Hangeul
Home>Hangeul>About Hangeul
- Considered one of the greatest rulers in Korea, he is deeply respected by the Korean people. After he came to the throne, he achieved noteworthy results for Korea in all fields, including politics, economy, and culture. He was born in 1397, as the third son to King Taejong, and ascended to the throne in 1418.
- King Sejong loved his people more than any other king. During the 10th year of his reign, an incident occurred where a son murdered his father. After hearing about this unfortunate event, he wrote a 'hyohaengrok,' or a book on filial piety to awaken the people on this issue. In the 14th year of his reign, he ordered the law to be translated into 'Idu.' a system where a combination of Chinese characters was used with special symbols, to indicate Korean verb endings and other grammatical markers. He sympathized with the people and decided to create a new alphabet that would lessen their frustration related to learning Hanmun, or Chinese writing. Chinese characters, which were used to express Hanmun, were ideographs, not phonetic symbols. They were not suitable for expressing the sounds of the Korean language and thus, a new phonetic writing system was needed. This is how he came to create Hangeul.
- While creating the new writing system, King Sejong was confronted with opposition from the ruling glass. His subjects, including Choi Man-ri, objected to his decision; creating a new writing system not only went against the spirit of serving Great China, but also posed the possibility of the common people threatening the vested rights of the ruling class. As King Sejong wrote in the foreword of Hunminjeongeum, Hangeul is a result of his sympathy for his people who had difficulties clearly expressing their thoughts and needs. He was a king who dearly loved his people.
