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Sejong the Great — an imagined portraitAn imagined portrait

Sejong the Great

1397–1450

Sejong the Great, who wrote down speech

I took pity on this, and newly made twenty-eight letters.
Game 5 · Reconstruction; paraphrase; Hunminjeongeum, the king's preface (book of 1446)

Overview

Sejong the Great was the fourth king of Joseon, who ruled from 1418 to 1450. Record

In the twelfth lunar month of 1443 he created 28 new letters for writing down the sounds of speech and called them 'Hunminjeongeum' (the correct sounds for instructing the people). Record

In the ninth lunar month of 1446, the book Hunminjeongeum, explaining the principles of the new letters and how to use them, was completed. Record

In his preface he wrote that he made the letters out of pity for the many common people who, even when they had something to say, could never express what they meant. Record · Paraphrase

During his reign the Hall of Worthies (Jiphyeonjeon) trained scholars, and instruments such as the rain gauge and the self-striking water clock (Jagyeongnu) appeared, as did the farming manual Nongsa jikseol. Record

Timeline

  1. 1397

    He was born on the 10th day of the fourth lunar month (the Annals: the imjin day of the fourth month), the third son of King Taejong, at Junsubang in Hanyang. Record

    Sejong sillok (Annals of King Sejong), vol. 1, general preface (sillok.history.go.kr/id/kda_000) · Uri Yeoksanet, 'Sejong 1397–1450' (contents.history.go.kr, levelId=kc_n305800) · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Sejong' (by Choe Seung-hui, encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0029857)

  2. 1418

    In the eighth lunar month he received the throne from his father, King Taejong, and was enthroned in Geunjeongjeon Hall of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Record

    Sejong sillok, vol. 1, accession year, 8th month, 11th day (musa), entry 1 (accession proclamation, kda_10008011_001) · Uri Yeoksanet, 'Sejong 1397–1450' (contents.history.go.kr, levelId=kc_n305800) · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Sejong' (by Choe Seung-hui, encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0029857)

  3. 1420

    In the third lunar month he set up the Hall of Worthies (Jiphyeonjeon) inside the palace, where young scholars lectured on the classics and history and prepared answers to the king's questions. Record

    Sejong sillok, vol. 7, year 2, 3rd month, 16th day (gapsin), entry 1 (kda_10203016_001) · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Jiphyeonjeon' (E0055081)

  4. 1429

    By royal order, Jeong Cho and others gathered the experience of farmers in each province and published the farming manual Nongsa jikseol, suited to Joseon's own climate and soil; the following year it was distributed to local officials. Record

    Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Nongsa jikseol' (E0013114) · Uri Yeoksanet, Korean History through Sources, 'Publication of farming manuals' (hm_082_0020)

  5. 1432

    In the eleventh lunar month he proposed that at least the articles of law dealing with serious crimes be rendered in Idu and made known to the people. When the Minister of Personnel, Heo Jo, objected, he asked in return whether punishing people who do not know the law is not close to trickery. Record · Paraphrase

    Sejong sillok, vol. 58, year 14, 11th month, 7th day (imsul), entry 1 (kda_11411007_001) · Kim Seul-ong, 'Why did Sejong create Hunminjeongeum?' (Chungcheong Review, idxno=316852, in Korean)

  6. 1430s–1440s

    On the upper Yalu River he newly set up the counties of Jaseong, Muchang and Uye, which with Yeoyeon county (set up under Taejong in 1416) made the Four Commanderies, and on the Tumen River side he set up the Six Garrisons (1434–1449), extending the northern frontier to the two river basins. Record

    Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Sejong' (by Choe Seung-hui, encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0029857) · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Yukjin' (E0042168) · 'Sagun' (E0025393)

  7. 1434

    From the 1st day of the seventh lunar month, the automatic water clock Jagyeongnu, made by Jang Yeong-sil and others, came into use. Record

    Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Jagyeongnu' (E0047854) · Uri Yeoksanet, 'Changgyeonggung Jagyeongnu' (kc_r300785)

  8. 1441–1442

    An entry in the Annals for the fourth lunar month of 1441 records the king saying that in recent years the Crown Prince (later King Munjong) had made a bronze vessel and measured rainfall in the palace. In the eighth lunar month of the same year, on the proposal of the Ministry of Taxation (Hojo), a system was set up of placing rain-measuring vessels at the Office of Astronomy (Seoungwan) and at local government offices; in the fifth lunar month of 1442 this was revised, and the name 'cheugugi' (rain gauge) and its specifications were fixed. Record

    Sejong sillok, vol. 92, year 23, 4th month, 29th day (kda_12304029_001) · vol. 93, year 23, 8th month, 18th day (kda_12308018_004) · vol. 96, year 24, 5th month, 8th day (jeongmyo) (kda_12405008_001) · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Sejong' (by Choe Seung-hui, encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0029857) · Kyunghyang Shinmun, Lee Ki-hwan, 6 March 2023 (in Korean)

  9. 1443

    The Annals record that in the twelfth lunar month the king himself created 28 letters of eonmun (the vernacular script) and called them 'Hunminjeongeum'. Record

    Sejong sillok, vol. 102, year 25, 12th month, 30th day (gyeongsul), entry 2 (kda_12512030_002) · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Hangeul' (by Kang Sin-hang, E0061508)

  10. 1444

    On the 20th day of the second lunar month, when Choe Manri, a deputy director of the Hall of Worthies, and others submitted a petition opposing the eonmun, he summoned them and questioned them, had seven of them held in the Uigeumbu (State Tribunal), and the next day ordered them released. Record

    Sejong sillok, vol. 103, year 26, 2nd month, 20th day (gyeongja), entry 1 (kda_12602020_001) · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Choe Manri' (E0057279) · Pressian, Choi Tae-ho, 5 May 2023 (in Korean)

  11. 1446

    In the ninth lunar month the book Hunminjeongeum was completed. Today's Hangeul Day (9 October) was set by converting to the solar calendar the 10th day of the ninth lunar month, the last day of the 'first ten days of the ninth month' (上澣) given at the end of the book. Record

    Sejong sillok, vol. 113, year 28, 9th month, 29th day (gabo), entry 4 (kda_12809029_004) · National Hangeul Museum webzine, October 2018, 'Why is Hangeul Day 9 October?' (in Korean) · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Hangeul' (E0061508)

  12. 1450

    He died on the 17th day of the second lunar month in the East Detached Palace at the residence of Grand Prince Yeongeung. Record

    Sejong sillok, vol. 127, year 32, 2nd month, 17th day (imjin), entry 1 (kda_13202017_001) · Uri Yeoksanet, 'Sejong 1397–1450' (contents.history.go.kr, levelId=kc_n305800)

Key ideas

The people too must know the law

In 1432 Sejong the Great proposed rendering the articles of law on serious crimes in Idu and making them known, saying that people can avoid crimes only if they know which ones are serious. To the objection that people who know the law will abuse it, he answered that keeping them ignorant and then punishing them is close to the monkey keeper's trick in the fable of 'three in the morning, four in the evening'. Record · Paraphrase

Sejong sillok, vol. 58, year 14, 11th month, 7th day · Kim Seul-ong (Chungcheong Review, 'Why did Sejong create Hunminjeongeum?', in Korean)

Letters that write speech as it sounds

The king's preface says that the language of the country differs from that of China, so it does not correspond to Chinese characters. It therefore states that he made 28 new letters so that everyone could learn them easily and use them conveniently every day. Record · Paraphrase

Sejong sillok, vol. 113, year 28, 9th month, 29th day (the king's preface) · Hunminjeongeum Haerye edition, the king's preface (checked against ko.wikisource '訓民正音')

Letters modelled on the shape of speaking

The Haerye (explanations) of Hunminjeongeum, written by eight scholars — Jeong Inji with Choe Hang, Bak Paengnyeon, Sin Sukju, Seong Sammun, Gang Huian, Yi Gae and Yi Seonro — explain that the basic consonants are modelled on the shape of the speech organs when making each sound. For example, ㄱ shows the root of the tongue blocking the throat. The basic vowels ㆍ, ㅡ and ㅣ are said to be modelled on heaven, earth and humankind. Record · Paraphrase

Hunminjeongeum Haerye, 'Explanation of the Design of the Letters' (「牙音ㄱ，象舌根閉喉之形」, 「形之圓，象乎天」 and others, ko.wikisource '訓民正音') · Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Hangeul' (E0061508)

New letters, too, are meant to make life easier for the people

In 1444, when Choe Manri and others said that writing down sounds and combining letters went against the old ways, Sejong the Great asked whether Seol Chong's Idu had not also been meant to make things easier for the people. In that case, he asked in return, was today's eonmun not also meant to make things easier for the people? Record · Paraphrase

Sejong sillok, vol. 103, year 26, 2nd month, 20th day (「如其便民也, 則今之諺文, 亦不爲便民乎」) · Pressian, Choi Tae-ho, 5 May 2023 (in Korean)

In their words

The sounds of our country's speech differ from those of China and do not correspond with the Chinese characters. Therefore many of the simple people, though they have something they wish to say, are in the end unable to express what they mean. Taking pity on this, I have newly made twenty-eight letters, only so that people may learn them easily and use them conveniently every day.

國之語音, 異乎中國, 與文字不相流通, 故愚民有所欲言, 而終不得伸其情者多矣。予爲此憫然, 新制二十八字, 欲使人易習, 便於日用耳。

Sejong sillok, vol. 113, year 28, 9th month, 29th day (1446), 「御製曰」 · translated from the Classical Chinese by Great Games of Thought Record · Quotation
If the people do not know the law and we punish those who break it, is that not close to the trick of 'four in the morning, three in the evening'?

民不知法, 而罪其犯者, 則不幾於朝四暮三之術乎?

Sejong sillok, vol. 58, year 14, 11th month, 7th day (1432) · translated from the Classical Chinese by Great Games of Thought Record · Quotation
If that was meant to make things easier for the people, then is today's eonmun not also meant to make things easier for the people?

如其便民也, 則今之諺文, 亦不爲便民乎?

Sejong sillok, vol. 103, year 26, 2nd month, 20th day (1444) · translated from the Classical Chinese by Great Games of Thought Record · Quotation

Times and influence

In 1418, when Sejong the Great came to the throne, the written language of Joseon was Chinese characters, and Korean speech was written with Idu, which borrowed Chinese characters. In 1432 Sejong the Great proposed rendering articles of law in Idu and making them known, and in his exchange with Choe Manri and others in 1444 he again compared the new letters with Seol Chong's Idu. In between, in the twelfth lunar month of 1443, the 28 new letters for writing sounds were created.

The Haerye edition of Hunminjeongeum became known again in 1940; it is held by the Gansong Art Museum and designated a National Treasure. In 1997 the Haerye edition was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. Hangeul Day (9 October) was set on the basis of the date at the end of this book, and since 1965 Korea's Teachers' Day (15 May) has been marked on the solar-calendar date of Sejong the Great's birthday.

Common misconceptions

Appears in

In a room with palace roofs and mountains through one window and a European city through the other, a king in a red dragon robe and winged cap and a man in a long curly wig sit together at a table0511:12

Game 5·Sejong the Great×Leibniz

Could Writing Speech As It Is Change the World?