The History Book

130

I HAVE NEWLY

DEVISED 28

LETTERS

KING SEJONG INTRODUCES A NEW SCRIPT (1443)

I

n 1443, the Korean court of

King Sejong announced the

creation of Han’gul, a national

alphabet for the Korean language,

and launched a program of

publications in the new script. The

measure was one of a number of

strategies encouraged by Korea’s

king that were designed to stabilize

Korea and improve prosperity, and

enabled his Choson (or Yi) dynasty

to survive for another 450 years.

Rise of the Yi dynasty

The Mongol Yuan dynasty had

controlled the Korean Peninsula

from the late 11th century until

1368, when it was overthrown by

the Ming dynasty. Korea was left

in chaos as its Koryo kings tried

to reverse the effects of a century’s

authoritarian domination. The

redistribution of land and the

sacking of pro-Mongol ministers

led almost to civil war, but in 1392

Sejong’s grandfather Yi Songyye, a

former general, stepped in, deposed

the last Koryo king, and assumed

the throne as King T’aejo.

King T’aejo’s immediate priority

was to secure stability, and the

installation of a state ideology

based on neo-Confucianism was

key to achieving that. This ideology

sought to re-establish proper

relations between the ruler and his

people, and conferred privileged

status on a bureaucratic class that

would act as guardian of the social

hierarchy. Buddhism had been the

dominant ideology under the Koryo

dynasty, but T’aejo undermined its

hold in the region by breaking up

large estates controlled by Buddhist

temples and redistributing the land,

some to Confucian shrines.

King Sejong of Choson, also known

as Sejong the Great, revolutionized

government by making it possible for

people other than the social elite to

become civil servants.

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Choson Korea

BEFORE

918 The Goryeo dynasty

is founded.

1270 Goryeo comes under

the structural, military, and

administrative control of the

Mongol Yuan dynasty.

1392 Yi Songyye founds

the Choson dynasty.

1420 King Sejong founds

the Chiphyon-jon research

institution.

AFTER

1445 A 365-volume medical

encyclopedia is published.

1447 The first work printed

in Han’gul is published.

1542 The first sowon

private academy opens.

The academies become

centers of debate and house

neo-Confucian texts.

1910 Japan annexes Korea and

deposes the last Choson ruler.

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131

See also: The An Lushan revolt 84–85 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ Hongwu founds

the Ming dynasty 120–27 ■ The Meiji Restoration 252–53

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD

Neo-Confucianism emphasised

the importance of education as a

way of producing a class of literati

capable of ensuring the harmonious

running of the state. T’aejo's

grandson, King Sejong (reigned

1418–1450) raised this principle to

new heights, founding in 1420 the

Chiphyon-jon (Hall of Worthies), an

elite group of 20 scholars tasked

with research that would promote

the better running of the kingdom.

Encouragement of wider literacy

was an important neo-Confucian

ideal, and T’aejo had already ordered

the foundation of government-

sponsored schools. At the time,

however, Korean was written in

Chinese characters, which were

not well adapted to express the

sounds of the language. Sejong

himself is said to have developed

the simplified script, the Han’gul,

whose principles were explained

in Proper Sounds for the Education

of the People, a book published in

1445. Having only 28 characters—
      later reduced to 24—the script
      was far easier than Chinese was
      to learn, but its introduction faced
      bitter resistance from traditionalist
      nobles. They feared it might open
      civil service examinations to people
      from other social classes, which

would risk diluting their power. As

a result Han’gul faded from use,

relegated as the “vulgar letters”

of the lower orders, until its

rediscovery in the 19th century,

since when it has thrived as a

vehicle for Korean nationalism.

The reforms of T’aejo and

Sejong, however, broadly survived,

creating a class of yangban—elite

government officials dedicated to

the perpetuation of the state. The

yangban also acted as a break on

any tendency to autocracy among

the Yi monarchs, which helped

the resulting dynasty to endure for

more than five centuries. ■

Sejong devises the

Han’gul alphabet.

Decline in

Mongol

power leads

to the rise of

the Choson.

The Choson

promote wider

education.

The dynasty

endures and the

Han’gul alphabet

is revived in the

Yangban scholars 19th century.

enhance the stability

of the Choson regime.

Neo-Confucianism

The neo-Confucianism that

became dominant in Korea under

the Choson dynasty had evolved

in China during the 11th and 12th

centuries as a means to revive

Confucianism, which had declined

in favor of Taoism and Buddhism

under the Tang and early Song.

A more rationalist and secular

form of Confucianism, the new

philosophy rejected superstitious

and mystical elements that had

influenced Confucianism during

and after the Han dynasty. Writers

such as Confucian scholar Zhu Xi

stressed the importance of

morality, respect for social

harmony, and education as

means of understanding the

Supreme Ultimate (tai qi), the

underlying principle of the

universe. In practice, however,

neo-Confucian virtues such

as loyalty, determination, and

the belief that a supreme

monarch should rule the state

to parallel the Supreme Ultimate

that governed the universe,

tended to favor a hierarchical,

bureaucratic state staffed

by scholars who jealously

maintained the status quo.

Hyanggyo were Confucian schools,

built throughout provincial Korea

and used for both ceremonial and

educational purposes.

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