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E820
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Im Pang on
Casual Records by Such’on (Compendium of Remarks on Poetry)
Entry Text
國朝文章之士。莫盛於成宣兩朝。而詩才之盛。宣廟朝為最。比諸皇明。其嘉隆之際乎。宣廟朝。詩文之兼備。當以簡易為首。簡易。銀臺二十咏。盖李靑蓮後白。為堂后時。呼新魁試才。使之一進退。各成一律者。而篇篇皆有味。其中枯木結句。苔蘚作花蘿作葉。還知造物未全捐。語甚新奇。且延興府院君宴席所賦。避暑風流傾北海一律。一時諸文人。皆閣筆。以今觀之。此作儘好。而知其好者必鮮。雖知。亦不必閣筆。以長其聲價。盖當時則有眞知者。故爾。簡易自許以天下文章。不可草草自奉。以荏飼牛。而食之。平居必錦帳繡袍。接待朝士極傲。而其時文人皆受以不忤。多有受業者。亦多推轂。至除槐院提調此由於眞知其文章之可責故也
In our dynasty no scholar-writers flourished like in the two reigns of King Sŏngjong and King Sŏnjo, but poetic talent flourished the most in King Sŏnjo’s time. If compared to the Ming dynasty, could the two periods come close to the Jiajing and Longqing reigns? Among the Sŏnjo era scholar-writers who excelled in both poetry and prose, Ch’oe Rip must come first. His “Twenty Poems on the Silver Terrace” 銀臺二十詠 was probably composed when Chief Clerk (tanghugwan) Yi Hubaek called in the new primuses to test their talent and made them each write a regulated verse as each came and left. Every one of the twenty poems was savory. Among them, the final lines of “Withered Tree” 枯木 which reads, 苔蘚作花蘿作葉還知造物未全捐 Mosses grow flowers, and ivies grow leaves.From this I know the Creatorhas not fully deserted you.is a truly original and unique (sin’gi) expression. A regulated verse he composed at the banquet hosted by Grand Prince (puwŏn’gun) of Yŏnhŭng, 避暑風流傾北海 Our merrymaking on this summer day surpasses that at Beihai.made all literati put down their brushes at once. Looking back today, the poem was extremely fine (chinho), but those who understood its excellence must have been few. Even if they understood, there was no need for them to put down their brushes and further increase his renown. This was probably because there were people at the time who truly understood the poem’s excellence. Ch’oe was excessively confident of himself for his world-renowned writings. Believing that he could not carelessly spend on himself, he ate bean-fed oxen. In everyday life, he always used silk canopy and wore embroidered robes. He was extremely arrogant toward court officials, yet the literati of his time all accepted him and did not challenge him. Many studied under him and also many recommended him even to be appointed in the Office of Diplomatic Correspondence (Sŭngmunwŏn). The reason for this must be that they truly understood the distinction of his writing.
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