Hunminjeongeum

Hunminjeongeum
Gansong Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea
The first page of the foreword written by King Sejong the Great
Also known asThe Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People
DateOctober 9, 1446 (government of Joeson)
Place of originSeoul, Joseon
Scribe(s)Hall of Worthies
Author(s)
ScriptClassical Chinese
ContentsIntroduction of the native Korean writing system Hangul
Korean name
Hunminjeongeum
훈〮민져ᇰ〮ᅙᅳᆷ
Hanja
Revised RomanizationHunminjeongeum
McCune–ReischauerHunminjŏngŭm
Korean name
Hangul
훈민정음
Hanja
訓民正音
Revised RomanizationHunminjeongeum
McCune–ReischauerHunminjŏngŭm

Hunminjeongeum (Korean훈민정음; Hanja訓民正音; lit. The Correct/Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People) is a 15th-century manuscript that introduced the Korean script Hangul. The name of the manuscript was also the original name of the script.

King Sejong the Great commissioned the royal research institute Hall of Worthies to write the Hunminjeongeum to describe the writing system he had invented in 1443. The manuscript was then published in 1446.[1]

Hunminjeongeum was intended to be a simpler alternative to the incumbent Chinese-based Hanja, in order to promote literacy among the general populace. It originally included 28 letters, but over time, four of those (ㆆ, ㆁ, ㅿ, ·) were abandoned,[2] leading to the current 24 letters of Hangul.

Sejong the Great also commissioned the creation of a companion explanatory manuscript entitled Hunminjeongeum Haerye.[1] In 1940, a copy of the Hunminjeongeum Haerye was discovered in Andong, Gyeongsang Province.[1] An original copy of the document is currently located at the Gansong Art Museum in Seoul, South Korea.[1] In 1962, Hunminjeongeum Haerye was designated a National Treasure in South Korea[1] and was registered by UNESCO in the Memory of the World Programme in 1997.[3]

Gwanghwamun(palace) Geunjeongjeon(hall) where ‘Sejong the Great’ did his enthronement
  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference CHA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "한글". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  3. ^ "Hunminjeongum Manuscript". UNESCO. Retrieved August 2, 2023.