The sun rises in the east, the sun sets in the west

It’s a new year and I really want to make this year a good year for me, better than 2012.  Last year was a year when I focused on studying 한자[漢字] but this year I plan to study them only during weekends.  Having studied quite a number of 한자[漢字], I thought about studying Chinese or Japanese at first but I have no motivation and also I felt that it was very far from my goal of improving my Korean language skills.  Hence, after thinking about it, I came about to studying 한문[漢文] starting last month.

I feel 한문[漢文] is quite interesting in itself and I feel I can achieve several things at once from it.  Hence, I sought for a beginner’s book written in Korean and I found the 중학교[中學校] 한문[漢文] series which can be easily found in Korean bookstores.  With these books, I want to achieve several things:  (1)  I will get to know more about Korean culture, history, or literature since most topics are of this form, and not mentioning that 한문[漢文] itself is a literary form; (2)  I will be able to continue reviewing and learning new 한자[漢字], which is good; (3)  I will be able to learn and improve my basic knowledge of 한문[漢文]; (4)  I will be able to learn more Korean vocabulary, improve, and practice my reading skills since the book is written in Korean.  Below are some pages from the book I’m currently reading, which only costs about 10,000圓.

http://book.daum.net/detail/book.do?bookid=KOR9788905034580

50 by Arlan Rodrigo

57 by Arlan Rodrigo

The topics in the book are quite interesting and diverse ranging from Chinese/Korean culture and history to prose and poems written in 한문[漢文] and the material has been manageable for me as a beginner.  With these books, there is really hope to progress in studying 한문[漢文] using Korean as a medium.  There is hope, for the sun rises in the east and the sun sets in the west.

『淸晨, 祖携孫出門, 祖曰:  “爾知方向乎?  日出於東, 日沒於西.  今汝向日而行, 是爲東, 背後爲西, 右手爲南, 左手爲北.  故, 視日之出沒, 可以辨四方也.”』

『청신, 조휴손출문, 조왈:  “이지방향호?  일출어동, 일몰어서.  금여향일이행, 시위동, 배후위서, 우수위남, 좌수위북.  고, 시일지출몰, 가이변사방야.”』

『[淸 – clear][晨 – dawn], [祖 – grandfather][携 – lead][孫 – grandson][出 – to go out][門 – door], [祖 – grandfather][曰 – said]:  “[爾 – you][知 – know][方 – direction][向 – facing][乎 – do you]?  [日 – sun][出 – rise][於 – in][東 – east], [日 – sun][沒 – set][於 – in][西 – west].  [今 – now][汝 – you][向 – face][日 – sun][而 – and][行 – go], [是 – this][爲 – become][東 – east], [背 – back][後 – rear][爲 – become][西 – west], [右 – right][手 – hand][爲 – become][南 – south], [左 – left][手 – hand][爲 – become][北 – north].  [故 – therefore], [視 – watch][日 – sun][之 – ‘s][出 – rise][沒 – set], [可以 – can][辨 – distinguish][四 – four][方 – directions][也 – indeed].” 』

『One clear dawn, a grandfather led his grandson outside the door.  The grandfather said to the boy:  “Do you know the direction that you are facing?  The sun rises in the east, the sun sets in the west.  Now, if you face the sun and go, this becomes the east, at your back’s rear becomes the west, on your right hand becomes the south, and on your left hand becomes the north.  Therefore, if you watch the sun’s rising and setting, you can distinguish between the four directions, indeed.” 』