King Sejong and the Creation of Hangul, Korea's Alphabet

Before smartphones and K-pop, Korea had no alphabet of its own. In 1443, King Sejong the Great set out to create a writing system that commoners could learn in hours. The result: Hangul, a scientifically designed script of 28 letters (now 24). This episode follows Sejong's motivations — his frustration with Chinese characters that excluded the uneducated — and the ingenious principles behind Hangul's shapes, which mirror the mouth, tongue, and throat when pronouncing consonants. We also explore the furious opposition from Confucian scholars who saw the new script as vulgar, and how Hangul was nearly suppressed for centuries before its revival as a symbol of Korean identity in the 20th century. From the Hunminjeongeum document to modern Hangul Day, this is the story of a king's passion for literacy and a language's remarkable journey.

#KingSejong #Hangul #Hunminjeongeum #KoreanAlphabet #JoseonDynasty #SejongtheGreat #HallOfWorthies #Jiphyeonjeon #KoreanLanguage #Literacy #Linguistics #CulturalHeritage #HangulDay #KoreaHistory #EastAsia #History #FexingoHistory #AlphabetCreation

Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo (buymeacoffee.com/fexingo)