One of my favorite Korean blogs on Classical Chinese texts. The blogger named Teolbo (털보) has posted Korean translations of Chinese Classics that I have not been able to find anywhere else on the Korean blogosphere.
Many of my readers acclaim me and my blog, but I think these accolades are a bit excessive. There are tons of Korean blogs that do what I do; mine just happens to be the only one in English. I would like to give where credit is due on this blog post.
Firstly, I get a lot of my source texts from the Korean blogosphere. I can do a simple Google search in Korean on a topic or text that I would like to post about, and can find a post about it on some Korean blog very easily.
Secondly, my blog posts’ formatting are in large part inspired from these Korean blogs — and also in-print books with side-by-side Korean translation and original text. I think this formatting is the most conducive to readers to who not only want to appreciate the meaning of the text, but also learn the Classical Chinese and characters and background history.
Thirdly and lastly, these Korean blogs help me with my translations. My translation method is as follows. I first directly translate from the Classical Chinese text to English. I then double check with the Korean translation, if there is one. Sometimes, the text might be making an allusion to a Chinese Classic or another work that I am unfamiliar with. I can tell whether there is an allusion when the line in question is a non-sequitur. (My personal knowledge of Chinese Classics drops outside the realm of the Four Books (四書, 사서) of Confucianism). Oftentimes, a Korean blog will have a translation and explanation of the work being alluded.
In short, thanks to the Korean blogosphere, my work on my blog is not as difficult as it seems. I can usually translate a heptasyllabic regulated poem (七言律詩, 칠언율시) and write annotations in about 30 minutes.
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