Manchu Studies Group
November 10, 2020
Almost fourteen years ago, Dr. Loretta Kim, then a graduate student at Harvard, worked with students in her Manchu A class to read and translate the Manchu Origin Myth story at the beginning of Manzhou shilu. Not satisfied with only reading and translating the Manchu version into English, they went further to translate the story in many modern languages and recorded their voices out loud.
Fourteen years later, Dr. Kim and the class alumni, with the help of many others (including Rhonda Huo 霍然, book editor and member of the name lexicon project), have produced a fine illustrated e-book that features translations of the Bukūri Yongšon myth in Modern Mandarin, Modern Cantonese, Korean, and Turkish to complement the Manchu/literary Chinese versions, including illustrations intended to appeal for an audience of 0 to 99 years old. They have also kindly offered to share this book with the Manjuristics community at large, free of charge.
To download and read this wonderful illustrated book (PDF version), please use the link below:
Below is a link to the audio recording of the story (from page 13–16 in the PDF) recited by Professor Chuang Chi-fa (莊吉發) in Manchu language, provided by Monica Chang (A Manchu Learner):
To hear more about the story and ideas behind this book, and check out more information about Manchu Studies and the Manchu Studies Group, please click here (MSG)
