Does anybody know classical Chinese?

2009-06-08 6:46 am
The following is the letter sent from the Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan to Japan's emperor in the 13th century.
It is written in classical Chinese, the lingua franca in Far-East Asia in the past.
(It was the native language to neither the Mongol emperor nor Japan's emperor.)
Would you please translate this letter into English?

上天眷命
大蒙古國皇帝奉書
日本國王朕惟自古小國之君
境土相接尚務講信修睦況我
祖宗受天明命奄有區夏遐方異
域畏威懷德者不可悉數朕即
位之初以高麗無辜之民久瘁
鋒鏑即令罷兵還其疆域反其旄倪高麗
君臣感戴來朝義雖君臣歡若父子計
王之君臣亦已知之高麗朕之
東藩也日本密邇高麗開國以
來亦時通中國至於朕躬而無
一乘之使以通和好尚恐
王國知之未審故特遣使持書
布告朕志冀自今以往通問結
好以相親睦且聖人以四海為
家不相通好豈一家之理哉以至
用兵夫孰所好
王其圖之不宣
至元三年八月日
更新1:

Please, do not use the Internet translator.

更新2:

The Mongol emperor seemed to divide the letter into lines , on the basis of the size of paper. It has nothing to do with the meanings.

更新3:

In addition, he didn't write down the exact date in the last line. He just dated the letter " O August, the 3rd year from my throne".

回答 (3)

2009-06-08 9:50 pm
✔ 最佳答案
It'll be quite difficult to translate the letter word for word. But I believe the general meaning of the letter is:

The emperor of Mongolia wants the king of Japan to know that he (and his ancestors) are the mandate of Heaven and they have the power to control the fate of their neighboring countries (ie. Korea was spared because of Mongolia's "generous" decision to cease file). The emperor of Mongolia sees their relationship with Japan is "like father like son". However, because Japan is close with Korea and China, the emperor of Mongolia wonders why Japan has yet to know that the new emperor has taken his throne and why no ambassadors have been sent to pay respect and warns that Japan should comply (ie. send ambassadors over and enter into a friendly "ally" with Mongolia") or else...

Basically, the emperor of Mongolia is using this letter to demand Japan to become a state of Mongolia, just like Korea, and if Japan refuses, Mongolia will have to resort to arms.
2009-06-08 3:57 pm
was there any punctuation or anything?...
it's divided to lines just at random...
here it's as a readable variant...

上天 眷命

大蒙 古国 皇帝 奉书
日本 国王

朕 惟 自古 小国 之君
境土 相接 尚务 讲信修睦 况 我祖宗
受 天明命 奄有 区夏 遐方 异域
畏威 怀德者 不可 悉数 朕 即位 之初 以 高丽 无辜 之民久瘁
锋镝 即令罢兵还其 疆域 反其 旄倪 高丽
君臣 感戴 来朝 义虽君臣欢 若 父子 计
王之君臣亦已知之高丽 朕 之
东藩也 日本 密迩 高丽 开国 以来 亦时通 中国 至于 朕
躬而无一乘之使以通 和好 尚恐
王国 知 之未审故 特遣 使持 书

布告 朕 志 冀 自今 以往 通问 结好 以
相亲 睦且 圣人 以 四海为家
不 相通 好岂 一家之理哉 以至用兵 夫孰 所好

王其图之 不宣

至元三年八月 日

i don't know 文言 vocabulary but it's something about ancestors, establishing the state of Korea and hope to keep in touch with each other...
doesn't look authentic for me...
perhaps coz i was able to read it...
or coz there is smth missing between 月 and日 (last line)

if i couldn't read a word then i'd think "whoa, that must be a real ancient scroll"...
but the main idea of this royal SMS is pretty clear...
:)
2009-06-08 6:50 am
On life天眷
Great book from the emperor of Mongolia
King of Japan since ancient times a small country but I King
Throughout the soil phase works still speak the status of my letter Xiumu
Ancestors suddenly ordered by the district Tianming summer ya side differences
Huaide畏威domain I that is, not to the full
Bit at the beginning of the innocent people of Korea in the long weary
Dysprosium front of their boundaries to make the anti-罢兵also its aged Ni Korea
Jun-chen to wear to a sense of justice, although North Korea if the son of Huan-Jun-chen
Jun-chen Wang Korea is well known to the I
East Japan fan also close to near the founding of Korea
China is also the time to pass without regard to朕躬
Ichijo's so good not to pass and may
The Kingdom of the trial they did not know who book special envoy
I notice from this past Zhi Ji Tong asked knot
Harmony and good to love for the saints to the world
How can families do not share a good reason and Weizai
Which troops Cardiff gave
Wang has not announced its plans
Yuan in August on a three-year


Hope this helps. Some words i couldn't translate


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