HELLO from KOREA

Sejong the Great
(1397 ~ 1450)
Only one king in Korean history has ever
been deemed worthy enough to have been
accorded the title “the Great.” He was the
fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Sejong,
who is universally regarded as the wisest and
most gifted ruler in Korean history. The long
list of accomplishments during his reign is
astonishing, to say the least,
and probably no other time in
Korean history was quite so
creative and productive.
As a child, Sejong was a
quiet, studious boy who
showed an avid love of learning.
King Taejong, Se-jong’s
father, abdicated in favor of his
21-year-old son in 1418, and a
renaissance in art, literature
and science began.
A patron of the arts and sciences, he attracted
around him the very best minds of his day.
He estab-lished the Jiphyeonjeon or a Hall of
Worthies early in his reign. The best scholars in
the land gathered there to pursue research and
to study, and many of the notable achievements
during Sejong’s reign are attributed to
the close cooperation between them and
Sejong.
Sejong was a practical person, who took a
keen interest in the day-to-day affairs of government,
and sought ways to improve the lives
of his citizens. He reformed the tax system and
constantly tried to refine the government.
During his reign, major progress was made in
virtually every field: agriculture, astronomy,
defense, diplomacy, geography, literature,
medicine, printing, science; you name it.
King Sejong’s greatest accomplishment
however, is the creation of Hangeul, the Korean
alphabet. Aware that the general public needed
a writing system besides the complicated
system of writing in Chinese characters, the
king and his Hall of Worthies devised a simple
alphabet that could be easily learned.
Originally called Hunminjeongeum or "corrects
sounds for the instruction of the people,"
hangeul consisted of 28 letters (now only 24)
which were modeled after the
shape of the vocal organs. It
has been widely praised as one
of the most scientific alphabets
in the world and still remains a
source of great pride for
Koreans.
This was not the only important
invention of his reign. A
new calendar, a pluviometer,
an instrument to measure rainfall,
an anemo-scope, an instrument
to measure wind speed and direction,
sun dials, water clocks, models and instruments
to study heavenly bodies, astronomy
charts, atlases, new printing types—the list
goes on and on.
In these ways and many others, King Sejong
strengthened and brought to the nation peace
and cultural vitality, which is more than anyone
could ask of even a king. He helped shape
Korean society and culture into what they are
today, and his influence on politics, ethics, history,
music, literature, and the sciences, and
especially the language, is still felt today. He
died on the 17th day of the Second Moon in
1450, after having ruled the nation for 32 of its
most glorious years.
25 _ History
tested people on Chinese classics.
Confucianism also determined the rigid social structure. The society in
general valued academic learning highly while disdaining commerce and