Korean peninsula
Seoul is the alphabetical destiny?
Yes, said the Korean scholars and politicians who changed the official English name of their country to "Corea" in 2003. This behavior is based on an increasingly common belief that the Japanese switched "C" to "K" at the beginning of their occupation of the peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Korean peninsula
This controversy was once only troubled by linguists and historians, but it has also penetrated into other fields from academia. In November 2013, 22 South Korean lawmakers proposed a resolution calling on the South Korean government to adopt the Corea spelling. This is the first time that South Korean officials have made this proposal.
Schematic diagram
In the Korean drama "Forever Monarch" broadcast this year, when the "Korean Empire" monarch Lee Dang took a car to enter and exit the Imperial Palace in Busan, the country name written on the license plate was "Kingdom of Corea" instead of the familiar " Korea". Schematic diagram of
On the English subtitles, whenever "the Korean Empire" is mentioned, the English name "Corea" also appears.
The English letter
Confucius said: If the name is not right, just saying it will not go well, and if it is not right, things will not happen. South Korea, which has been influenced by Confucian culture for a long time in history, is absolutely well aware of this. Schematic diagram of
So, why does South Korea choose the English country name "Corea" instead of "Korea"? Was it the Japanese or Westerners? What kind of history is behind it?
Korean peninsula
one
Each western country designed its own East Asian country name
Korean peninsula
In the second half of the 19th century, the English books and maps published in the West usually spelled the country’s name as Corea, and the British government spelled it out in 1890. The cornerstone of the embassy in South Korea is marked with the name "Corea". Schematic diagram of
In the map of East Asia drawn by the famous British map publisher John Tallis in 1851, the Korean peninsula was called "Corea". Later, in 1908, the American ethnologist Jeremy Curtin, one of the originators of Asian studies, wrote the book "History of Mongolia", also called the name of the Korean peninsula "Corea". There are also many missionaries who came to Asia from the West. They also use "Corea" in the book. It can be seen that many Europeans who have just arrived in South Korea also use the letter "C" to name the Korean Peninsula.
Corea
Of course, during the same period, some Western countries would use "Korea" to refer to the Korean peninsula. For example, the US consul in the Korean peninsula at that time used "Korea" for written records. In addition, in the World Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, "Korea" and "Corea" were also used in parallel, but due to the influence of the United States, the organizer still preferred to use "Korea".
Korea
Before Japan had any impact on Korea’s interaction with European countries, both spellings ("K" and "C") were created in Europe and used by Europe. In addition, for Europeans, East Asian countries are so far out of reach that Europeans don't really care how they call these countries. Almost every European country has designed its own name for each East Asian country, and Japan is often written as "Cipangu" in the early days. Later, just like modern Spanish, it was "Japon", "Giappone" in Italian, and "Japan" in English.
c
Southern European languages are mainly from Latin, where the letter "C" is used to transcribe the "k" sound. In the Nordic languages, "k" is always written with the letter "K" instead of "C".
Korean Peninsula
贰
Change "Corea" to "Korea": Japan does not want Korean alphabets to be in Japanfront?
diagram
Japan’s annexation of the Korean Peninsula did not become a formal agreement until 1910, but in fact, Japan has long since become a powerful country that controls South Korea’s relations with the outside world. In 1897, Japan defeated the Qing Dynasty in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 to exercise its ambition to control the Korean Peninsula. Since then, the only country that can compete with Japan for hegemony on the Korean Peninsula is Tsarist Russia. When Russia was defeated by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, South Korea was annexed as a fait accompli. Since 1910, the Korean Peninsula has officially become a Japanese colony in Asia.
1910
In order to avoid a costly conflict, US President Woodrow Wilson ignored the demands of South Korean patriots and American missionaries and turned a blind eye to Japan's annexation and colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
1928
During this period, it is rumored that Japan launched a campaign to promote the use of "Korea" in the American media. why? The decision by the Japanese militarists to allow a potential colony of Japan to be ahead of its "master" in the alphabetical order of the country seems unwise.
Korean peninsula
Korean historian Zhong Rongxu believes that the Japanese controlled the peninsula for 4 years before officially colonizing the peninsula in 1910. The name was changed before the London Olympics in 1908 so that Japan could rank Japan’s national English name ahead of Korea.
1907
However, his evidence is the memoirs of a Japanese colonial official in 1912, complaining that Koreans tended to "persistently use C to write their country's name in order to keep themselves as an independent country."
1875
In addition, of course, some people think that it is the purpose of the Japanese to suppress the anti-Japanese independence tendency in the Korean peninsula.
During the Japanese occupation
Japan’s colonial rule over Korea ended on August 15, 1945, and Japan was defeated in World War II. The Koreans eagerly wanted to get rid of the relics of the colonial period and even demolished public buildings erected by the Japanese. Intellectuals and scholars urged the Western media to restore it to "Corea".
diagram
This conversion can only cause problems in English-speaking countries, because other Western countries have never accepted the spelling of "K". For example, France, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico all use "C".
schematic diagram
Actually, COREA or KOREA are both transliterations of ancient "Koryo", not the current South Korea. The pronunciation of the two English words is the same. Schematic diagram of
Of course, it is unlikely that South Korea will choose to change the spelling just because of the administrative expense burden of changing so many official documents.
Schematic diagram
三
The "Right of Name Movement" of South Korean young people
South Korean fans
The "Right of Name Movement" of South Korea mainly comes from young people. In the 2002 World Cup football match jointly organized by Japan and South Korea, the South Korean fan club known as the "Red Devils" waved slogans that read "Corea" and "Allez Coree!" and "Forza Corea!" in French and respectively. Italian, because these languages use the preferred "C". The
schematic diagram
The "Right of Name Campaign" is also vigorously carried out through the Internet. An online survey conducted on a popular portal site found that 69.4% of the respondents were in favor of the change and 27.4% were opposed.
diagram
opponents sarcastically said that South Korea would only choose a new name starting with "A" because it would rank very high in the alphabetical ranking. Or on the contrary, as a competing country, change the name of Japan to "Zapan". Schematic diagram of
Asian Americans suggested on the Korean network that "from a purely aestheticFrom a standpoint, Corea is indeed much better than Korea. Schematic diagram of
The debate is conducted in Korean. Korean alphabets are completely different, and the Korean number (North Korea) has been used throughout history to replace South Korea. The schematic diagram of
As for the anti-Japanese drama "Forever Monarch", The name of the "Korean Empire" at the time was chosen as "Corea", and of course there are related considerations.
Of course, there are also
z4950zthat typed "k". From "Seoul" to "Seoul": a full 612 years of
The “Seoul” to “Seoul” mentioned here is not a concept of space, but a concept of time.
Seoul
In 1394, the ancestor of the Lee Dynasty in North Korea, Lee Sung-gye moved the capital from Kaijing to Hanyang, officially named " "Seoul". After the end of World War II, South Korea called Seoul the "capital" of the Korean language, and English transliteration as Seoul, but Korean written Chinese characters are still written as Seoul.
Seoul
On January 19, 2005, the city of Seoul announced that it would be the city of Seoul. The Chinese name was changed to "Seoul", and the word "Seoul" is no longer used. Therefore, it can be said that it took a full 612 years from "Seoul" to "Seoul". South Korea explained that most countries will use "Seoul" as The pronunciation is similar to the English mark. With the increasingly frequent exchanges and exchanges between the two countries, the name "Seoul" has caused more and more confusion. The official interpretation of
Seoul
is actually very far-fetched, and it has basically been abolished in Korea. In the case of Chinese characters, the scope of using the name "Seoul" has been limited to the cultural circle of Chinese characters. The more frequent the exchanges and exchanges between the two countries, the more confusion and misunderstanding in using the name "Seoul" can be eliminated? For a new word" "Seoul" is nothing more than turning Korea’s hypothetical unwarranted chaos into actual chaos. The real reason why
Han's four counties
went from “Seoul” to “Seoul” is actually the deep inferiority in the hearts of its people. : In the long history of ancient times, all the dynasties of the Korean peninsula were subject to the dynasties of the Central Plains. "Seoul" is easily reminiscent of the Han Dynasty in China. At that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up four prefectures. Strengthen the rule of this area.
diagram
Korea is now a developed country, with increasing influence and cultural advantages. It is understandable to change the name. You can change your name, but you can make irresponsible remarks to others By the way. No matter what, the power of habit is infinite, and most people still call it Seoul.
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