Sejong the Great of Joseon
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| Sejong | |
| King of Joseon | |
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| Reign | September 18, 1418 - May 18, 1450 |
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| Coronation | September 18, 1418 |
| Born | May 6, 1397 |
| Died | May 18, 1450 (aged 53) |
| Predecessor | Taejong of Joseon |
| Successor | Munjong of Joseon |
| Consort | Queen Soheon |
| Issue | Munjong of Joseon, Sejo of Joseon |
| Royal House | House of Yi |
| Father | Taejong of Joseon |
| Mother | Queen Wongyeong |
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Sejong the Great (May 6, 1397 – May 18, 1450, r. 1418 - 1450) was the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He is best remembered for creating the native Korean alphabet hangul, despite strong opposition from the scholars educated in hanja (Chinese script). Sejong is one of only two Korean rulers posthumously honored with the appellation "the Great," the other being Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo.
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[edit] Early life
Sejong was the third son of King Taejong. When he was twelve, he became Grand Prince Chungnyeong (충녕대군; 忠寧大君) and married a daughter of Sim On (심온; 沈溫) of Cheongsong (청송; 靑松), commonly known as Lady Sim (심씨; 沈氏), who later was given the title Princess-Consort Soheon (소헌왕후; 昭憲王后).
As a young prince, Sejong excelled in various studies and was favored by King Taejong over his two older brothers.
Sejong's rise to the throne was different from those of most other kings. The eldest prince, Yangnyung (양녕대군), viewing himself as lacking in the requisite skills for kingship, believed that Sejong was destined to become king. Together with the second Prince Hyoryung (효령대군), he believed it was their duty to place Sejong as king. So they acted extremely rudely in the court, and soon were banished from Seoul. This ploy of the two princes ultimately brought Sejong to the throne. The eldest prince became a wandering traveler and lived in the mountains. The second son travelled to a Buddhist temple, where he became a monk.
In June 1418, King Taejong abdicated and Sejong was crowned King of Joseon (in August of the same year) and began his rule, but Taejong helped in military as ex-king for 4 years, and died in 1422.
Sejong depended on the agricultural produce of Joseon's farmers, so he allowed them to pay more or less taxes with fluctuation of economic prosperity or hard times. By this action, farmers could then worry less about tax quotas and instead on surviving and selling their crops. Once the palace had a significant surplus of food, King Sejong then distributed food to poor peasants or farmers who needed it. In 1429 Nongsa-jikseol (hangul: 농사직설, hanja: 農事直說) was compiled under the supervision of King Sejong. It was the first book about Korean farming, dealing with aspect like harvesting and the like.
[edit] Hangul
- See also: Hunmin Jeongeum
- See also: Hangul
King Sejong the Great made a great impact on Korean history with his introduction of hangul, the native phonetic alphabet system for the Korean language.
Before the creation of hangul, only members of the highest class were literate (hanja was typically used to write Korean by using adapted Chinese characters while Hanmun was sometimes used to write court documents in classical chinese). One would have to learn the quite complex hanja characters in order to read and write. Further, despite modifications to the chinese characters, hanja could prove cumbersome to transcribe the korean language due to the latter differing considerably from chinese in its grammar and sentence order.[1]
King Sejong presided over the introduction of the 28 letters of the Korean alphabet in order that Koreans from all classes could read and write. He also attempted to establish a cultural identity of his people through a unique script. First published in 1446, anyone could learn hangul in a matter of days, and although banned 60 years later it experienced a revival in post-WWII Korea where it enjoys widespread usage today.
[edit] Strengthening of Korean Military
King Sejong was an effective military planner. During his era, he sent an army to destroy the increasing number of Japanese pirates appearing on Korean shores. Naval engagements quieted much pirate activity, and led to the invasion of the Japanese island of Tsushima. Korea controlled the island after this and Korean civilians were allowed to live in Tsushima.
On the northern border, he established four forts and six posts (hangul: 사군육진 hanja: 四郡六鎭) to safeguard his people from the hostile Chinese and Manchurian nomads living in Manchuria. He also created various military regulations to strengthen the safety of his kingdom. King Sejong supported the advancement of Korean military technology and cannon development increased. Different kinds of mortars and fire arrows were tested as well using gunpowder.
In 1433, Sejong sent Kim Jong-seo (hangul: 김종서, hanja: 金宗瑞), a prominent general, north to destroy the Manchu. Kim's military campaign captured several castles, pushed north, and restored Korean territory, roughly the present-day border between North Korea and China.
[edit] Science and technology
Sejong is credited with technological advances during his reign, yet historian Yung Sik Kim points out that Sejong's own scientific knowledge of technical subjects or his attitudes towards them are little known and have yet to be thoroughly studied.[2]
King Sejong wanted to help farmers so he decided to create a farmer's handbook. The book—the Nongsa chiksŏl—contained information about the different farming techniques that he told scientists to gather in different regions of Korea.[3] These techniques were needed in order to maintain the newly-adopted methods of intensive, continuous cultivation in Korean agriculture.[3]
During his rule, Jang Yeong-sil (hangul: 장영실, hanja: 蔣英實), who worked for the Palace Guard, became known as a prominent inventor. Jang was naturally a creative and smart thinker as a young person. However, Jang was at the bottom of the social class. Sejong noticed Jang's skill and immediately called him to his court in Seoul. Upon giving Jang a government position and power to invent anything, the officials protested, believing that a low class person could not rise to power as a noble or a higher class. Sejong instead believed that Jang had the skill and supported his projects. Jang created new significant designs for water clocks, armillary spheres, and sundials. However, his most impressive invention came in 1442, the world's first rain gauge; this model has not survived, since the oldest existent East Asian rain gauge is one bearing the mark of the Qing Dynasty ruler Qianlong (r. 1735–1796) of China, dated 1770.[4]
Sejong wanted to reform the Korean calendar system that had focused on the latitude of the Chinese capital.[3] Sejong, for the first time in Korean history, had his astronomers create a calendar that based the primary position of latitude on the Korean capital of Seoul.[3] This new system allowed Korean astronomers to accurately predict the timing of solar eclipse and lunar eclipse.[3]
In the realm of traditional Korean medicine, two important treatises were written during the reign of Sejong. These were the Hyangyak chipsŏngbang and the Ŭibang yuch'wi, which the historian Yung Sik Kim says represented "Koreans' efforts to develop their own system of medical knowledge, distinct from that of China."[3]
[edit] Literature
Sejong supported literature, and encouraged high class officials and scholars to study at the court. King Sejong also oversaw, if not forced some scholars and participated himself, in the rediscovery and modification of the originally existing ancient written language of hangul and announced it to the Korean people in the Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음), meaning "The verbally right sounds meant to teach the people."
Although most of the government officials and the aristocracy opposed the usage of hangul, lower classes embraced it, became literate, and were able to communicate among one another in written forms of language.
Sejong's personal writings are also highly regarded. He composed the famous Yongbi Eocheon Ga (“Songs of Flying Dragons”, 1445), Seokbo Sangjeol (“Episodes from the Life of Buddha”, July 1447), Worin Cheon-gang Jigok (“Songs of the Moon Shining on a Thousand Rivers”, July 1447), and the reference Dongguk Jeong-un (“Dictionary of Proper Sino-Korean Pronunciation”, September 1447).
Sejong established the Hall of Worthies (집현전; 集賢殿; Jiphyeonjeon) in 1420 in the royal palace.
[edit] Death and legacy
Sejong died at the age of 53 and was buried at the Yeong Mausoleum (영릉; 英陵) in 1450. His successor was his first son, Munjong. The street Sejongno and the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts – both located in central Seoul – are named after King Sejong, and he is depicted on the South Korean 10,000-Won note.
In early 2007, the Republic of Korea government has decided to create a special administrative district out of part of the present Chungcheongnam-do Province, near what is presently Daejeon. The new district will be named Sejong Special Autonomous City, and is to replace Seoul as the future capital of the Republic of Korea.
[edit] Family
- Father: King Taejong (태종)
- Mother: Queen Wongyeong (원경왕후)
- Consorts:
- Queen Soheon (소헌왕후)
- Children:
- King Munjong (문종), 1st Son.
- Grand Prince Su-yang (수양대군), 2nd Son. later King Sejo.
- Grand Prince Anpyeong (안평대군), 3rd Son.
- Grand Prince Im-yeong (임영대군), 4th Son.
- Grand Prince Gwangpyeong (광평대군), 5th son.
- Grand Prince Geumseong (금성대군), 6th son.
- Grand Prince Pyeongwon (평원대군), 7th son.
- Grand Prince Yeong-eung (영응대군), 8th son.
- Princess Jeongso (정소공주), 1st daughter.
- Princess Jeong-eui (정의공주), 2nd daughter.
[edit] His full posthumous name
- King Sejong Jangheon Yeongmun Yemu Inseong Myeonghyo the Great of Korea
- 세종장헌영문예무인성명효대왕
- 世宗莊憲英文睿武仁聖明孝大王
[edit] See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- History of Korea
- Rulers of Korea
- Sejongno
- Sejong the Great class destroyer
- Sejong Center
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hunmin Jeongeum Haerye, postface of Jeong Inji, p. 27a, translation from Gari K. Ledyard, The Korean Language Reform of 1446, p. 258
- ^ Kim (1998), 58.
- ^ a b c d e f Kim (1998), 57.
- ^ Kim (1998), 51.
[edit] References
- Kim, Yung Sik. (1998). "Problems and Possibilities in the Study of the History of Korean Science," Osiris (2nd series, Volume 13, 1998): 48–79.
[edit] Further reading
- King Sejong the Great: the Light of Fifteenth Century Korea, Young-Key Kim-Renaud, International Circle of Korean Linguistics, 1992, softcover, 119 pages, ISBN 1-882177-00-2
- Kim-Renaud, Young-Key. 2000. Sejong’s theory of literacy and writing. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 30.1:13-46.
[edit] External links
- King Sejong's Confucian Humanism in the Early Choson Period
- Location of the four forts and the six posts
| Preceded by Taejong |
Rulers of Korea (Joseon Dynasty) 1418–1450 |
Succeeded by Munjong |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sejong the Great |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Korean monarch |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 6, 1397 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Korea |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 18, 1450 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Korea |
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