Ōinoue's Theory, Cho's Chart: Where the Cycle Came From
Master Cho Han-kyu, interpreted by Kim Chang, Founder of Korean Natural Farming (Janong)
Spoken in Korean. Translated to English and checked line by line.
Video of this visit will be added to the members' archive. The transcript times below match that recording.
With the rice chart back on the screen, Cho says every crop has a life, and rice's starts with sprouting on February 12. After a stretch break he credits the nutritive cycle to Ōinoue Yasushi, who bred the Kyoho grape, tells his own story of Ōinoue's persecution and death, of learning from the widow and son, and of refusing to be the successor. The chart itself is Cho's, and he asks Hawaiʻi to fit its own crops into it, with Joe McGinn leading.
What they found
Whose theory is the nutritive cycle, and what does Cho want Hawaiʻi to do with it?
The projector is now up with the rice chart (photo DJSS5255). After a short stretch break and roll call led by the interpreter, Cho tells the history standing by the screen. The flip chart behind him carries '大井上康' and '新栽培技術の理論体系' (frames around 54:00). Someone in the room reads the book title from the Japanese; an audience member brings up a book Cho signed earlier.
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Every crop has a life of its own: papaya, mango, banana and coffee as much as rice
Cho: even if you don't grow rice, the projected chart shows how to read any crop's life.
▶ 43:22 As spoken
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Rice is sprouted around February 12
The projected chart (DJSS5255) has 발아 (sprouting) at 2/12. The interpreter didn't give the date here.
▶ 43:40 From the slides
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The nutritive cycle theory is Ōinoue Yasushi's, the man who made the Kyoho grape
Cho names him (오이노우에 야스시) and the Kyoho (거봉) grape; the interpreter said only 'a teacher in Japan… a giant grape'.
▶ 46:21 As spoken
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Cho's story: Japanese professors had Ōinoue branded a thought criminal, and he died in prison. The record differs
Cho's word is 사상범 (thought criminal); 'communist' came from someone in the room. Japanese sources have Ōinoue sidelined as heterodox and dying on 23 September 1952; no arrest or prison has been found. See cho_check.
▶ 48:01 As spoken
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Cho learned the theory from Ōinoue's widow, and later his son, after Ōinoue had died
He visited the house after Ōinoue's death; at 55:38 he says he studied under the son and the mother.
▶ 48:38 As spoken
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Cho was named Ōinoue's successor and refused
'If you become the successor, the responsibility is enormous… I wanted to be free.' Now he spreads the theory worldwide and lectures on it in Japan; even the family can't.
▶ 49:26 As spoken
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Civil servants who attended Ōinoue's lectures were dismissed, by Cho's account
Cho: that's how much the Japanese professors refused his theory.
▶ 50:32 As spoken
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Ōinoue's book: The Theoretical System of New Cultivation Technology (新栽培技術の理論体系)
Cho: one book, tremendously difficult. Read it if you want to farm properly; understand it and you'll see the present system is all wrong.
▶ 52:30 As spoken
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The theory is Ōinoue's; turning it into this chart was Cho's own work
Ōinoue's disciples in Japan resented Cho, asking how come they never made the chart themselves. 'This nutritive cycle theory isn't mine.'
▶ 56:03 As spoken
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Fit Hawaiʻi's climate into this chart and it becomes Hawaiʻi's way of farming
Cho names Joe McGinn to do it, someone (name unclear) to assist and Steve to pull the group along. 'It takes Americans to see it right away.'
▶ 57:30 As spoken
- Ōinoue 'died in prison' is Cho's story. Japanese sources show a scientist sidelined as heterodox who died on 23 September 1952; no arrest or imprisonment has been found.
- The dismissal of civil servants and the successor offer are Cho's accounts, not checked here. Whether the family or Ōinoue's followers named him successor isn't clear in the audio.
- Cho says the son is 'the same age as me'; one transcript hears the opposite. Not settled.
- The name of the second helper Cho names after Joe McGinn can't be made out.
- The nutritive cycle comes from Ōinoue Yasushi; the chart that lays it out by date and stage is Cho's.
- A chart from Korea is a starting point. Hawaiʻi farmers are asked to fit their own crops and climate into it.
Next to Master Cho's teaching
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Differs
Ōinoue jailed as a thought criminal and died in prison Cho told the same prison story from about 2010 to 2018, but the Japanese record shows a scientist sidelined as heterodox who died on 23 September 1952, with no arrest or prison found.
01-the-scientist — Two accounts of the end
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Agrees
Ōinoue's book and the Kyoho grape The book Cho names is Ōinoue's 『新栽培技術の理論體系』; Ōinoue bred and named the Kyoho grape.
appendix-e-bibliography — Ōinoue Yasushi Yasushi (大井上康)
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Agrees
Cho learned from the widow, after Ōinoue's death Cho never studied under Ōinoue himself; he came to the house more than a decade after the death and told it this way in 2017 and 2018.
01-the-scientist — Cho in the study
“With this material, if you doze off even a little while listening, you won't follow what comes next.”
▶ 46:01
“I wanted to be free, so I refused to be the successor.”
▶ 49:44
“So this nutritive cycle theory isn't mine. Ōinoue Yasushi made it.”
▶ 57:06
In this talk
Transcript
English translation, checked against the Korean as spoken.
43:13 This is the life of the rice plant. So even if you don't grow rice, papaya, mango, banana, and coffee too, they have a life too, a whole life. For example, in the case of rice, it's sprouted around February 12. So, this is the life cycle of the rice. But even banana, papaya, or other crops, they have their own life cycle.
이건 벼의 일생이에요. 그러니까 여러분들이 벼농사를 안 짓는다 하더라도 파파야나, 망고나, 바나나나, 거기다 커피나 그것도 일생이 있잖아요, 일생이. 예를 들어서 벼의 경우에는 발아시키는 게 2월 12일경에 발아시킨다고.
43:59 So this one is rice plant's life cycle. But each plant has their own life cycle. Just take a breath here. Stretch, stretch. You're all ready to go. We are ready to continue our class. Please come back.
45:07 Hey, booyah! Is everyone here? No? Check your neighbor. Good job. Oh, there he is. The Chinese sister. She's here? What? What's that? Okay, hurry up, come on!
45:54 Looks like everyone's here now. They carried it in from outside; they're coming in now. With this material, if you doze off even a little while listening, you won't follow what comes next. So when I explain this life cycle, you cannot fall asleep, you are going to miss out. The man behind this theory is in Japan, a man named Ōinoue Yasushi, So in Japan, there's a teacher. He developed a giant grape. He developed this life cycle, the nutrient for the plants. the Kyoho grape. You all know Kyoho grapes? The man who made the Kyoho grape made this theory.
다 온 것 같아요 이제. 저 바깥에서 들고 왔잖아요. 지금 들어오는데요. 여기 내용은 듣다가 조금만 졸아도 다음을 모르는 거예요. 그런데 이 이론을 얘기하는 사람은 일본에 오이노우에 야스시라고 하는, 거봉포도, 여러분도 거봉포도 알죠? 거봉포도를 만든 분이 이 이론을 만든 거예요.
47:01 Ōinoue Yasushi. This is the man who [unclear] laid out this theory. This person is the only person developed this formula. But after he laid out this theory, Japan's university professors [unclear] took this man and After he developed this formula, who got educated, all these professional professors in the college, university, they make him suffer because he developed this nutrient cycle.
오이노우에 야스시. 이 분이 [불분명] 이 이론을 전개한 사람이에요. 그런데 이 이론을 그분이 전개를 한 다음에, 일본의 대학교 교수들이 [불분명] 이 사람을 갖다가
47:58 I think with jealousy. he was branded a thought criminal, and he died serving time in prison. A thought criminal? Uh... a thought criminal? Yes, like a communist or something. Oh, they accused him like a communist, something like that. So they put him in the cell, so he died in the prison. That's terrible. I visited that house after he died, and I learned from his wife. So, he didn't meet teacher. After he passed away, he visited his wife and his wife taught him.
사상범으로 몰려가지고 옥살이 하다 죽었어. 사상범이라고? 어… 사상범? 그런데 나는 이분이 돌아가시고 난 다음에 그 집을 방문해가지고 부인한테 배웠어.
48:55 So [that house], [the family side,] named me as his successor. So, in his family, he is the next, who is going to teach his method, he choose him to spread this method. Disciple. but he said no But I turned it down. Why? Because if you become the successor, the responsibility is enormous. because if I became their disciple I have too much responsibility my shoulders are going to be really heavy
그래서 그 [집에서], 그 [집안 관계에서] 나를 갖다가 후계자로 지명을 했어. 그런데 내가 거부했다고. 왜 그러냐 그러면, 그 후계자가 되면 책임이 엄청 무거워.
49:42 but I want to be free I wanted to be free, so I refused to be the successor. so that's why I said no But now I am spreading his knowledge. His family even cannot do it. And now I'm the one spreading his theory across the world. Even his own [family line] can't do it. Somehow I became spreading his knowledge. So now, though it's a theory [born] in Japan, I'm the one giving new lectures on it in Japan. But this theory came from Japan, but I'm the one who go to Japan and teach this theory.
난 자유롭게 하고 싶어서 후계자를 거부했어. 그러면 지금 그분의 이론을 갖다가 지구상에 펼치는 걸 내가 하고 있어. 그 [집안의 직계]들도 못하고 있어. 그래서 내가 지금, 일본에서 [나온] 이론이지만, 이 이론 강의를 일본에서 새로 내가 한다고.
50:30 But the people who came to learn this theory, if they were working for the government, they... their jobs, kicked out. They kicked out. But back then, the people who came to take his lectures: if they were civil servants, they were all dismissed. That's how much they hated accepting his theory. I mean the Japanese, the Japanese professors, didn't want to accept his theory.
그런데 그때 이분 앞에 강의를 받으러 왔던 사람들, 공무원이면 다 제명이야. 그만큼 이분의 이론을 받아들이기 싫어했던 거야. 아니, 그 일본 사람들이, 일본 교수들이 이분의 이론을 받아들이기 [싫어]했던 거라고.
51:15 The reason is, those people... rejected. So those people who have the knowledge of modern ag, they cannot receive this knowledge; somehow they reject this knowledge. He wrote one book, and it's tremendously difficult. So he wrote the book, but it's so hard to understand. But if you want to understand the theory and farm properly, you really have to read that book. But if you want to really learn about this life cycle, find his book, try to read it.
그런데 이분이 쓴 책이 한 권 있는데 엄청나게 어려워. 그런데 여러분들이 그 이론을 알아가지고 농사를 제대로 지으려고 하면 그 책을 꼭 읽어봐야 해요.
52:04 Good luck, Michael. The book is called 'The Theoretical System of New Cultivation Technology'. Would you translate this for us? 'New cultivation [theory] technology' book? Yes. ... [reads the title aloud in Japanese; unclear]
신재배기술의 이론체계라는 책입니다. 신재배 [이론] 기술 책? 네. … [일본어로 책 제목을 읽음, 불분명]
52:56 It's a new... of developing technologies and theory. The new cultivation. Cultivation and theory. Technology. One more time. It's new cultivation technology and theory. Thank you. I don't know how to read these Chinese letters. So there's this book. If you read it and it makes sense to you, you'll see that the present [farming] system is all wrong. If you read this book and understand, you will recognize all the modern technology is all wrong.
그래서 이 책이 있는데, 이 책을 읽어서 납득이 되면, 지금의 [농업] 체계가 전부 다 잘못된 걸 알 수가 있어요.
53:50 So I saw someone had a book that he signed, from Japan. Would you bring that book? Over there, someone has the Japanese book I signed earlier. That's from China. Not that one? It was a blue cover. It's from China. This is the book I [published in Japan]. Oh, this is the book that I wrote. And this [cycle] is in it.
저기 아까 내가 사인해준 일본 책 가지고 있는 사람이 있더라. 이게 [일본에서] 내가 낸 책이야. 그런데 여기 내용에 이게 들어있어.
54:36 So in this book has this knowledge. He put that knowledge in this book. So this man, [having written] this [book] ... So after he published this book and they put him in the jail, so that's where he died. His son is called Ōinoue Seiichi, [the same age as me]. That's so sad. Oh, so his son is the same as his age. But when he tries to spread this in Japan, it doesn't go well. So his son tried to spread his knowledge, but somehow he had a hard time spreading his father's knowledge.
그래서 이분이 이 [책을 써서] … 이분의 아들이 오이노우에 세이이치라고 하는 아들인데, [나하고 동갑이야]. 그런데 그분이 이걸 일본에서 전개를 하려니까 잘 안 돼.
55:37 So I went to that house. The teacher had died, and I studied under his son and the mother, his wife. So after his father passed away, he went to his house and his son and his wife taught him. This one I developed it. Taking this and making it into a chart like this: that part I made. When I made this chart and used it, his disciples in Japan, who revered him, So, he had a mentor in Japan and they saw what he developed.
그래서 내가 그 집에 가서, 저 선생님은 돌아가시고, 그 아들하고 엄마, 부인한테 내가 사사를 받았다고. 그래서 이걸 갖다 이렇게 표를 만든 것은 내가 만든 거예요. 이 표를 만들어 가지고 쓰니까, 일본에 있는 이분을 숭배하던 제자들이
56:24 asked how come they themselves never made it, and actually resented me for it. They were surprised, but they also had a jealousy towards him. Leave it. So, did you tell them the history of how it came about? Sharing history of this nutrient cycle. So this nutrient cycle, I didn't develop this. My teacher... I cannot read this one. Yeah, my teacher developed it. He wanted to give credit to his teacher. So this nutritive cycle theory isn't mine. Ōinoue Yasushi made it.
어떻게 자기들은 이걸 못 만들었냐고 오히려 나한테 원망을 하더라고. 두세요. 자, 그러면 그렇게 된 내용을, 역사를 얘기한 거예요? 그래서 이 영양주기 이론은 제가 만든 게 아니라 오이노우에 야스시 선생이 만든 거예요.
57:29 Yes. In Hawaii, [anyone] who really wants to set up a way of farming that fits Hawaii's climate, So you can develop this life nutrient cycle according to your crop. if you fit it into this chart, it becomes Hawaii's way of farming. You can use this cycle, and then you develop it. Joe McGinn should do that. [unclear] assists But that is for Joe McGinn to do. [Unclear name] assists him, You help it. And then Steve, you hold their hand and then pull them.
예, 하와이에서 정말로 하와이 기후에 맞는 농사 방법을 정립하려고 하는 [사람은] 이 도표에다가 넣어서 맞추면 하와이의 농사 방법이 되는 거예요. 그건 조 맥긴이 해야지. [불분명] 보조하고 그런데 그거는 조 맥긴이 해야지. [주기?] 보조하고,
58:29 This is a good match, these three teams. People from the home country looking at this wouldn't know. It takes Americans to see it right away. Hawaii people looking at it don't really get it. Oh, the local people probably wouldn't recognize, but the foreigner will recognize you really, really well.
이게 본국 사람들이 보면 몰라. 미국 사람들이 봐야 금방 알지. 하와이 사람들이 보면 잘 모른다고.