level, whereas Piaotongshi was written for the intermediate level. For those who were taking the highest-level state examination for recruiting official interpreters (譯科), for instance, Laoqita provided the material for practicing on primary tests. Piaotongshi, on the other hand, provided intermediate-level practice materials that required more specicialized skills. They were, however, both Hànyǔ (漢語) textbooks for understanding daily life.