Chông Inji's Postscript to the Hunmin Chôngûm - Asia for Educators ...

PrimarySourceDocumentwithQuestions(DBQs)EXCERPTSFROM CHŎNGINJI’ SPOSTSCRIPTTOTHEHUNMINCHŎNGŬM(CORRECTSOUNDSTOINSTRUCTTHEPEOPLE),1446IntroductionTheChineseandKoreanlanguagesareverydifferent.Korean,forexample,hasmanysuffixesthatattachtoverbstemstoindicatetense,mood,attitude,formality,andtherelativestatusofspeakerandlistener,whileChinesedoesnotinflectverbsinthisway.Nonetheless,untilthe15thcentury,Koreanauthorshadhadnochoicebuttouse Chinese ideographs to transcribe Korean speech, sometimes employing hybrid writing forms, such ashyangch’al and idu (discussed in the reading), in which such ideographs could be used alternately to expressmeaningandsound.Suchsystemswereawkwardanddifficulttouse.Therefore,overaperiodofyearsculminatingin 1443, King Sejong (1418‐1450) of Chosŏn, widely considered the best king in Korean history, led a group ofscholarsinthedevelopmentofatwenty‐eight‐symbolalphabetandthenproclaimedthenewsystemin1446inaworkentitledHunminchŏngŭm(CorrectSoundstoInstructthePeople).SejonghimselfwroteabriefprefacetotheHunminchŏngŭm,whileascholarnamedChŏngInjiwhohadworkedontheprojectwroteapostscript,givenhere.Nowknownashan’gŭl,withslightmodificationthisalphabetisstillusedtoday.Itiswidelyconsideredeasytolearn, and is beloved by many linguists for its scientific qualities — the shape of its consonants, for example,representthewayinwhichthetongueandlipsareformedtoproducedifferentconsonantsoundsinthemouth.Its vowel system, meanwhile, reflects Confucian metaphysics of the time of its origin: vowels are composed ofthreesub‐unitsreflectingconceptsofheaven,earth,andhumans.DocumentExcerptswithQuestions(Longerselectionfollowsthissection)FromSourcebookofKoreanCivilization,editedbyPeterH.Lee,vol.1(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1993),517‐518.©1993ColumbiaUniversityPress.Reproducedwiththepermissionofthepublisher.Allrightsreserved.Excerptsfrom ChŏngInji’sPostscripttotheHunminchŏngŭm(CorrectSoundstoInstructthePeople),1446Yet climates and soils in the four corners of the world are different, and enunciationsand material force are likewise diverse. In general, the languages of different countries havetheir own enunciations but lack their own letters, so they borrowed the Chinese graphs tocommunicatetheirneeds.Thisis,however,liketryingtofitasquarehandleintoaroundhole.Inthewinteroftheyearkyehae[1443],HisMajesty,theking,createdtwenty‐eightlettersof the Correct Sounds and provided examples in outline demonstrating their meanings. HisMajestythennamedtheselettersHunminchŏngŭm.…[TranslatedbyYŏnghoCh’oe]

PrimarySourceDocumentwithQuestions(DBQs)onEXCERPTSFROMCHŎNGINJI’SPOSTSCRIPTTOTHEHUNMINCHŎNGŬM(CORRECTSOUNDSTOINSTRUCTTHEPEOPLE),1446Questions:1. Whateffectsdoyouimaginethenewalphabetmighthavehad?LongerSelectionFromSourcebookofKoreanCivilization,editedbyPeterH.Lee,vol.1(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1993),517‐518.©1993ColumbiaUniversityPress.Reproducedwiththepermissionofthepublisher.Allrightsreserved.Excerptsfrom ChŏngInji’sPostscripttotheHunminchŏngŭm(CorrectSoundstoInstructthePeople),1446Justasthereareenunciationsthatarenaturaltoheavenandearth,theremustalsobewritingthatisnaturaltoheavenandearth.Itisforthisreasonthattheancientsdevisedletterscorrespondingtoenunciationssoastoconveythesituationsandsentimentsofmyriadthingsand to record the ways of heaven, earth, and men so that they cannot be changed by latergenerations.Yet climates and soils in the four corners of the world are different, and enunciationsand material force are likewise diverse. In general, the languages of different countries havetheir own enunciations but lack their own letters, so they borrowed the Chinese graphs tocommunicatetheirneeds.Thisis,however,liketryingtofitasquarehandleintoaroundhole.Howcoulditpossiblyachieveitsobjectivesatisfactorily?Howcouldtherenotbedifficulties?Itis,therefore,importantthateachregionshouldfollowthepracticesthatareconvenienttoitspeopleandthatnooneshouldbecompelledtofollowonewritingsystemalone.Althoughourcountry’srituals,music,andliteraturearecomparabletothoseofChina,ourspeechandlanguagearenotthesameasChina’s.ThosewhostudiedbooksinChinesewereconcerned about the difficulty of understanding their meaning and purport; those whoadministeredthepenalsystemweretroubledbythedifficultyincommunicatingthecomplexityofitslegaltexts.Intheolddays,SŏlCh’ong[c.660‐730]ofSillafirstdevisedthewritingsystemknowasidu,whichhasbeenusedbyourgovernmentandpeopletothisday.ButallthegraphswereborrowedfromChinese,andfrequentlythereariseproblemsanddifficulties.Notonlyisidu vulgar and baseless, but as a means of linguistic communication, it cannot transmit onemeaningintenthousandcases.Inthewinteroftheyearkyehae[1443],HisMajesty,theking,createdtwenty‐eightlettersof the Correct Sounds and provided examples in outline demonstrating their meanings. HisMajesty then named these letters Hunmin chŏngŭm. Resembling pictographs, these lettersimitatetheshapesoftheoldsealcharacters.Basedonenunciation,theirsoundscorrespondtotheSevenModesinmusic.Theselettersembracetheprinciplesofheaven,earth,andmenasAsiaforEducatorslColumbiaUniversitylhttp://afe.easia.columbia.eduPage2of3

PrimarySourceDocumentwithQuestions(DBQs)onEXCERPTSFROMCHŎNGINJI’SPOSTSCRIPTTOTHEHUNMINCHŎNGŬM(CORRECTSOUNDSTOINSTRUCTTHEPEOPLE),1446well as the mysteries of yin and yang, and there is nothing they cannot express. With thesetwenty‐eight letters, infinite turns and changes may be explained; they are simple and yetcontainalltheessence;theyarerefinedandyeteasilycommunicable.Therefore,aclevermancanlearntheminonemorning,thoughadullmanmaytaketendaystostudythem.Ifweusetheseletterstoexplainbooks,itwillbeeasiertocomprehendtheirmeanings.Ifweusetheselettersinadministeringrhymes,onecaneasilydistinguishvoicedandvoicelessconsonants;asformusicandsongs,twelvesemitonescanbeeasilyblended.Theycanbeusedwhateverandwherever the occasion may be. Even the sounds of wind, the cries of cranes, the crowing ofroosters,andthebarkingofdogscanallbetranscribedinwriting.Consequently, we were commanded to provide more detailed explanations for all thepeople to understand. This servant, therefore, along with his other ministers — Ch’oe Hang,Fourth Grade official; Pak P’aengnyŏn, Junior Fifth Grade official; Sin Sukchu, Junior FifthGradeofficial;SŏngSammun,SixthGradeofficial,allinthehallofWorthies;KangHŭian,SixthGradeofficialintheRoyalHouseAdministration;YiKae,actingJuniorFourthGradeofficial;andYiSŏllo,actingJuniorFourthGradeofficialintheHallofWorthies—havepreparedalltheexplanationsandvariousexamplestoillustratethegeneraloutlineofthenewwritingsystemsothatanyreadercanlearnitwithoutateacher.Thesubtletyofitsprofoundsourcesanddeepmeanings,however,isbeyondthescopeofourabilitytodemonstratefully.As we humbly reflect, our king, being a heaven‐endowed sage, has instituted varioussystems and institutions that excel those established by a hundred other kings. As for themakingoftheCorrectSounds,itisnotsomethingthathasbeentransmittedfromourancestorsbuthasbeenachievedbynature.ThereisnothingintheCorrectSoundsthatisnotbasedontheultimateprinciple;thereisnobiassuchasonefindsinthethingsmadebymen.Althoughourcountryhasexistedintheeasterncorneroftheworldforalongperiodoftime,notuntiltodayhasthegreatwisdomofcultivatinganewenlightenmentandcompletingitstaskbeenrealized.Questions:1. Whateffectsdoyouimaginethenewalphabetmighthavehad?2. WhydoesChǒngadvocatethenewalphabetoverChineseoridu?3. How does he justify it philosophically? Does he simply present it as apracticalinnovation?4. WhatdoyouthinkwashisoverallviewofChosǒn’srelationshiptoChina?[TranslatedbyYŏnghoCh’oe]AsiaforEducatorslColumbiaUniversitylhttp://afe.easia.columbia.eduPage3of3