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- [ Kim Se-jung, National Academy of Korean Language ]
- Alphabets other than Hangeul have gradually evolved over a long period of time or been derived from other alphabets: As such, it is not proper to say that they were “created.” By contrast, it is clearly written by whom and when Hangeul was created. According to the Sejong Silrok (The Annals of King Sejong) (“Silrok”), Hangeul was created in 1443 and promulgated three years later. The annals state that the Korean alphabet was created by King Sejong himself. The phrase at the end of the section for December 1443 or the 25th year of King Sejong’s reign, Sejong Silrok, Vol. 102, has been rendered into modern language as follows:
- “By this month, the King finished the work of creating the 28-letter alphabet for the people of the country. The shape of each letter imitates olden-day Tenji (small seal style of writing by brush). Each letter is composed of a leading consonant, a middle vowel and a trailing consonant. It can represent everything that can be written down, including vulgar terms. The letters look simple and terse, but can represent virtually all sounds. The alphabet was named “Hunmin jeongeum” (literally meaning “Instructing the People in the Correct Sounds”).
- For centuries, scholars have insisted that King Sejong created Hangeul with the assistance of scholars rather than by himself, despite what is stated in the annals. Such an instance is based on the conjecture that the king, being busy with state affairs, would hardly have had the time to see through such a time-consuming project all alone. However, it is just a conjecture and is not supported by written evidence. If one only goes by the written evidence, it should rather be viewed as the King’s personal creation, just as the Silrok says. However, the Silrok only says that it was “personally made”, without mentioning how long it took to create the alphabet or with whom the King consulted in the process.
- In 1446, three years after the completion of the work of creating the alphabet, a book entitled Hunmin jeongeum haerye was published, explaining the use of the new writing system. The book was written by scholars based at the Jiphyeonjeon ( the Hall of Worthies), including Jeong In-ji, Sin Suk-ju, Choe Hang, Park Paeng-nyeon, Seong Sam-mun, Gang Hui-an, Yi Gae, and Yi Seon-ro among others, at the order of the King. (It was discovered in Andong in 1940 and designated as National Treasure No. 70 in 1962. At present, it is kept by Gansong Art Gallery in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul.).
- As it barely seems credible that the King could have carried out the time-consuming work of creating a new letter system alone and then have scholars at the Jiphyeonjeon write a book of explanation about it, it would appear more realistic to suggest that the King led the scholars in the work of creating Hangeul. Either way, the role of King Sejong should never be underestimated. Choe Man-ri, a senior scholar at the Jiphyeonjeon, expressed his strong opposition to the new letter system, but the King continued to push ahead with the project, scolding him harshly.
- That being the case, what caused the King to make up his mind to create a new alphabet? The question is clearly answered by the King’s foreword in the aforesaid book. “The language of the country is different from that of China [but we have used the Chinese classics to write down our ideas]. This has made it difficult for unlearned people to write down their ideas. Feeling sorry for them, I have created new letters…..”
- Another factor behind King Sejong’s determination to make Hangeul was the need to settle the problem of confusion over the pronunciation of the Chinese characters Koreans used to write down their ideas. At that time, many people pointed to the need to unify the sound of Chinese characters - both as the letters used by Chinese people and as those used by Koreans to write down their ideas - as a matter of great interest. It was necessary to mark the pronunciation of each Chinese character with a phonetic symbol to unify its sound. In that way, Hangeul was created. Scholars wrote Dongguk jeongun for the unification of the Korean way of reading Chinese characters for Koreans and Hongmu jeongun yeokhun for the unification of the Chinese pronunciation of Chinese characters.
- Finally, let’s look at the other theories concerning the creation of Hangeul. Some scholars say that Hangeul was made based on Garimto letters, which are known to have existed during the Gojoseon Period. However, this theory lacks proper foundation, as what they say is based on Handan (or Hwandan) Gogi (The Archaic Chronicles of Han and Dan), which is said to have been written by Gye Yeon-su in 1911. Handan Gogi is a book of very dubious origin and does not explain why Garimto letters, which are said to have been used in the Gojoseon Period, were not used in later periods. Some scholars say that Hangeul was based on Jindai moji (the script of the age of the gods) used in Japan in an earlier period, but it would actually be more reasonable to say that Jindai moji was created under the influence of Hangeul.
