April 22, 2025 • 31 mins
King Sejong the Great is considered, well, the greatest king in Korean history. And his greatest contribution of all might have been twenty-four letters.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener Discretion advised June Jungpil
had to move quickly, but without bringing too much attention
to himself or his mission. He had ten thousand one
(00:20):
on him, which was enough money to buy several beautiful homes,
but that money was for something far more valuable than
a city block of mansions, something far more precious than
he could let on. June headed south from Seoul towards
the city of Endong with his cash in tow and
(00:42):
his mind set on purchasing one of the most important
documents in Korean history. The year was nineteen forty and
Korea was in its thirtieth year under official Japanese imperial control.
As is fashionable for imperial rulers to do, the Japanese
(01:03):
government had made it a policy to suppress the Korean
people and Korean culture, going so far as to outlaw
Korean names. The government had also been chipping away at
Korean heritage and history through a variety of programs, including
taking national artifacts from the Korean peninsula to mainland Japan.
(01:28):
If the government knew about the existence of John's desired possession.
They would surely seize it and whisk it away, perhaps
even destroy it. As a collector of Korean antiques and
artifacts and an ardent believer in the beauty of Korean
art and history, June could not let Japan's colonial regime
(01:51):
steal an item so essential to Korean heritage. So as
he traveled out of Seoul, June tried to contain his
excitement and his anxiety. Once in Endong, John headed for
the antique dealer's store. The ten thousand one he carried
(02:11):
felt heavier and heavier the closer he got, and June
couldn't help but look over his shoulder every time he
turned a corner. The anticipation was gnawing at him. Was
the document actually real? Could someone have beaten him to it?
What if he was too late? His thoughts went silent
(02:32):
as he stepped into the shop. Before the door could
even close behind him, June made eye contact with the
shopkeeper and introduced himself. The antique dealer disappeared into a
back room and returned moments later holding a book. He
flipped open the pages of the book and explained it
(02:54):
was an heirloom of the House of Kim, Therein and Dong,
but John already knew that. He also knew that they
had only been asking one thousand wan for the book,
but John had sent a telegram ahead promising ten thousand
if they held it for him. After admiring the book
for a few moments, June handed the man the money
(03:17):
and watched as the shopkeeper carefully wrapped the book up
for him. Now that the document was his, he wouldn't
let it out of his sight. He would protect it
with his life. As he headed back to Seoul, June
couldn't believe what he was now holding. What was now his,
(03:37):
This piece of Korean heritage was worth far more than
the ten thousand one he had shelled out for it.
He now owned the only known copy of The Human
Jingham Hera, first published in fourteen forty six, the text
that explains King Sejong's greatest invention, a new alphabet quote.
(04:01):
The spoken language of our country is different from that
of China and does not suit the Chinese characters. Therefore,
amongst uneducated people, there have been many who, having something
they wished to put into words, have been unable to
express their feelings in writing. I am greatly distressed because
of this, and so I have made twenty eight new letters.
(04:24):
Let every one practice them at their ease and adapt
them to their daily use. End quote. While his creation
was underappreciated at the time, King Sijung's new alphabet, now
called Hengul, was a revolutionary way to codify human language.
Never before had humans invented a script for which the
(04:47):
exact reasoning behind each aspect of it could be articulated.
Modern scholars, but especially modern linguists, recognize King Sijung's alphabet
to be one of humanity's greatest achievements. With his purchase
of the human jingom heire Jung Jungpil saved in artifact
(05:09):
not only crucial to Korean history, but also to our
understanding of one of humanity's most ingenious creations. I'm Danish schwartz,
and this is noble blood. Only one monarch in Korean
history bears the moniker the Great Sejong the Great, fourth
(05:34):
monarch of the Josian dynasty. He ruled over Korea for
thirty two years from fourteen eighteen to fourteen fifty, and
is still heralded as a ruler who put the well
being of his subjects before all else. For our American listeners.
His status in Korean society can be compared to George Washington's.
(05:56):
He is a foundational figure in Korea's collective of conchas.
Sijong inherited the throne at a crucial point in the
Josian Dynasty's history. The Josian dynasty, which controlled modern day
North and South Korea, had toppled the previous dynasty just
thirty years earlier, which in dynasty times is pretty much nothing,
(06:20):
and most of the turmoil that came with the dissolution
of one dynasty and the rise of another had by
this point pretty much subsided. So now Sejong needed to
establish the identity of the Josian dynasty and weave it
together with that of Koreas. Fortunately, Seijong was up to
(06:41):
the task. Despite being young when he first rose to power,
he was an incredibly wise ruler. His mentality is summed
up well by this quote attributed to him, which is,
if the people prosper, how can the king not prosper
with them? And if the people do not prosper, how
(07:01):
may the king prosper without them? That quote captures exactly
how Seijung's commitment to his subject's well being drove both
his politics and his personal actions. We have the incredibly
detailed and organized siloc Or annals of the Josian dynasty
to thank for such specific quotes from King Sejung, as
(07:24):
well as for detailed descriptions of his life. While we
should take the writings in those annals with a grain
of salt, given that they were written for the express
purpose of recording for posterity the king's greatness, they are
useful sources in that they demonstrate which traits and accomplishments
(07:45):
King Sejung valued and therefore wanted to be portrayed as being.
And having done, I will say King Sejung did have
a lot of accomplishments to be proud of. He was
a thoughtful politician, careful not to over tax his subjects,
and compassionate in his policies. He also strengthened the country's
(08:09):
army with innovative and improved weaponry. But that's not all.
Sijung was also accomplished outside the areas typically within a
monarch's purview. He had a deep regard for wisdom, and
he formed a royal academy known as the Hall of Worthies,
where scholars would provide lectures for him and participate in
(08:31):
debates with him. The scholars could write books, conduct research,
and they would invent any number of things that would
better the lives of everyday Koreans. Some of those inventions
include the world's first standardized rain gage, an updated calendar system,
and a new type of printing press. Scholars in the
(08:54):
Hall of Worthies also published treatises on farming specifically in Korean,
as well as on traditional Korean medicinal knowledge. While scholars
in the Hall of Worthies ultimately created many of the
achievements attributed to Sejong's reign, we can't ignore that it
was Seijong's patronage that fostered their creativity. Artists were also
(09:19):
beneficiaries of Seijung's support, as his patronage resulted in the
publication of many books, the creation of hundreds of new
musical compositions, and the invention of a new musical instrument.
But one of his contributions stands head and shoulders above
the rest. Of all of King Sejong's inventions and contributions.
(09:45):
There's one that's the most dazzling, the invention of an
entirely new writing system. Hangul is a script whose modern
version contains twenty four basic letters, fourteen consonants, and ten vowels.
The script is both alphabetic since specific symbols symbolize certain sounds,
(10:09):
and syllabic because symbols can get combined to create a
syllabic unit. Traditionally, Hangle was written like other Asian scripts,
top to bottom, right to left, but nowadays Hangul is
typically written left to right. You might be asking yourself, Dana,
(10:30):
why do I care that King Sejun created a new
script in the fifteen hundreds? Out of everything he did,
it seems pretty cool, but otherwise not particularly life changing,
And you'd be right that perhaps creating a new writing
system isn't the most consequential thing a monarch can do.
But King Sejung and his Hall of worthies accomplished something
(10:54):
never done before, inventing a script for which the theory
and motives for it are fully articulated. Okay, if you're
not a linguistics nerd, let me walk out why this
is so cool. So almost all other alphabets and scripts
that humans have used have evolved over thousands of years
(11:17):
with no overarching theoretical guidelines dictating its structure. Hangoul is
the first alphabet of its kind. There's a systemic reasoning
behind each facet of the script, and we know all
of those reasons. Furthermore, the theory behind the script is
(11:37):
pretty impressive. The symbols represent the shape that human speech
organs like the tongue and throat make when various sounds
are made. So technically, if one knows what sound every
symbol represents, one could write many different languages using Hangoul.
(11:58):
Most linguists and scholars agree that Hengele is an immensely
creative achievement that should be counted among humankind's greatest creations,
which is some pretty high praise. I should note that
the more commonly used name for this script, and the
name I'll be using, Hangul, was actually coined in nineteen
(12:20):
twelve by Korean linguist Jews Sai Jung. Hangoule's original name
was human Jiongam, which translates to quote correct sounds for
the instruction of the people. If you recall, the document
that Jong Jung pill traveled across Korea to buy in
the introduction to this episode was called the Human jiong Hoay,
(12:43):
which translates to quote explanations and examples of the proper
sounds for the instruction of the people. The translation of
Hangoule's original name illuminates King Sejung's motivation behind his invention.
I mean, most monarchs dedicated their free time to leading
(13:04):
hunting expeditions or luxuriating with their mistresses, not personally having
a hand in creating a new writing system unlike anything
seen before in human history. But King Seijun's motivation as
a king was to better the lives of his subjects,
and he believed that a writing system custom designed for
(13:26):
the Korean language would be a crucial tool for achieving
betterment through education. At the time he lived, the vast
majority of published material in Korea was written in Chinese.
If we're being more specific, Koreans were reading classical Chinese
texts and writing new text in the Chinese language or
(13:50):
in Hanga, a Chinese script retrofitted to represent the Korean language,
So in order to be literate, one had to memorize
thousands of Chinese characters. It should be no surprise then,
that literacy was a difficult skill to achieve and a
(14:11):
skill reserved for the elites in Korea. King Sejung hoped
to bring literacy to the masses with a writing system
that had a smaller number of symbols, therefore infinitely easier
to learn, and made specifically for the Korean language. So,
in fourteen forty three, Hungle was officially announced, and the
(14:35):
books detailing the logic behind the script and how to
read and write it were published a few years later
in fourteen forty six aka the book that Jong Yungpil bought. Interestingly,
we aren't entirely certain who specifically invented Hengul, because there
is no record of the project before it was announced
(14:58):
as completed. Was it Sejung all by himself, or did
one or more of the scholars in the Hall of
Worthies invented at his behest, or maybe it was a collaboration.
Most scholars believe that Seijung and his scholars collaborated on
the language, but that the king did indeed play a
(15:21):
large personal role in creating the script. In fact, records
indicate that Seijung pushed through neurologia, diabetes, and worsening eyesight
in order to work on the language even after it
was announced, going so far as to bring his linguistic
books with him on a trip to Hot Springs when
(15:42):
he was trying to recover his health. As you might
be able to guess, Korean elites were not thrilled with
the King's new invention. The creation of a new script
disrupted centuries of custom that privileged the Chinese life language
over Korean, which they knew. On top of that, they
(16:05):
weren't thrilled with the idea that the general population could
now have access to the politically powerful tools of reading
and writing. Such a change threatened their status. Now elites
couldn't just come out and say that they felt threatened
by the language, so instead they crafted other arguments against
(16:28):
the new script. Famously, Choi Manly, an associate professor in
the Hall of Worthies, expressed this critique quote, since the
new alphabet is so easily understood, I fear that the
people will fall into laziness and never make efforts to learn.
Those who do not use Chinese characters, but other letters
(16:51):
and alphabets are all barbarians without exception to use new letters,
which surely make us barbarians ourselves. Why does your Highness
seek to alter a language that has been used since
early antiquity and has no ill effects, and place alongside
it a set of course and vulgar characters of no
(17:14):
worth at all. In other words, if reading and writing
is easy, that'll make us lazy barbarians. But King Sejung
was not deterred by his critics. Beyond believing in his mission,
he was not about to abandon a project he dedicated
years to, and so the king stuck to his guns
(17:36):
and began publishing all of his royal edicts in both
Chinese Hunga and in Hungoul. He commissioned classical works of
literature transcribed into Hungul and made Hungul a required portion
of the state exam. For the remainder of his reign,
Sejung went out of his way to promote Hangoul in
(17:59):
the hopes that his fellow nobles would come to see
the beauty and benefits of his greatest creation. Unfortunately, despite
his best efforts, when King Sejong passed away in fourteen fifty,
so too died the push to use Hangul. The script
(18:19):
fell into disuse by the elites, who gave the language
nicknames that translate to quote the vulgar Script, the woman's Script,
and the children's Script. Eventually, things went beyond just social
ostracism when in fifteen o four, an anonymous writer published
(18:40):
criticisms of the then king in Hangul. The king was
so furious with this publication that he outlawed the script.
So for the four centuries after Hungul was created, the
nobility in Korea relegated the language to the dusty storage
of history. But listener, fear not, King Sejung's magnificent creation
(19:07):
was not lost to society entirely, and we can thank
religious minorities, women and my favorite people, writers and artists
for that. Like I just mentioned, one of the supposedly
derogatory nicknames for hangoul used to be the quote Women's script.
Looking past the fact that being associated with women was
(19:30):
supposedly a bad thing, this nickname actually reveals that women
were substantial in keeping Hungoul in use. Further, it appears
that women across social classes used hangoul from records referencing
intercept personal notes, we know that women in the royal
family used hangoul for their everyday writing, so too did
(19:55):
women in lower classes, who were less likely to receive
an education in the complicated Chinese characters. Additionally, Korean Buddhists
were some of the first advocates of hangoul after King Sejung,
and they played a large role in the preservation of
hangoul from King Sejung's time onward. Although the official policy
(20:20):
of the Josian dynasty was to promote Confucianism and repress Buddhism,
Buddhism still managed to maintain a significant foothold amongst the
general population when translating and printing scripture meant to serve
the common people. Buddhist monks used hangoul. Thus in their
(20:42):
efforts to bring people to Buddhism. These monks preserved and
taught hangoul throughout Korea. European missionaries also relied on hangoul
to teach the Bible and teach Christian practices, ultimately spreading
Hangol in the same way Buddhist monks did. While those
with religious motivation saw the usefulness of hangoul, they weren't alone.
(21:07):
Starting in the late sixteenth century, there was a renaissance
of literature and poetry in Korea, and many of those
forms utilized hangoul. Gasa and Sizo forms of poetry in particular,
used the language. A continuation of that renaissance, hangoul novels
came into popularity in the seventeenth century. Korean readers were
(21:30):
looking for stories similar to those from Chinese novels of
the time that told love stories and adventures. Some of
those first novels were just translations of Chinese stories into Hangoul,
but soon a flourishing industry of original Hangoul novels developed.
Hangoul novels specifically meant for a female audience were also
(21:54):
quite popular and further helped disseminate the language to populations
even less likely to be literate. While books and religious
texts are some of the easiest artifacts Demonstratinghungul's usage, there
were other less remarkable ways that people preserved and used Hungoul.
(22:14):
The script was popular amongst the urban middle class of
bureaucrats and administrators for records and bookkeepings. All of these groups, poets, Buddhists, women, Christians,
the middle class, bureaucrats, and more kept Hungul alive and
in use for centuries after Sejung's passing in the nineteenth century,
(22:39):
as nationalism in Korea rose, so too did people's usage
of Hangoul. Finally, in eighteen forty nine, the script was
adopted as the national writing system of Korea, and it
was used for the first time in the modern era
for official government documents. There was the period under Japanese
(23:01):
colonial rule when Hangoul was outlawed, but since Korea's liberation
in nineteen forty five, Hangoul has been the official writing
system of Korea, now North Korea and South Korea respectively.
In South Korea specifically, the country's literacy rate at the
end of World War II was roughly twenty two percent.
(23:24):
Now the country has a literacy rate of ninety seven
point nine percent. Now, I'm not attempting to attribute that
growth to just Hangoul becoming the official writing system by
any means. I only mention it because all I can
think is that King Seijung would be so proud to
note just how many people use his creation every day,
(23:48):
just like he wanted. Anyone who quote having something they
wished to put into words, is now able to express
their feelings in writing. Keep listening after a brief sponsor break,
to hear about the current court case going on in
South Korea over the second known copy of the Human
(24:10):
Juniam Here and the fire which threatened its very existence.
As I mentioned in the introduction to today's episode, until
June Jungpil found a copy of The Human jing and
Here in nineteen forty that important part of Korean history
(24:32):
was believed to have been lost to history forever, and
until two thousand and eight, Jones copy was believed to
be the only remaining copy of that text in the world.
That is, until another collector stepped forward with a second copy.
In two thousand and eight, Bei Ikji, a rare book
(24:54):
collector and scholar with a specialization in classic Chinese literature,
declared declared to the world that he had found a
copy of The Human Jingham here tucked away amongst two
boxes of ancient books that he had found earlier that year.
After Bay went public with his find, South Korea's Cultural
(25:17):
Heritage Administration, also known as the CHA, visited his home
to inspect the document. The CHA ultimately validated that document's legitimacy.
They declared it to be quote authentic, in good shape,
and even has a footnote. The administration even went so
(25:38):
far as to compare it to the copy found in
nineteen forty quote. This copy seems to be in better
condition than the current National treasure, despite its loss of
four pages of the preface and one page of the
latter part. The footnote on the newly discovered version was
particularly exciting because the copy Jong had purchased in nineteen
(26:02):
forty did not have that footnote. It appears to have
been written by a scholar contemporary with King Sei Jung,
therefore adding to our understanding of how scholars interpreted Hangul
when it was first announced. But unfortunately, almost everybody has
been unable to see that footnote because Bey's copy of
(26:27):
The Human jingam Here has courted controversy almost from the
moment its existence became public knowledge. As I mentioned, Bee
claimed that he had found the manuscript essentially hidden away
and forgotten about, in a box of rare books that
he happened to buy. A month after the announcement of
(26:48):
the manuscript's discovery, the antique dealer who had sold him
that box of books came forward and stated that the
Human jingam Here was not supposed to be in those boxes.
Bey had stolen it from him. The antique dealer promptly
filed civil and criminal suits against Bey. In the criminal case,
(27:10):
it was initially ruled that Bey was guilty and should
serve ten years in jail. However, the case was appealed
all the way to South Korea's Supreme Court, who declared
Bee innocent. The civil case, on the other hand, turned
out in the antique dealer's favor. That antique dealer named
(27:31):
Joe ultimately one, and judges from the lower courts all
the way to the Supreme Court ruled that the document
should be returned to Joe upon being awarded legally recognized
ownership of the human Jingham here. In twenty eleven, Joe
announced that he would donate the document to the CCHA,
(27:54):
and in twenty twelve they held a donation ceremony shortly
before Joe passed away. So if Joe donated the book
to CHA, why haven't many people seen it? The donation
ceremony was purely ceremonial. None of them actually had the book.
(28:16):
Despite the fact that Bee was found legally responsible for
returning the rare document to Joe, Bee refused and he
hid the manuscript away. CCHA has conducted multiple raids on
Bey's home and office, but they've been unable to find anything.
(28:36):
To this day, Be still has the document hidden away.
But I am not done regaling you with the journey
of this human Jingham Here. Things got even messier in
twenty fifteen when a fire broke out in Bey's home,
where he was presumably hiding the document Be claims that
(28:58):
he broke into his home while was on fire so
that he could save the document. To prove his claim,
he released a photo to the news showing the human
Jingham here, still intact, but with its edges seared by
the flames. After releasing those photos, Bey hid the document
(29:18):
away again, and it is still in his possession to
this day, despite many attempts by the CHA to recover it.
Negotiations between Bey and the CHA over the document are
still ongoing, but constantly stall out, with Bey asking for
only one hundred billion wand which is only one tenth
(29:42):
of the documents supposed one trillion one value, but the
CHA is only offering him one hundred million one. We
will have to stay tuned to see what twists and
turns come next in the drama surrounding the document, but
we can all hope that now one day it'll be
available to the public to anyone who wishes to see
(30:05):
a critical part of Hanghoul's history. After all, the language
itself was meant to empower the people, its documents, and
its history should be available, in my opinion, to the
people as well. Noble Blood is a production of iHeart
(30:27):
Radio and Grim and mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood
is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and
research by Hannah Johnston, Hannaswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and
Julia Melaney. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk,
with supervising producer rima il KLi and executive producers Aaron Manke,
(30:51):
Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener Discretion advised June Jungpil
had to move quickly, but without bringing too much attention
to himself or his mission. He had ten thousand one
(00:20):
on him, which was enough money to buy several beautiful homes,
but that money was for something far more valuable than
a city block of mansions, something far more precious than
he could let on. June headed south from Seoul towards
the city of Endong with his cash in tow and
(00:42):
his mind set on purchasing one of the most important
documents in Korean history. The year was nineteen forty and
Korea was in its thirtieth year under official Japanese imperial control.
As is fashionable for imperial rulers to do, the Japanese
(01:03):
government had made it a policy to suppress the Korean
people and Korean culture, going so far as to outlaw
Korean names. The government had also been chipping away at
Korean heritage and history through a variety of programs, including
taking national artifacts from the Korean peninsula to mainland Japan.
(01:28):
If the government knew about the existence of John's desired possession.
They would surely seize it and whisk it away, perhaps
even destroy it. As a collector of Korean antiques and
artifacts and an ardent believer in the beauty of Korean
art and history, June could not let Japan's colonial regime
(01:51):
steal an item so essential to Korean heritage. So as
he traveled out of Seoul, June tried to contain his
excitement and his anxiety. Once in Endong, John headed for
the antique dealer's store. The ten thousand one he carried
(02:11):
felt heavier and heavier the closer he got, and June
couldn't help but look over his shoulder every time he
turned a corner. The anticipation was gnawing at him. Was
the document actually real? Could someone have beaten him to it?
What if he was too late? His thoughts went silent
(02:32):
as he stepped into the shop. Before the door could
even close behind him, June made eye contact with the
shopkeeper and introduced himself. The antique dealer disappeared into a
back room and returned moments later holding a book. He
flipped open the pages of the book and explained it
(02:54):
was an heirloom of the House of Kim, Therein and Dong,
but John already knew that. He also knew that they
had only been asking one thousand wan for the book,
but John had sent a telegram ahead promising ten thousand
if they held it for him. After admiring the book
for a few moments, June handed the man the money
(03:17):
and watched as the shopkeeper carefully wrapped the book up
for him. Now that the document was his, he wouldn't
let it out of his sight. He would protect it
with his life. As he headed back to Seoul, June
couldn't believe what he was now holding. What was now his,
(03:37):
This piece of Korean heritage was worth far more than
the ten thousand one he had shelled out for it.
He now owned the only known copy of The Human
Jingham Hera, first published in fourteen forty six, the text
that explains King Sejong's greatest invention, a new alphabet quote.
(04:01):
The spoken language of our country is different from that
of China and does not suit the Chinese characters. Therefore,
amongst uneducated people, there have been many who, having something
they wished to put into words, have been unable to
express their feelings in writing. I am greatly distressed because
of this, and so I have made twenty eight new letters.
(04:24):
Let every one practice them at their ease and adapt
them to their daily use. End quote. While his creation
was underappreciated at the time, King Sijung's new alphabet, now
called Hengul, was a revolutionary way to codify human language.
Never before had humans invented a script for which the
(04:47):
exact reasoning behind each aspect of it could be articulated.
Modern scholars, but especially modern linguists, recognize King Sijung's alphabet
to be one of humanity's greatest achievements. With his purchase
of the human jingom heire Jung Jungpil saved in artifact
(05:09):
not only crucial to Korean history, but also to our
understanding of one of humanity's most ingenious creations. I'm Danish schwartz,
and this is noble blood. Only one monarch in Korean
history bears the moniker the Great Sejong the Great, fourth
(05:34):
monarch of the Josian dynasty. He ruled over Korea for
thirty two years from fourteen eighteen to fourteen fifty, and
is still heralded as a ruler who put the well
being of his subjects before all else. For our American listeners.
His status in Korean society can be compared to George Washington's.
(05:56):
He is a foundational figure in Korea's collective of conchas.
Sijong inherited the throne at a crucial point in the
Josian Dynasty's history. The Josian dynasty, which controlled modern day
North and South Korea, had toppled the previous dynasty just
thirty years earlier, which in dynasty times is pretty much nothing,
(06:20):
and most of the turmoil that came with the dissolution
of one dynasty and the rise of another had by
this point pretty much subsided. So now Sejong needed to
establish the identity of the Josian dynasty and weave it
together with that of Koreas. Fortunately, Seijong was up to
(06:41):
the task. Despite being young when he first rose to power,
he was an incredibly wise ruler. His mentality is summed
up well by this quote attributed to him, which is,
if the people prosper, how can the king not prosper
with them? And if the people do not prosper, how
(07:01):
may the king prosper without them? That quote captures exactly
how Seijung's commitment to his subject's well being drove both
his politics and his personal actions. We have the incredibly
detailed and organized siloc Or annals of the Josian dynasty
to thank for such specific quotes from King Sejung, as
(07:24):
well as for detailed descriptions of his life. While we
should take the writings in those annals with a grain
of salt, given that they were written for the express
purpose of recording for posterity the king's greatness, they are
useful sources in that they demonstrate which traits and accomplishments
(07:45):
King Sejung valued and therefore wanted to be portrayed as being.
And having done, I will say King Sejung did have
a lot of accomplishments to be proud of. He was
a thoughtful politician, careful not to over tax his subjects,
and compassionate in his policies. He also strengthened the country's
(08:09):
army with innovative and improved weaponry. But that's not all.
Sijung was also accomplished outside the areas typically within a
monarch's purview. He had a deep regard for wisdom, and
he formed a royal academy known as the Hall of Worthies,
where scholars would provide lectures for him and participate in
(08:31):
debates with him. The scholars could write books, conduct research,
and they would invent any number of things that would
better the lives of everyday Koreans. Some of those inventions
include the world's first standardized rain gage, an updated calendar system,
and a new type of printing press. Scholars in the
(08:54):
Hall of Worthies also published treatises on farming specifically in Korean,
as well as on traditional Korean medicinal knowledge. While scholars
in the Hall of Worthies ultimately created many of the
achievements attributed to Sejong's reign, we can't ignore that it
was Seijong's patronage that fostered their creativity. Artists were also
(09:19):
beneficiaries of Seijung's support, as his patronage resulted in the
publication of many books, the creation of hundreds of new
musical compositions, and the invention of a new musical instrument.
But one of his contributions stands head and shoulders above
the rest. Of all of King Sejong's inventions and contributions.
(09:45):
There's one that's the most dazzling, the invention of an
entirely new writing system. Hangul is a script whose modern
version contains twenty four basic letters, fourteen consonants, and ten vowels.
The script is both alphabetic since specific symbols symbolize certain sounds,
(10:09):
and syllabic because symbols can get combined to create a
syllabic unit. Traditionally, Hangle was written like other Asian scripts,
top to bottom, right to left, but nowadays Hangul is
typically written left to right. You might be asking yourself, Dana,
(10:30):
why do I care that King Sejun created a new
script in the fifteen hundreds? Out of everything he did,
it seems pretty cool, but otherwise not particularly life changing,
And you'd be right that perhaps creating a new writing
system isn't the most consequential thing a monarch can do.
But King Sejung and his Hall of worthies accomplished something
(10:54):
never done before, inventing a script for which the theory
and motives for it are fully articulated. Okay, if you're
not a linguistics nerd, let me walk out why this
is so cool. So almost all other alphabets and scripts
that humans have used have evolved over thousands of years
(11:17):
with no overarching theoretical guidelines dictating its structure. Hangoul is
the first alphabet of its kind. There's a systemic reasoning
behind each facet of the script, and we know all
of those reasons. Furthermore, the theory behind the script is
(11:37):
pretty impressive. The symbols represent the shape that human speech
organs like the tongue and throat make when various sounds
are made. So technically, if one knows what sound every
symbol represents, one could write many different languages using Hangoul.
(11:58):
Most linguists and scholars agree that Hengele is an immensely
creative achievement that should be counted among humankind's greatest creations,
which is some pretty high praise. I should note that
the more commonly used name for this script, and the
name I'll be using, Hangul, was actually coined in nineteen
(12:20):
twelve by Korean linguist Jews Sai Jung. Hangoule's original name
was human Jiongam, which translates to quote correct sounds for
the instruction of the people. If you recall, the document
that Jong Jung pill traveled across Korea to buy in
the introduction to this episode was called the Human jiong Hoay,
(12:43):
which translates to quote explanations and examples of the proper
sounds for the instruction of the people. The translation of
Hangoule's original name illuminates King Sejung's motivation behind his invention.
I mean, most monarchs dedicated their free time to leading
(13:04):
hunting expeditions or luxuriating with their mistresses, not personally having
a hand in creating a new writing system unlike anything
seen before in human history. But King Seijun's motivation as
a king was to better the lives of his subjects,
and he believed that a writing system custom designed for
(13:26):
the Korean language would be a crucial tool for achieving
betterment through education. At the time he lived, the vast
majority of published material in Korea was written in Chinese.
If we're being more specific, Koreans were reading classical Chinese
texts and writing new text in the Chinese language or
(13:50):
in Hanga, a Chinese script retrofitted to represent the Korean language,
So in order to be literate, one had to memorize
thousands of Chinese characters. It should be no surprise then,
that literacy was a difficult skill to achieve and a
(14:11):
skill reserved for the elites in Korea. King Sejung hoped
to bring literacy to the masses with a writing system
that had a smaller number of symbols, therefore infinitely easier
to learn, and made specifically for the Korean language. So,
in fourteen forty three, Hungle was officially announced, and the
(14:35):
books detailing the logic behind the script and how to
read and write it were published a few years later
in fourteen forty six aka the book that Jong Yungpil bought. Interestingly,
we aren't entirely certain who specifically invented Hengul, because there
is no record of the project before it was announced
(14:58):
as completed. Was it Sejung all by himself, or did
one or more of the scholars in the Hall of
Worthies invented at his behest, or maybe it was a collaboration.
Most scholars believe that Seijung and his scholars collaborated on
the language, but that the king did indeed play a
(15:21):
large personal role in creating the script. In fact, records
indicate that Seijung pushed through neurologia, diabetes, and worsening eyesight
in order to work on the language even after it
was announced, going so far as to bring his linguistic
books with him on a trip to Hot Springs when
(15:42):
he was trying to recover his health. As you might
be able to guess, Korean elites were not thrilled with
the King's new invention. The creation of a new script
disrupted centuries of custom that privileged the Chinese life language
over Korean, which they knew. On top of that, they
(16:05):
weren't thrilled with the idea that the general population could
now have access to the politically powerful tools of reading
and writing. Such a change threatened their status. Now elites
couldn't just come out and say that they felt threatened
by the language, so instead they crafted other arguments against
(16:28):
the new script. Famously, Choi Manly, an associate professor in
the Hall of Worthies, expressed this critique quote, since the
new alphabet is so easily understood, I fear that the
people will fall into laziness and never make efforts to learn.
Those who do not use Chinese characters, but other letters
(16:51):
and alphabets are all barbarians without exception to use new letters,
which surely make us barbarians ourselves. Why does your Highness
seek to alter a language that has been used since
early antiquity and has no ill effects, and place alongside
it a set of course and vulgar characters of no
(17:14):
worth at all. In other words, if reading and writing
is easy, that'll make us lazy barbarians. But King Sejung
was not deterred by his critics. Beyond believing in his mission,
he was not about to abandon a project he dedicated
years to, and so the king stuck to his guns
(17:36):
and began publishing all of his royal edicts in both
Chinese Hunga and in Hungoul. He commissioned classical works of
literature transcribed into Hungul and made Hungul a required portion
of the state exam. For the remainder of his reign,
Sejung went out of his way to promote Hangoul in
(17:59):
the hopes that his fellow nobles would come to see
the beauty and benefits of his greatest creation. Unfortunately, despite
his best efforts, when King Sejong passed away in fourteen fifty,
so too died the push to use Hangul. The script
(18:19):
fell into disuse by the elites, who gave the language
nicknames that translate to quote the vulgar Script, the woman's Script,
and the children's Script. Eventually, things went beyond just social
ostracism when in fifteen o four, an anonymous writer published
(18:40):
criticisms of the then king in Hangul. The king was
so furious with this publication that he outlawed the script.
So for the four centuries after Hungul was created, the
nobility in Korea relegated the language to the dusty storage
of history. But listener, fear not, King Sejung's magnificent creation
(19:07):
was not lost to society entirely, and we can thank
religious minorities, women and my favorite people, writers and artists
for that. Like I just mentioned, one of the supposedly
derogatory nicknames for hangoul used to be the quote Women's script.
Looking past the fact that being associated with women was
(19:30):
supposedly a bad thing, this nickname actually reveals that women
were substantial in keeping Hungoul in use. Further, it appears
that women across social classes used hangoul from records referencing
intercept personal notes, we know that women in the royal
family used hangoul for their everyday writing, so too did
(19:55):
women in lower classes, who were less likely to receive
an education in the complicated Chinese characters. Additionally, Korean Buddhists
were some of the first advocates of hangoul after King Sejung,
and they played a large role in the preservation of
hangoul from King Sejung's time onward. Although the official policy
(20:20):
of the Josian dynasty was to promote Confucianism and repress Buddhism,
Buddhism still managed to maintain a significant foothold amongst the
general population when translating and printing scripture meant to serve
the common people. Buddhist monks used hangoul. Thus in their
(20:42):
efforts to bring people to Buddhism. These monks preserved and
taught hangoul throughout Korea. European missionaries also relied on hangoul
to teach the Bible and teach Christian practices, ultimately spreading
Hangol in the same way Buddhist monks did. While those
with religious motivation saw the usefulness of hangoul, they weren't alone.
(21:07):
Starting in the late sixteenth century, there was a renaissance
of literature and poetry in Korea, and many of those
forms utilized hangoul. Gasa and Sizo forms of poetry in particular,
used the language. A continuation of that renaissance, hangoul novels
came into popularity in the seventeenth century. Korean readers were
(21:30):
looking for stories similar to those from Chinese novels of
the time that told love stories and adventures. Some of
those first novels were just translations of Chinese stories into Hangoul,
but soon a flourishing industry of original Hangoul novels developed.
Hangoul novels specifically meant for a female audience were also
(21:54):
quite popular and further helped disseminate the language to populations
even less likely to be literate. While books and religious
texts are some of the easiest artifacts Demonstratinghungul's usage, there
were other less remarkable ways that people preserved and used Hungoul.
(22:14):
The script was popular amongst the urban middle class of
bureaucrats and administrators for records and bookkeepings. All of these groups, poets, Buddhists, women, Christians,
the middle class, bureaucrats, and more kept Hungul alive and
in use for centuries after Sejung's passing in the nineteenth century,
(22:39):
as nationalism in Korea rose, so too did people's usage
of Hangoul. Finally, in eighteen forty nine, the script was
adopted as the national writing system of Korea, and it
was used for the first time in the modern era
for official government documents. There was the period under Japanese
(23:01):
colonial rule when Hangoul was outlawed, but since Korea's liberation
in nineteen forty five, Hangoul has been the official writing
system of Korea, now North Korea and South Korea respectively.
In South Korea specifically, the country's literacy rate at the
end of World War II was roughly twenty two percent.
(23:24):
Now the country has a literacy rate of ninety seven
point nine percent. Now, I'm not attempting to attribute that
growth to just Hangoul becoming the official writing system by
any means. I only mention it because all I can
think is that King Seijung would be so proud to
note just how many people use his creation every day,
(23:48):
just like he wanted. Anyone who quote having something they
wished to put into words, is now able to express
their feelings in writing. Keep listening after a brief sponsor break,
to hear about the current court case going on in
South Korea over the second known copy of the Human
(24:10):
Juniam Here and the fire which threatened its very existence.
As I mentioned in the introduction to today's episode, until
June Jungpil found a copy of The Human jing and
Here in nineteen forty that important part of Korean history
(24:32):
was believed to have been lost to history forever, and
until two thousand and eight, Jones copy was believed to
be the only remaining copy of that text in the world.
That is, until another collector stepped forward with a second copy.
In two thousand and eight, Bei Ikji, a rare book
(24:54):
collector and scholar with a specialization in classic Chinese literature,
declared declared to the world that he had found a
copy of The Human Jingham here tucked away amongst two
boxes of ancient books that he had found earlier that year.
After Bay went public with his find, South Korea's Cultural
(25:17):
Heritage Administration, also known as the CHA, visited his home
to inspect the document. The CHA ultimately validated that document's legitimacy.
They declared it to be quote authentic, in good shape,
and even has a footnote. The administration even went so
(25:38):
far as to compare it to the copy found in
nineteen forty quote. This copy seems to be in better
condition than the current National treasure, despite its loss of
four pages of the preface and one page of the
latter part. The footnote on the newly discovered version was
particularly exciting because the copy Jong had purchased in nineteen
(26:02):
forty did not have that footnote. It appears to have
been written by a scholar contemporary with King Sei Jung,
therefore adding to our understanding of how scholars interpreted Hangul
when it was first announced. But unfortunately, almost everybody has
been unable to see that footnote because Bey's copy of
(26:27):
The Human jingam Here has courted controversy almost from the
moment its existence became public knowledge. As I mentioned, Bee
claimed that he had found the manuscript essentially hidden away
and forgotten about, in a box of rare books that
he happened to buy. A month after the announcement of
(26:48):
the manuscript's discovery, the antique dealer who had sold him
that box of books came forward and stated that the
Human jingam Here was not supposed to be in those boxes.
Bey had stolen it from him. The antique dealer promptly
filed civil and criminal suits against Bey. In the criminal case,
(27:10):
it was initially ruled that Bey was guilty and should
serve ten years in jail. However, the case was appealed
all the way to South Korea's Supreme Court, who declared
Bee innocent. The civil case, on the other hand, turned
out in the antique dealer's favor. That antique dealer named
(27:31):
Joe ultimately one, and judges from the lower courts all
the way to the Supreme Court ruled that the document
should be returned to Joe upon being awarded legally recognized
ownership of the human Jingham here. In twenty eleven, Joe
announced that he would donate the document to the CCHA,
(27:54):
and in twenty twelve they held a donation ceremony shortly
before Joe passed away. So if Joe donated the book
to CHA, why haven't many people seen it? The donation
ceremony was purely ceremonial. None of them actually had the book.
(28:16):
Despite the fact that Bee was found legally responsible for
returning the rare document to Joe, Bee refused and he
hid the manuscript away. CCHA has conducted multiple raids on
Bey's home and office, but they've been unable to find anything.
(28:36):
To this day, Be still has the document hidden away.
But I am not done regaling you with the journey
of this human Jingham Here. Things got even messier in
twenty fifteen when a fire broke out in Bey's home,
where he was presumably hiding the document Be claims that
(28:58):
he broke into his home while was on fire so
that he could save the document. To prove his claim,
he released a photo to the news showing the human
Jingham here, still intact, but with its edges seared by
the flames. After releasing those photos, Bey hid the document
(29:18):
away again, and it is still in his possession to
this day, despite many attempts by the CHA to recover it.
Negotiations between Bey and the CHA over the document are
still ongoing, but constantly stall out, with Bey asking for
only one hundred billion wand which is only one tenth
(29:42):
of the documents supposed one trillion one value, but the
CHA is only offering him one hundred million one. We
will have to stay tuned to see what twists and
turns come next in the drama surrounding the document, but
we can all hope that now one day it'll be
available to the public to anyone who wishes to see
(30:05):
a critical part of Hanghoul's history. After all, the language
itself was meant to empower the people, its documents, and
its history should be available, in my opinion, to the
people as well. Noble Blood is a production of iHeart
(30:27):
Radio and Grim and mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood
is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and
research by Hannah Johnston, Hannaswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and
Julia Melaney. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk,
with supervising producer rima il KLi and executive producers Aaron Manke,
(30:51):
Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Host
Dana Schwartz
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