Reading aloud - sodoku

A method of learning classical Chinese. There are two ways of learning classical Chinese: direct reading, in which the characters are read aloud in the correct order, and kundoku, in which the characters are read out loud in Japanese. Sodoku is one method of kundoku, but the meaning and content are secondary, and one becomes adept at using the kundoku tone to read as if reciting a sentence.

Reading aloud has been a popular method since the Middle Ages, and was particularly popular among young beginners studying classical Chinese during the Edo period. The so-called Four Books - "The Analects," "Mencius," "The Great Learning," and "The Doctrine of the Mean" - were often used as teaching materials at temple schools and other institutions, and students would simply recite and read to the end, depending on what they found interesting about the tone of speech, without giving too much thought to the meaning or content of these materials. For young beginners with good memories, the tone of speech of classical Chinese was particularly interesting, and they were drawn to this and quickly became fluent, so reading aloud had a certain degree of effect, but in classical Chinese study after the Meiji period, it fell completely out of use due to its leisurely nature. The saying "Read a book a hundred times and you will naturally understand it" is in keeping with the praise of this method of reading aloud Chinese.

[Yoshiyuki Tadokoro]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

漢文学習の一方法。漢文学習法には、文字の順序に従って音読みする直読と、日本語に読み下す訓読とがあり、素読はこの訓読の一法であるが、その意味や内容は二の次とし、訓読口調に熟達して、文章を暗唱するように読むものである。

　素読は中世以来盛んになった方法で、とくに江戸時代には漢文を学習する幼若の初学者の間で盛行した。寺子屋などで教材として多く用いられたのは、『論語』『孟子(もうし)』『大学』『中庸』のいわゆる四書で、これらの教材の意味、内容を深く考えることなく、ただ口調のおもしろさに応じて暗唱し、読了する。記憶力の旺盛(おうせい)な幼若初学者には、漢文口調のおもしろさは格別で、それにつられての熟達も速く、素読はそれなりの効果があったが、明治以後の漢文学習には、そののんびりとした性格から、すっかり廃れた。「読書百遍、意自(おのずか)ら通ず」というのはこの漢文素読法の賞揚に通じる。

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