Found translation of the entire conversation in the shed thanks to the awesome inappropriatecrushes on soompi. I am just copy/pasting directly, her comments and all:
TH: So my wife… was a slave? DG: What's that got to do with anything? Differentiating between yangban and sangneom (commoner), what does it matter? It’s fine as long as you give your hearts to each other. TH: Even so… people's roots are an extremely strict matter. [Interruption: 사람의 근본은 지엄한 것이다, this line is a toughie for me, so I decided to just go literal. Imho this line can also be explained from many other angles: people's roots determine who people are; a person’s roots is his/her first source of being; identity is tied to a person’s origin, no two ways about it, neither can it ever be changed. I’d hate to think that TH, the good man that he, is a snob, but clearly, like the generations of his time, his entire identity/belief system/core/being is entrenched in the rigid social hierarchy and class foundations of the Confucian code of ethics. I definitely don’t want to go into the issue of Confucian values being discriminatory, but it’s undeniable that it bred much hypocrisy (as ideology everywhere tends to do) which made a mockery of the whole system. Anyway remember the reed field scene in episode 2? TH used the same word (근본/roots) to tell off the chief slave: “…our roots are clearly different (근본이 다르다), how dare you insinuate otherwise?”. The possible choice of words which could serve 근본 imho includes 'basis', 'fundamental', 'foundation' etc, but I’m using “roots” after Mister X’s previous subs.]
DG: It’s because jerks like you take up public office that the world has gone insane. If men like you didn’t exist… men like me wouldn’t be here. I don’t know why you went over to Jeju Island, but I see no other reason than your wanting to return to your position and live high on the hog just like the old days. TH: You have no right to say that to me. You’re a fine one to talk -- hunting slaves, harassing innocent people, behaving imprudently like a roughneck, all in the name of preserving the social order of Joseon. [Interruption again: At this juncture, I suddenly had a wait-a-minute moment. I’m sorry I'm very slow but I'm only just figuring out who writer Cheon Seong-Il based the character TH on -- it’s the “Confucian ideal human model”, maybe even the-sage-of-all-time Confucius himself (though I don’t know that Confucius wielded a knife with such lethal force). I mean, the ‘Confucian Superior Man’ is educated, with every part of his human nature tempered, balanced and controlled according to the ideal of the golden mean. He has sage-like qualities and is righteous in action, thought and speech in order to better society. Sound familiar? Problem is, all that magnificent repression oy vey, now we have on our hands a “confused Confucian”.]
DG: That’s only natural, seeing as it’s the only way for me to survive! It’s so that I can survive in a world created by government officials like you. TH: Did you then… ever once think about changing the world? DG: Hey, slave… wait, oh that’s right, slave-yangban. Heard of Hong Gil-Dong? Even he with his Taoist magic failed to change this screwed-up world, let alone someone like me who doesn’t know the first thing about magic. TH: The world doesn’t change with magic. It is people who change the world. DG: It doesn’t matter who does what, this screwed-up world… will never change. TH: Do not thoughtlessly say “the world doesn’t change”. There is someone… who fears those words more than anything.
TH: So my wife… was a slave?
DG: What's that got to do with anything? Differentiating between yangban and sangneom (commoner), what does it matter? It’s fine as long as you give your hearts to each other.
TH: Even so… people's roots are an extremely strict matter.
[Interruption: 사람의 근본은 지엄한 것이다, this line is a toughie for me, so I decided to just go literal. Imho this line can also be explained from many other angles: people's roots determine who people are; a person’s roots is his/her first source of being; identity is tied to a person’s origin, no two ways about it, neither can it ever be changed.
I’d hate to think that TH, the good man that he, is a snob, but clearly, like the generations of his time, his entire identity/belief system/core/being is entrenched in the rigid social hierarchy and class foundations of the Confucian code of ethics. I definitely don’t want to go into the issue of Confucian values being discriminatory, but it’s undeniable that it bred much hypocrisy (as ideology everywhere tends to do) which made a mockery of the whole system.
Anyway remember the reed field scene in episode 2? TH used the same word (근본/roots) to tell off the chief slave: “…our roots are clearly different (근본이 다르다), how dare you insinuate otherwise?”. The possible choice of words which could serve 근본 imho includes 'basis', 'fundamental', 'foundation' etc, but I’m using “roots” after Mister X’s previous subs.]
DG: It’s because jerks like you take up public office that the world has gone insane.
If men like you didn’t exist… men like me wouldn’t be here.
I don’t know why you went over to Jeju Island, but I see no other reason than your wanting to return to your position and live high on the hog just like the old days.
TH: You have no right to say that to me.
You’re a fine one to talk -- hunting slaves, harassing innocent people, behaving imprudently like a roughneck, all in the name of preserving the social order of Joseon.
[Interruption again: At this juncture, I suddenly had a wait-a-minute moment. I’m sorry I'm very slow but I'm only just figuring out who writer Cheon Seong-Il based the character TH on -- it’s the “Confucian ideal human model”, maybe even the-sage-of-all-time Confucius himself (though I don’t know that Confucius wielded a knife with such lethal force). I mean, the ‘Confucian Superior Man’ is educated, with every part of his human nature tempered, balanced and controlled according to the ideal of the golden mean. He has sage-like qualities and is righteous in action, thought and speech in order to better society. Sound familiar? Problem is, all that magnificent repression oy vey, now we have on our hands a “confused Confucian”.]
DG: That’s only natural, seeing as it’s the only way for me to survive! It’s so that I can survive in a world created by government officials like you.
TH: Did you then… ever once think about changing the world?
DG: Hey, slave… wait, oh that’s right, slave-yangban. Heard of Hong Gil-Dong? Even he with his Taoist magic failed to change this screwed-up world, let alone someone like me who doesn’t know the first thing about magic.
TH: The world doesn’t change with magic. It is people who change the world.
DG: It doesn’t matter who does what, this screwed-up world… will never change.
TH: Do not thoughtlessly say “the world doesn’t change”. There is someone… who fears those words more than anything.
Verrrrrry interesting.
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