Hangeul Day: Honoring King Sejong The Great

 

Did you know that one of the easiest alphabets to learn is hangeul or the Korean alphabet? It only has 24 letters with 10 consonants and 14 vowels.

October 9 is the commemoration day of the creation of hangeul, the native alphabet of the Korean language. The person behind this is no other than one of the most honored rulers in Korean history, King Sejong the Great.

While ruling during the Joseon era, King Sejong thought that the Chinese characters, used before the creation of hangul, did not fit the Korean language because of its complexity. The ordinary people do not have the time to learn thus, leaving them illiterate. During that time, only the yangban or the male aristocrats and scholars have the luxury of time to learn to read and write fluently.

The commoners had no way of communicating their concerns through written complaints and only relied on oral communication. Also, they could not record their experiences and agricultural wisdom and knowledge to be passed on since they cannot write using the Chinese characters. Most probably, announcements posted in the villages were communicated inaccurately since they cannot read and understand the writings.

These occurrences greatly affected King Sejong. He wanted to have something that would help his people communicate well, and at the same time, promote Korean identity and cultural independence since he was known as a revolutionary ruler.

Originally with 28 letters, Hunmin Jeongeum (훈민정음) was proclaimed in 1446 which translates to “the correct sounds for the instruction of the people”. King Sejong studied the sound of the words and created letters out of it. Each letter reflects the shape of your mouth when pronouncing them. This made it easier for the commoners to understand, learn, and memorize each letter.

In the present, even foreigners can start reading Korean words after a day of learning the alphabet, however, understanding and actually using them in a conversation entail more dedicated hours of learning.

King Sejong has given Korea the best cultural identity they could ever have. Every Korean citizen can easily learn how to read and write their own alphabet thus giving their country a 99.0% literacy rate.

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