King Sejong Makes Korean

King Sejong's crown prince days

On May 15, 1397, Chungnyeong-gun was born the sixth son of King Taejong, the third king of Joseon, and Queen Wongyeong. At the time of birth, there were Prince Yangnyeong (Ije), Prince Hyoryeong (Ibo), Princess Jeongsoon, Princess Gyeongjeong, and Princess Gyeongan. Chungnyeong-gun enjoyed reading and studying and studied with Kwon Woo, a student of Chung Mong-ju. Chungnyeong-gun's health was weakened by eye disease and overwork due to excessive study, and King Taejong hid the book. There was a deep friendship with Chungnyeongdaegun, Hyoryeongdaegun, and Seongnyeongdaegun.

Prince Seongnyeong suffered from measles, but Prince Chungnyeong took care of it. However, Prince Seongnyeong passed away without overcoming the disease. Chungnyeong-gun and Yangnyeong-dae-gun were at odds with each other. The crown prince tried to take away the concubine of Lee Baek-gang, his brother-in-law.

Chungnyeong-gun pointed out the attitude of the crown prince and stopped him, and the crown prince gave up. Prince Yangnyeong did not show a humble attitude even though he was a person who would become a king. Every time Chungnyeong-gun encouraged me and taught me how to act. Therefore, Prince Chungnyeong was a filial son loved by King Taejong and Queen Wonkyung.

How did Chungnyeongdaegun become King Sejong?

In the 18th year of King Taejong's reign (1418), King Taejong worried about the difficulties of crown prince. At this time, rumors of an appeal about the crown prince's abdication were handed down to King Taejong. Officials agreed that it would be difficult to accept the crown prince as a king. Despite this situation, King Taejong's reckless behavior continued, forcing him to surrender and deport him to Gwangju. He also crowned Chungnyeong the new crown prince. And King Taejong organized an army for Prince Chungnyeong. This is because he thought it could threaten Chungnyeongdaegun in the future. Accordingly, all other forces except the Sim family, the wife of Prince Chungnyeong, were purged.

King Sejong Created Clean and Equal Policies

When he ascended the throne, King Sejong created a clean and novel political environment. In addition to being hired as a servant regardless of his status, King Sejong handled personnel and military personnel directly to balance royal and divine rights. Sejong also actively participated in foreign policy. He signed a contract with a famous person. In addition, he gave instructions to competent subordinates (Choi Yoon-deok, Icheon, Kim Jong-seo, and Lee Jing-ok) and set up four legions and six camps on the Yalu and Tumen rivers.

Japan conciliated King Sejong with the opening of Sampo Port, but King Taejong also conquered cannabis by force under the direction of King Taejong. Joseon was damaged by the mistake of Captain Lee Jong-moo, who commanded the conquest of Daemado Island, but Daemado Island surrendered to Joseon.

At that time, Joseon provided manpower and mineral resources to the Ming Dynasty every year, but the burden on state finances increased. King Sejong stopped the system of offering princesses and princesses as tribute. He explained to Ming that gold and silver no longer grew in Joseon. Gold, silver, and princesses stopped giving gifts, but they sent more ginseng.

King Sejong overcame everyone's opposition and created Hunminjeongeum.

In 1420, King Sejong established a policy research institute in Jiphyeonjeon Hall. In the 25th year of King Sejong's reign, King Sejong was heartbroken that the people could not easily learn Chinese characters and that speaking and writing languages did not work. King Sejong studied policies for the nation every day and spent more time studying Hunminjeongeum. As a result, 28 letters were created and consonants and vowels were classified. However, the nobles at the time did not want the lower classes to learn the language.

Because I thought learning was unique to the aristocracy. And I thought it was a rebellion against the Ming Dynasty to abandon Chinese characters and create new ones. So Sejong, along with some researchers, made Hunminjeongeum more secretive. And he imprisoned his subjects who opposed the creation of Hunminjeongeum.

The process of the spread of Hunminjeongeum is not recorded, but over time, people began to read Buddhist books in Korean. The people who write Hangul were severely punished, but they could not kill the people's desire to study. Sejong also actively studied printing technology, so did he spread Hangul quickly? As a result, children and women can read. Later, Joseon created a commercial publishing market with printing and Hangul.

King Sejong, who is still loved

Sejong was printed on the Korean currency. Hunminjeongeum, created by King Sejong, is celebrated on October 9 every year under the name of "Hangul Day." Through the printing techniques and Hunminjeongeum made by Sejong, Korea is currently receiving various stories. The story of Joseon is adapted into a drama and loved by many people. Also, it is difficult to convey the original feeling when translating Korean poetry into a foreign language.

I think the reason is the delicate and diverse expression of Korean. For example, in Korean, "black red moon" and "red moon" are distinctly different in feeling, concept, and intonation. However, only red tones are expressed differently in foreign languages.

Also, Hangul has a free combination of vowel consonants. So new words continue to pour out over generations. Puppies are called puppies, and the word cute is expressed in a big way. And King Sejong devoted himself to more research and research after becoming king. Sejong lost his eyesight and had a severe headache from overwork. And I couldn't sit in one seat for long because of a disease that causes nerve problems. And King Sejong ate meat deliciously and did not eat rice if there was no meat in the side dish.

It is said that he only ate meat every day and sat down and studied without any time to exercise.As a result, he became weaker and weaker as king for 32 years. This is why Sejong, who left after working only for the people, was selected as the most beloved king.