Pak the Interpreter

AnonymousNanhai Publication Company · ChinaSep 2023

4.0

Word count: 30K words
Chapters: 5

Summary

A Korean textbook for learning Chinese, compiled in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties and based on the Beijing dialect of the time as its standard pronunciation.

Editor's review

Piaotongshi is a Korean textbook for learning Chinese compiled in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, using the Beijing dialect of the time as its standard pronunciation; it is a precious historical source for Chinese-language teaching. Its value lies not in literary quality but in its faithful preservation of the spoken language, everyday conversational settings, and details of social life from over six hundred years ago, making it an important text for the study of early modern Chinese, the history of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, and Sino-Korean cultural exchange. Its contents revolve around practical situations such as asking directions, buying and selling, banquets, and official dealings; the language is colloquial and strongly dialogic, allowing readers to see the vocabulary, grammar, and tone of the Beijing dialect of the period. This 2023 Nanhai Publishing House edition makes this rare document accessible to general readers. It is suited to slow reading with an eye for language history, and can also be browsed as corpus material for comparison with modern Chinese. There is no need to seek narrative continuity; it is better suited to close reading of selected passages, paying attention to forms of address, measure words, idioms, and polite formulas, and appreciating the practical orientation of a colloquial textbook.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Language learners studying early modern Chinese and the historical evolution of the Beijing dialect
Teachers of Chinese as a foreign language who want to understand the form of early textbooks
Researchers interested in the history of Sino-Korean cultural exchange and Korean Peninsula sinology
Readers of history and literature interested in everyday conversation and life details of the premodern period

Not a good fit for

General readers seeking literary works with complete plots and vivid characters
Beginners with no classical Chinese who are unwilling to consult annotations
Learners expecting prescriptive explanations of modern Chinese or exam preparation

Reading tips

Begin with the preface or publisher's note to understand the background and edition, then proceed to the main text.
Read selected passages by conversational setting, retelling each in modern Chinese to appreciate the changes in the spoken language.
Keep a notebook to record forms of address, measure words, and idioms, building up a corpus of early modern Chinese.
Read alongside Chinese textbooks or historical sources of the same period, noting traces of Beijing pronunciation and vocabulary.

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

版权信息
《朴通事》
朴通事上
朴通事中
朴通事下

FAQ

Was this book used by Koreans to learn Chinese?

Yes. According to the source material, Piaotongshi is a Korean textbook for learning Chinese compiled in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, using the Beijing dialect of the time as its standard pronunciation. It is an early textbook of Chinese as a foreign language, centered on practical conversation.

Can I read it without any classical Chinese?

It will be somewhat difficult. The book preserves a great deal of early modern colloquial expression that is distant from modern Chinese. Readers should first have basic experience reading classical or early modern Chinese, or read with the help of annotations and reference works.

Is it suitable to read as literature?

Not really. Its main value lies in its status as a linguistic and historical source and as a textbook, not in plot or character development. Those seeking literary appreciation may find the content fragmentary; it is better read as selected corpus material.

Can reading this book help me understand social life in Beijing at the time?

Indirectly, yes. The conversations cover everyday settings such as buying and selling, social dealings, and banquets, reflecting the use of the Beijing dialect and some details of life at the time. But it is a textbook, not a social chronicle, and should be understood in conjunction with other historical sources.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.