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About HangulKing Sejong

King Sejong was born in 1397, the third son of King Taejong,the third king of Korea's Joseon Dynasty, and QueenWongyeong. In 1418 he became the fourth King of the Joseon

Dynasty. He was kindhearted, diligent, and placed a high

emphasis on academics. His interests and talents were inmany fields. He loved the Korean people and showed deep

interest in their difficulties, ruling the nation with a righteous

government.King Sejong's portrait adorns

Korea's 10,000-won bill.

He established Jiphyeonjeon to encourage study and nurture many talented individuals. He

created Hunminjeongeum (the first name for Hanguland also the name of the Chinesecommentary book on Hangul), the foundation for taking Korea's culture to a higher level. He also

installedJujaso (a place for making type during the Joseon Dynasty) to progress development oftypography by improving printing type (a more advanced printing type than the printing type

developed in 1455 by Gutenberg). He improved agricultural and scientific technology by inventingand developing Cheugugi(equipment to measure amount of waterfall) and a sundial. In militarymatters, he strengthened the national defense by placing military outposts in the North to protect

from China and elsewhere for trading with Japan. His achievements in the fields of medicine,music, extensive compilation projects, and law helped establish a firm foundation for Korea as anation.

He died in 1450 and was buried in Yeongneung (Tomb) in Neungseo-myeon, Yeoju-gun,Gyeonggi-do (Historical Landmark 195).

Hunminjeongeum

Hunminjeongeum is the original name for Hangul, as well as the name of the Chinesecommentary book on Hangul. Hunminjeongeum was completed in 1443 and distributed

throughout Korea in 1446. The meaning ofHunminjeongeum is the "right sound to teach peopleof the nation." Originally, there were 28 letters, but these days only 24 letters are used.

Intent and Process of the Creation of Hangul

The sprit of the creation was written well in the introduction ofHunminjeongeum. The purposewas to create proper characters for writing the Korean language. Prior to this, Chinese characters

were used to write Korean. As addressed in the introduction ofHunminjeongeum, Chinese

characters were not proper for writing Korean. So Hunminjeongeum was created to have the rightcharacters for writing Korean. Also, Hunminjeongeum was easier to learn than Chinesecharacters, so it was created for the people who could not afford difficult Chinese lessons. It

shows the independent spirit of Korean and sprit of valuing the nation's people.

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Jiphyeonjeon

Jiphyeonjeon was academic research institute installed in the royal court in early Josenn Dynasty

by King Sejong. Established in 1420 to establish ceremonies and systems rooted in the Confucianways that the Joseon Dynasty was adopting for Korea, its purpose was also to cultivate talentedindividuals and stimulate an academic atmosphere. The process of creation was deeply rooted at

Jiphyeonjeon. The scholars ofJiphyeonjeon carried on the research of King Seojong's projectscontinuously.Jiphyeonjeon as the academic research institute had roles of storing and usingbooks, developing academic activities, and preparing the consultation of the King. Scholars at

Jiphyeonjeon worked on compiling various books that became the model for politics for the

following generations.

Writing Hangul