Timeless writing system from 1446

Hunminjeongeum, the Korean writing system created in 1443 and promulgated in book form in 1446 by King Sejong, was created with the aim of developing “appropriate sound to instruct the people”.

On Friday, the Hangeul National Museum launched “Hunminjeongeum, Designing a Writing System Beyond Millennia,” its first permanent exhibition since it opened in 2014.

Designated as a national treasure of Korea in 1962 and inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 1997, Hunminjeongeum explains in detail how Hangeul was created and how it should be used.

With over 1,104 Hangeul-related artifacts on display, the exhibition comprises seven spaces. The theme of each space reflects a quote from King Sejong, which depicts ordinary people…having access to and using Hangeul.

The exhibit covers the history of Hunminjeongeum in detail from several years before 1443 to 1945, when Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule.

Before the creation of Hangeul, Koreans wrote and read by borrowing pronunciations and meanings from Hanja, or Chinese characters.

Feeling sympathy for those who suffered discrimination for not being able to understand or use Hanja properly, King Sejong sought to create a writing system that would be easy to read and write for people of all ages, genders and social circles. He believed that being literate would lead to a happier life and allow people to enjoy culture.

To this end, discussions of writing rules and styles have been revised and expanded over generations, to make reading easier and more convenient. These efforts continue today.

“Hangeul is the only text in the world for which its entire creation process has been recorded and preserved,” said Kim Mi-mi, a university researcher at the museum, at a press conference on Thursday. “King Sejong constantly thought about the notation system that would help communicate sounds comfortably and accurately, experimenting with various works,” Kim added. One of the first works written in Hangeul, “Yongbieocheonga (Songs of Flying Dragons)”, is displayed in the exhibition.

Upon entering the exhibition hall, 33 illuminated acrylic panels are placed along a dark passage, each panel depicting a page from the 33-page Hunminjeongeum.

In the main section, a large collection of Hangeul texts written by Princess Deogon, the last princess of Joseon and youngest daughter of King Sunjo, is on display. Some 680 exhibits, including royal wedding gift lists, letters and handwritten Hangeul books by the princess, show viewers how the royal family used Hangeul.

Hangeul was also picked up by ordinary people, who used it to record their daily lives. From writing the names of owners and quantities of goods to writing sentences wishing prosperity to one’s descendants, the exhibit shows how Hangeul is used on a daily basis. In addition to personal records, books in Hangeul were passed down from generation to generation, noting information related to household chores. From the 17th century, Hangeul also began to appear on game boards and tools used to predict the fortune of an individual or family.

“The 28 letters Sejong made have become 24 today,” a museum official said, adding that it is up to the next generations to decide how Hangeul will be modified and used in the future.

The museum is open seven days a week. For exhibition guides offered in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, a QR code is located at the entrance to connect to its electronic devices.

By Kim Hae-yeon ([email protected])