Teaching East Asia: Korea Teaching East Asia: Korea | Page 118

"Being of foreign origin, Chinese characters are incapable of capturing uniquely
Korean meanings. Therefore, many common people have no way to express their
thoughts and feelings. Out of my sympathy for their difficulties, I have created a
set of twenty-eight letters. The letters are very easy to learn, and it is my fervent
hope that they improve the quality of life of all people.”
This statement captures the spirit of King Sejong's purpose, devotion to cultural
independence, and dedication to the benefit of the Korean people. When first announced
by King Sejong, the Hunmin Chongum originally had twenty-eight letters. However in
modern Korean, only twenty-four letters are used. The term hangeul (Korean writing)
came into use only during the twentieth century.
The original Hunmin Chongum was thirty-three pages long. In the first four pages was the
introduction written by King Sejong. The rest of the twenty-nine pages of commentary was
written by the scholars of the Jade Hall. For 500 years, the original version of the Hunmin
Chongum was thought to have been lost; however it was rediscovered in 1940.
Theory and Principles of Hangeul
There are approximately six thousand languages in existence today. Only about a hundred of
them have their own alphabet made by an individual for which the theory and motives behind
their creation are well documented. For example, the Roman characters that we use today
originated with Egyptian hieroglyphics and the syllabic Phoenician alphabet. They have
undergone a long process of gradual evolution. Similarly, the Chinese characters began as
inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells, and they also took thousands of years to reach their
current form. King Sejong systematically analyzed the basic units of spoken Korean and
alphabetized them.
A major innovation for the Korean alphabet was to symbolically represent the sounds based on
the shape of the mouth when making certain sounds. Jared Diamond expressed in Writing Right
that King Sejong’s letters have been described as “the world’s best alphabet” and “the most
scientific system of writing.” He was particularly impressed with the unique features of the
hangeul alphabet, such as the fact that “Hangeul vowels can be distinguished at a glance from
Hangeul consonants.” Diamond felt that it was even more remarkable that “the shape of each
consonant depicts the position in which the lips, mouth, or tongue is held to pronounce that
letter.”
According to the Hunmin Chongum, the basic consonant symbols were drawn from the
shape of the mouth and position of the tongue and lips as the sounds were articulated.
The other consonants were formed by adding strokes to these five basic shapes.
This selection is a shortened version of the introductory pages of the language
chapter in Asia in Focus: The Koreas.
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