Choe Manri

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Choe Manri
Hangul:	최만리
Hanja:	崔萬里
Revised Romanization:	Choe Man(-)ri
McCune-Reischauer:	Choe Malli

Choi Man-ri (sometimes spelled Choi Mal-li) was a deputy minister for education in the Privy Council (集賢殿副提學) who spoke against the creation of Hangul (then called Eonmun) together with other Confucian scholars in 1444. He made the following submission that year to King Sejong against Hangul:^[1]^[2]^[3]

“Choe Manri, Deputy Minister for Education in the Privy Council, and others make this submission: Your Majesty's subjects observe that the creation of Eonmun is magical […] but in our limited vision, we have some doubts which await Your Majesty's decision.

(集賢殿副提學崔萬里等上疏曰臣等伏觀諺文制作至爲神妙創物運智瓊出千古然而以臣等區區管見尙有可疑者敢布危懇謹疏于後伏惟聖裁)

“Our dynasty, from our ancestors, has followed the great and complied with the standards of China. Now we are of the same script and the same measure, it is detrimental to conformity to create a new orthography such as Eonmun. It has been claimed that Eonmun are based on old writing and are not new: however, though the form of Eonmun characters imitate the ancient script, but the phonetics are against tradition and are without precedence. If the Chinese hear about this and present their objections, it shall be our shame in serving the great and admiring China.

(我朝自祖宗以來至誠事大一遵華制今當同文同軌之時創作諺文有該觀聽儻曰諺文皆本古字非新字也則字形雖倣古之篆文用音合字盡反於古實無所據若流中國或有非議者豈不有愧於事大慕華)

“Within the Chinese realms, though customs may differ, but the script never deviates because of the dialectal speech. Though western barbarians such as the Mongols, the Tangut, the Jurchens, and the Japanese all have their own script, but it is a matter of being barbaric and does not merit consideration. It is our way to convert the barbarians, not to be changed to their ways. Through its various dynasties, China has always taken us to be the descendants of Gija, the legendary Chinese Viscount of Ji because our artefacts, customs, and rituals are similar to those of China. Now if we follow the barbarians to create Eonmun and desert China, we shall be ‘deserting the fragrant herbs for the excrement of insects’, and obstruct the development of our civilization!

(自古九州之內風土雖異未有因方言而別爲文字者雖蒙古西夏女眞日本西蕃之類各有其字是皆夷狄事耳無足道者傳曰用憂變夷未聞變於夷者也歷代中國皆以我國箕子遺風文物禮欒比擬中華今別作諺文捨中國自同於夷狄是所謂棄蘇合之香而取螗螂之丸也豈非文明之大累哉)

“[…] The ancient Confucian sages say: ‘The various diversions take their toll on the spirit.’ As for writing, it is the most relevant business to a Confucian scholar. But if it becomes a diversion, it will also take its toll on the spirit. Now though Your Royal Highness has achieved some of the best of virtues, there are still sagely studies to be pursued. Though Eonmun could be beneficial, it is only one of the six arts for an accomplished scholar, and has nothing to do with the political art of governance. Spending too much thought and effort on this is a waste of time, detrimental to the timely pursuit of scholarship.

(先儒云凡百玩好皆奪志至於書札於儒者事最近然一向好著亦自喪志今東宮雖德性成就猶當潛心聖學益求其未至諺諺文縱曰有益特文士六藝之一耳況萬萬無一利於治道而乃硏精費思竟日移時實有損於時敏之學也)”