"Why is King Sejong called "the great"? Rank his achievements according to their significance for the development of early Choson culture.

Chinese ideographs without a uniform method” thus preventing people from writing

or expressing themselves freely. The invention of “Han-gul”, originally called

Hunmin-chong-um (Correct pronunciation of letters for teaching people), solved this

problem. By establishing 28 letters of which 11 vowels and 17 consonants, it greatly

simplified writing and rendered it possible for greater part of the population to

apprehend and undertake (before then only the wealthy could afford paying tuition to

learn Chinese characters). As King Sejong himself stated: “The sounds of our

language differ from those of Chinese and are not easily communicated by using

Chinese graphs. Many among the ignorant, therefore, though they wish to express

their sentiments in writing, have been unable to communicate. Considering this

situation with compassion, I have newly devised twenty-eight letters.” In light of this

it is possible to appreciate the truly “universal culturisation” which the invention of

hangul had upon Korea as a whole. For the first time in Korean history learning was

available to social strata outside the aristocratic class of the yangban. This caused the

latter to initially resist the adoption of the new alphabet “…because they (yangban)

had in mind to retain their monopoly on access to learning by continuing to use the

difficult Chinese writing system.” Another consequence of the adoption of hangul

was the emergence of Sijo (Korean poetry). This can perhaps be seen as the epitomy

of culture as it allows for the expression of human sentiments. However, once again

this wasn’t warmly received by the upper classes.

  However, notwithstanding this conservative resistance, the alphabet was officially

introduced. In order to promulgate the use of hangul amongst the population, King

Sejong instituted the “Office for Publication in Hangul”. This new “body” had as its

main goal that of authoring and translating a number of works in hangul: “King

Sejong ordered his courtiers to reprint old books before they disappeared altogether

and to produce various new books.” Amongst the newly authored works was the

Songs of flying dragons, which praised the virtues of royal ancestors. With regards to

the translation of existing texts, King Sejong, “…commanded his palace scholars to

translate various Buddhist scriptures from Chinese books into Korean hangul.” Its in

this very instance that another cultural development for early Choson culture can be

seen. In fact, since the establishment of a Confucian state in Korea, Buddhism had

been facing an inevitable decline to the detriment of Choson culture. However, thanks

to King Sejong’s personal faith in the religion, Buddhism was salvaged and made

available to the population as a whole. The consequence of this was a rebuilding of

temples and an increase in the number of Buddhist monks.

  Nonetheless, it wasn’t just Buddhism that was divulged to the public. Indeed, a

number of works, most of which but not exclusively so, of technical nature (in line

with the Confucian notion of pragmatism) were also published: “Agricultural manuals

for peasant farmers and sensitive military texts also were written in hangul.” The

promulgation of this knowledge was further enhanced by yet another of King

Sejong’s inventions: movable bronze (metallic) type. Indeed, not only was this

significant to the cultural development of Korea but to world civilisation as a whole.

Previously book printing was enacted by engraving wood blocks – a technique

adopted from China. Nonetheless, “…woodblock prints were easily defaced” and ,

furthermore, texts could not be produced efficiently and on mass scale. With the

advent of movable type these problems were resolved: costs of printing exponentially

decreased and this together with the adoption of hangul enabled lower parts of the

social pyramid to purchase texts and participate in the development of culture

(something which was previously exclusive domain of the yangban).

  This allowed for the emergence of a true meritocratic state, in line with Neo-

Confucian meritocracy principles. Previously civil and military service examinations

called “Kwago” were issued every three years to promote successful candidates to

high governmental posts. However, since these examinations were in Chinese

literature, as already mentioned above, only the elite could afford to send their sons to

study the Chinese alphabet. As such the successful candidates were not necessarily

the brightest. With the adoption of hangul, the spread of knowledge thanks to the

movable type and King Sejong’s revision of the “Kwago”, candidates could be drawn

from social strata outside the elites. According to the Seijong Law of provincial

recommendation: “If candidates are found in any place any persons distinguished for

super-excellence in moral principles or any persons universally esteemed for

uncommon accomplishments, let the Governor of each province report their findings

to the throne without delay.” This factor was prominent in expanding Choson culture

from the confines of the yangban to the rest of Korean society.

  The creation of the so-called Jade Hall of Scholars (Chiphyonjon) must also be

ranked as one of the main catalysts in the development of early Choson culture.

Established by King Sejong, it was a royal research institute consisting of numerous

facilities including a “large collection of rare books of all ages and climes.” Here the

King assembled the best minds and talents of the country and this resulted in the

introduction of a number of cultural achievements ranging from the arts and music to

science and technology. Amongst literature and music anthologies were created so as

to classify and group together the best works. In 1493, the Canon of Music was

published, “…a work devoted to classifying music to be played at court.”; in 1478

Anthology of Korean Literature was created and included “…a selection from past

ages of poetry and prose written by Koreans in Chinese.” In the scientific sphere

King Sejong was particularly interested in astronomical matters. To this end a series

of technological devices were invented to measure sunrise and sunset, rainfall and

drought and time. Particularly noteworthy of mention was the invention of the first

automated striking clepsydra which automatically measured the hours of the day.

  In light of the facts outlined above it would seem that King Sejong had a truly

tremendous impact upon early Choson. He helped to develop culture in a multitude of

fields despite facing resistance from the yangban class. However, the most prominent

amongst his achievements was the development of hangul, which according to many

contemporary linguists is amongst the best structured language. In fact, not only did it

allow culture to be relayed to the whole of society but it also, for the first time in

Korean history, allowed the country as a whole to develop linguistic culture

independently from China (up until then linguistic traits were either imported directly

or mimicked from the latter). Furthermore, it aided the creation of entirely new fields

of learning such as poetry and facilitated the promulgation of existing and newly

acquired knowledge alike.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

- J.B. Duncan, “The Origins of the Choson Dynasty”, 2000, University of Washington  

  Press.

- C.J. Eckert, “Korea Old and New: A History”, 1990, Harvard University Press.

- Ki-Baik Lee, “A New History of Korea”, Trsl. By Edward W. Wagner, 1984,  

  Harvard University Press.

- P.H. Lee, “Sources of Korean Civilisation”, Volume I, 1993, Columbia University

   Press.

- King Sejong Memorial Society (ed.), “King Sejong The Great”, 1970, King Sejong  

  Memorial Society.

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