King Sejong, the Great

King Sejong the Great

Another Korean historical figure, who is equally as loved as Admiral Yi, is King Sejong the Great. He was the fourth monarch of the Joseon Dynasty, reigning from 1418-1450. At that time, the country was at the peak of prosperity economically, politically, socially and culturally. Of the thousands of years of Korean history, it can be called the Renaissance Era. Political affairs were stable, the economy grew quickly, and it had great military influence over other countries.

King Sejong the Great is revered by Koreans for his outstanding policies reflecting his devotion to the nation. His welfare policies compare favorably with those in the 21st century. He gave slaves and even spouses 100 days off for maternity leave and even promoted Jang Yeong-sil, a slave, to a high-ranking position because he was an extremely talented inventor-scientist. At that time, such a thing was totally unprecedented.

His greatest achievement is the creation of the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, which is still being used today. At the time, there were great differences between spoken and written Korean. Korean was written using classical Chinese characters, which were cumbersome and took long years to learn, so that only the upper class could read and write.

Commoners, therefore, could not express themselves in writing and could not defend themselves. Furthermore, the upper classes were against educating commoners because knowledge is power. However, King Sejong stood on the side of the people and listened to them. He researched many alphabets in order to invent one that would be easy for commoners to use and eventually created Hangeul. It is not an exaggeration to say that the reason why Korea has the most advanced information and communications technology today is due to the creation of the Korean alphabet.

About King Sejong the Great

As a child, the prince we know as King Sejong the Great was a studious boy who showed an avid love of learning. Having spent his youth with books, he had a vast store of knowledge, an insatiable curiosity and a respect for learning. He had varied interests and great enthusiasm, despite poor health. He was an excellent judge of character, could spot hidden talents in men and respected them for their abilities regardless of their social position. A patron of the arts and sciences, he attracted around him the very best minds of the day. He was also a man of action and a practical person, who took a keen interest in the day-to-day affairs of government, tenaciously seeking the best solution to problems of agriculture, defense and diplomacy, as well as literature, printing, medicine and science.

First and foremost, the accomplishment for which King Sejong is best remembered and on which he worked personally for years with the help of many scholars was the creation of Han-geul, a phonetic alphabet for writing Korean. It was called Hunminjeongeum (Correct Sounds for Instructing the People) when it was
promulgated in 1446. Ignoring the criticism of those who felt that it would be a dangerous thing to educate
the common people, King Sejong wrote that he had compassion for the many uneducated people who could
not express themselves in writing. Han-geul is considered one of the most scientific and easiest to learn writing systems.

Second, he promoted learning in all fields. He encouraged scholars to research and improved movable type and the art of printing in order to produce more books on every subject. These were distributed to ordinary people. One benefit was that commoners started to have a better knowledge of agriculture, which eventually was followed by an increase in agricultural production. As a gifted musician, he not only composed many songs and music for ritual ceremonies, but had a new musical notation system developed. He exerted great effort to systematize existing music and to promote new compositions. He also ordered the invention of new instruments.

Cheugugi,gauge to measure rainfall

Third, to promote agriculture, he made researchers study and develop astrology, geography and other sciences. He appointed young scientists such as Yi Cheon and the former slave Jang Yeong-sil to official positions. Many inventions such as sundials, water clocks, rain gauges and gauges to record the level of river water were created.

He also created a new almanac and astronomical charts based information about the cyclic movements of celestial bodies imported from China and the Arab world. In addition, he had books translated into Han-geul and distributed to the common people. Under his reign, science and technology were advanced the most.

Finally, King Sejong the Great also made great achievements in diplomacy and national defense. He carried out active diplomacy with China’s Ming Dynasty while sending an expedition against pirate bases on Tsushima Islands.

Furthermore, he opened three additional ports to develop relations with Japan. He suppressed attacks from the North, he established four additional outposts in Pyeong-an-do (province) and set up six garrison forts in Hamgyeongdo (province). He deployed military forces along the northernmost rivers of Amnokgang and Dumangang and clearly established and defended the borders of Joseon.

For more information, visit our King Sejong the Great website at http://sejong.prkorea.com/eng/main.jsp