Seong Sammun

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Seong Sammun

Korean name
Hangul:	성삼문
Hanja:	成三問
Revised Romanization:	Seong Sammun
McCune-Reischauer:	Sŏng Sammun
Pen name
Hangul:	매죽헌
Hanja:	梅竹軒
Revised Romanization:	Maejukheon
McCune-Reischauer:	Maejukhŏn
Courtesy name
Hangul:	근보, 눌옹
Hanja:	謹甫, 訥翁
Revised Romanization:	Geunbo, Nurong
McCune-Reischauer:	Kŭnbo, Nurong

Seong Sammun (1418 - 1456) was a scholar-official of early Joseon who rose to prominence in the court of King Sejong the Great (ruled 1418 - 1450). He was executed after being implicated in a plot to dethrone King Sejo (r. 1455 - 1468) and restore his predecessor King Danjong (r. 1452 - 1455), and is known as one of the sayuksin (사육신, the six martyred ministers) with reference to this plot.

Seong Sammun was born in Hongseong (then Hongju), South Chungcheong province to a yangban family of the Changnyeong Seong lineage. He passed the lower examination at the regular triennial administration in 1438. He soon gained the favor of King Sejong, and was appointed to the Hall of Worthies. From 1442 to 1446, he cooperated with other members of that body to compose the Hunmin Jeongeum, in which the hangul alphabet was first presented to the world. The level of his involvement in the creation of the Korean alphabet Hangul (and that of other Hall of Worthies scholars) is disputed, although he and other scholars were sent on trips to consult with a Ming Chinese phoneticist several times, presumably because one of the first uses the new alphabet was put to was to transcribe the sounds of hanja, or Sino-Korean characters. In 1447, Seong achieved the highest score on the higher literary examination.

In 1455, Prince Suyang (one of Sejong's sons) forced the young King Danjong, his nephew, to abdicate, taking the throne instead as King Sejo. Following secret orders from his father Seong Seung, Seong Sammun along with Bak Jungrim, Bak Paengnyeon and others plotted to assassinate the new king and restore King Danjong to the throne. The plot was exposed and the plotters all arrested. Seong Sammun and his father were executed along with other plotters. Before his execution, Seong Sammun condemned the king as a pretender. The sayuksin and the saengyuksin (생육신, the six retainers who lived), who refused to accept King Sejo as the legitimate king, were praised by later generations for holding fast to the Confucian value of staying loyal to the true king.