Now that I am looking to start a productive life in Seoul, I thought I better write a small article on some text. Luckily, as I had been invited with quite a few others to a Korean restaurant, I was happy that I encountered the following two statements written in elegant calligraphed Chinese characters:

The order in which the characters are to be read is, as it is usually the case with Classical Chinese as originally written, from top to bottom, and from right to left. The main text consists of 10 columns, containing two characters each, excepts for the fifth and the tenth one, which both contain three characters each (the first character “cramped into” both these columns is 而, which is usually to be considered a conjunction and is often best translated as “and” or “but,” depending on the context).

It reads (now rendered in the order in which one normally reads English as well as Classical Chinese in scholastic publications or on most websites):

蘭生幽谷不以無人而不芳

君子立德不以困窮而改節

I am not sure whether this fragment would constitute classical Chinese poetry in any shape or form, but I can refer to it as a couplet, since it contains two sentences (the first sentence being the upper line in the rendition just above, the second sentence being presented in the line below it) to drive home one main idea. Both sentences show what can be called “parallelisms” to each other, in that each sentence’s first four characters, 蘭生幽谷 and 君子立德 (“an orchid grows in a deep gorge” and “a superior man establishes virtue”), describe situations presented as natural occurrences, and the remainder of both sentences, 不以無人而不芳 and 不以困窮而改節 (“it does not stop spreading its fragrance on account of lack of people [to enjoy it]” and “he does not compromise his integrity because of [his] destitution”) both indicate that an orchid and a superior man both have inherent qualities which are not changed by certain external factors, be it a lack of people who may admire the orchid’s fragrance, or indigence that could cripple the morally superior man’s life.

My translation of the entire couplet is thus as follows:

When an orchid grows in a deep gorge, it will not cease to spread its fragrance because there are no people around.

When a superior man brings about virtue, he will not compromise his moral integrity because of destitution that he may face.

Finally, I would like to inform you that you may expect from me further translated “episodes” of the 天學文答. I might have the next part online within a month or so. Also the second (which may perhaps be the final) part of the first sermon in the Syriac Liber Graduum, or The Book of Steps, is in the pipeline.

Should you like to get in touch with me on account of any projects revolving around texts, translations, and/or ancient languages, in which I could meaningfully contribute, please do not hesitate to do so!