Promulgation of Hunminjeongeum

Also called: Creation of Hangul

King Sejong published Hunminjeongeum, a new script he created for ordinary people.

Sejong created the 28 letters of Hunminjeongeum in the twelfth month of 1443 and promulgated them in the ninth month of 1446 with an explanatory volume, the Haerye edition. Its preface explains that "the speech of our country differs from that of China and does not fit Chinese characters", so the king made letters that ordinary people could easily learn and use every day. The commentary was written by Hall of Worthies scholars including Jeong In-ji, Seong Sam-mun and Sin Suk-ju.

The basic consonants ㄱ, ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅅ and ㅇ mirror the shape of the speech organs, with strokes added for related sounds; the vowels represent heaven (·), earth (ㅡ) and humankind (ㅣ). In 1444 Choe Man-ri and others memorialised against it as a breach of loyalty to China.

Sejong had the Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, the Seokbo sangjeol and the Worin cheongang jigok published in the new script, and added it to the examinations for lower clerks. The Haerye edition was inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 1997. It is today’s Hangul.