Chapter 22: Sprout... Sprout of Cancer? (15)

Chapter 22: Sprout... Sprout of Cancer? (15)

Hi there! My name is Kirara and as you might have guessed, I absolutely adore everything that sparkles. My love for reading webnovels and light...

“The writings of the Western Barbarians is truly fascinating.”

“Pardon?”

“Come here and take a look,” King Sejong beckoned Hyang over to his side and pointed to the Latin script, tracing the lines with his fingers.

” Considering that these words keep appearing everywhere, they seem to indicate the grammatical case of the subject of the sentence. Based on the words written here, this part represents the initial sound of the word, this part here represents the medial sound, and this part represents the final sound of the word. So, they come together to form a single character. It seems that these characters, which represent the medial sound, are these ones. Looking at the way they create words and sentences, Westerners have phoneticized pronunciation rather than meaning. Am I right?”

“Yes, that is absolutely right!” Hyang stammered in response, half out of breath.

‘He’s a real genius! No, a monster!’

In just a short amount of time reading the book, King Sejong had grasped not only the articles and indefinite articles of Latin but also the structure of words and the use of phonetic symbols.

It was at this moment, that Hyang realized King Sejong’s ingenious mind that he had only known through textbooks up until now.

King Sejong returned to his book and continued to read, then turned to Hyang. “Do all the Western Barbarians use this kind of writings?”

“No, they all use this writing as a base, but it differs slightly.”

Hyang then selected books in French and German and placed them on the writing desk.

“Hmm... let me see...” King Sejong stroked his beard as he alternated between books in French and Germany languages, while comparing them to the previous book in Latin. “The forms of the characters are generally similar, but there are some variations in the characters that determine pronunciation... hmmm...”

With a nasal sound, King Sejong turned to face Hyang with a serious expression. “Prince.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What do you think about creating our own language for Joseon?”

‘He’s asking me!’ Hyang inwardly cheered and promptly answered, “I believe that creating our language for Joseon is absolutely necessary! How many people know the Chinese characters that the literati revere as true texts? And how many of those who know them actually write them properly? If Chinese characters are true texts, then why are we using a ‘phonetic’ system?

“Did you have difficulty writing sentences?”

“Hehe!”

Seeing Hyang’s childish behavior, King Sejong chuckled and nodded his head.

“Haha! I too remember struggling when I first wrote a sentence. I spent over an hour pondering and writing a poem, but my father and grandfather burst into laughter when they read it.” King Sejong, reminiscing about his childhood, looked at Hyang, “Indeed, the Chinese language and our Joseon language are completely different, and this is a problem. It is not easy for the common people to submit their grievances, even if they want to. The problem is that creating language system is not an easy task.”

“Your Majesty has many wise people around you, so if you decide to do it, it will become an easy task.”

At Hyang’s words, King Sejong lowered his head, “If I publicly declare that I will create a language system, the ‘Hall of Worthies’[1] scholars will become my enemies at that moment.”

“Your Majesty.”

Seeing King Sejong’s face full of things to say, Hyang called out to him. However, King Sejong did not continue speaking and stood up from his seat.

“The night is deep. It is time for us to sleep.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please get some sleep, Your Majesty. Only when Your Majesty is in good health can Joseon be stable.”

“You little rascal...”

King Sejong, who was about to leave the room with a chuckle, stopped in his tracks and looked back. “I hope you grow up quickly and reach the age of 15, when you can devote yourself to learning.”

“Pardon?”

“Go to sleep.”

After seeing King Sejong off, Hyang prepared to go to bed. As he lay down on the blankets that the palace maids had prepared, he suddenly got up and murmured. The words that King Sejong had said before leaving the room lingered in his mind.

“Ah, that gives me the chills.”

◈◈◈

As preparations for vaccinating the palace residents and the people of Hanyang against smallpox were underway, the palace, especially the area around the Inner Palace, was bustling.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

The head of the Inner Palace, the Chief of the Inner Palace, checked the situation with the medical officers.

“Are the needles for vaccination prepared?”

“100 have been prepared.”

“100 is not enough! Prepare 200 more!”

“What about the cows?”

“5 cows are ready!”

“How many people can be vaccinated with 5 cows?”

“As expected, even after vaccinating everyone in the palace and the six ministries who has not contracted smallpox, there will still be plenty left.”

“Good! Make sure to accurately record how long the pus collected from the infected cow can last!”

“Understood!”

The books that Minister of Taxation brought in response to Hyang’s request amounted to three large wooden boxes.

“That’s quite a lot. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Not at all.”

“Looking at the number of books, it seems that the Hui[5] believers are steadily coming into Ming Dynasty?”

“If you go south of the Yangtze River, there is still some exchange, but publicly there is none.”

“Still, there are many books.”

“Most of the books are made by Ming Dynasty’s enthusiasts.”

“Why do they make these books?”

“They’re doing their best to rid the remnants of the Yuan dynasty.”

Hyang nodded at the Minister of Taxation’s explanation and said, “Is that so? Thank you for your hard work.”

After seeing off the older man, Hyang muttered quietly while looking at the books on the wooden shelves, “As expected, it’s not without basis.”

During the reign of King Sejong, explosive growth was not something that fell from the sky! It was the result of absorbing the technologies that flowed out during the transition from the Yuan to the Ming Dynasty! The problem was that everything went downhill from there.

Hyang nodded repeatedly, recalling the words of Teacher Samcheonpo, the great scholar.

◈◈◈

As the winter solstice approached, preparations for the smallpox vaccination targeting the palace and the residents of Hanyang were entering the final stages.

“Let’s double-check that all the preparations are well done!”

“I have checked each item twice.”

“We can finish it before the start of the spring hardship[6] period, right?”

At the question of the chief physician, the medical officer nodded his head. “We can finish it!”

“Then I will report it to Minister of Personnel.”

◈◈◈

“Can we definitely finish it before the start of the spring hardship period?”

“The medical officers are confident.”

At the answer of the chief physician, the Minister of Personnel stroked his beard.

“Alright. Then I will report to the king.”

◈◈◈

“Until the beginning of spring, we must not forget to complete the inoculation without fail.”

Upon receiving the report of the Minister of Personnel, King Sejong issued a similar order.

Minister of Personnel nodded his head in agreement with King Sejong’s command, “I will do my utmost with all my heart and soul.”

◈◈◈

Footnotes

[1] Jiphyeonjeon (집현전, 集賢殿), also known as the Hall of Worthies, was a royal research institute established during the Joseon Dynasty in Korea (1392-1897). Founded in 1420 by King Sejong the Great, it was a place where the most talented scholars and experts gathered to research various fields such as literature, science, and philosophy. The Jiphyeonjeon scholars played a significant role in the development of the Korean Hangul script and various cultural and scientific advancements during the Joseon Dynasty.

[2] Literally in the raws

[3] 상생상극 (相生相剋) (sangsaengsanggeuk): means “mutual generation and mutual conquest.” It is a concept in East Asian philosophy that describes the complex relationships between the Five Elements.

[4] 오행 (五行) (Ohaeng): means “Five Elements,” which is a concept in East Asian philosophy that categorizes everything into five elements: water, fire, wood, metal, and earth.

[5] Historically, Hui people are a Chinese ethnic group of predominantly Muslim faith that dates back to Tang dynasty.

[6] 춘궁기(春窮期): spring hardship period, refers to the period from late winter to early spring, when food was scarce and people suffered from cold and hunger.

History Time!

What happened during the transition of Yuan to Ming dynasties?

During the Yuan-Ming transition, Ming dynasty experienced significant political turmoil, including wars and rebellions, which resulted in the displacement of many skilled workers and scholars. As a result, many of them fled to neighboring countries including Joseon for safety in order to avoid Ming’s persecution. This in turn, led to significant impacts on Joseon in terms of the advancement of various fields, including science, medicine, and technology.

Translator’s Notes

Hello readers!

With the vaccinations underway, what do you think Hyang has in mind for his next plans? I would love to hear your comments below!

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Kirara

Hi there! My name is Kirara and as you might have guessed, I absolutely adore everything that sparkles. My love for reading webnovels and light novels is just as bright and shiny, and I have a passion for bringing these stories to life through translation. If my translations are your cup of tea, kindly consider fueling my passion by purchasing me a Ko-fi or subscribing for early access to advanced chapters of all my translated works.