Cultural Post #2

[Jeffrey Choi]

For my next cultural post, I did research on the creation of the Korean language. Koreans did not always have their own language, but used Hanja, which was Chinese. There were many problems because of this. For example, the Chinese characters were too complicated for the common people to learn and understand. Using the language meant you were in the upper class and it was generally used by the educated. Another problem was that since the Chinese script was of foreign origin, Koreans were unable to fully express their Korean cultural thoughts and spoken language. The common people who had complaints had no way of submitting grievances. They were also unable to record agricultural wisdoms that were gained over the years. As a result, King Sejong, the king during the Choson Dynasty (1393 - 1910), created the Korean language called Hangul. It was very easy to learn, so the problems that existed with the common people began to dissipate. It is apparently so accessible that a foreigner can gain a working knowledge of Hangul after one or two hours of intensive studying. It even allowed children who were around 2 or 3 to be able to express themselves which was considered a rare phenomena throughout the world.