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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)”
[edit] References
- ^ Lee, Sang-baek (1957). Hangul: The Origin of Korean Alphabet. Seoul: Tong-Mun Kwan.
- ^ 漢字文化圈的脫漢運動
- ^ Another translation (English)
