The first painful history of Hangul was its suppression of Hangul by King Yeonsangun, which occurred at the time the Hae-rye was lost.
Yeonsangun was the great-grandson of King Sejong the Great.
After becoming the king of Joseon, he learned about his mother’s unjust death. Realizing that his grandmother and many ministers were involved in this incident, he killed them all, becoming the most cruel and tyrannical ruler in Korean history.
He ruled through tyranny, executing ministers and indulging in lewd games with court ladies, leading a dissolute life. A loyal minister who had served since the time of King Sejong could no longer bear this and remonstrated with him.
Enraged, Yeonsangun personally shot an arrow into the minister’s side and cut off his arms and legs with a sword. He later killed the minister’s adopted son and relatives, and demolished the minister’s house, turning it into a pond.
Afterwards, Yeonsangun received a letter vividly criticizing his ruthless killing of ministers and neglect of state affairs due to his indulgence in lust. The author was unknown, but the letter was written in Hangul. Infuriated by the anonymous Hangul letter, Yeonsangun ordered that anyone using Hangul be beheaded and that any books written in Hangul be burned by his ministers.
During this time, many books written in Hangul were burned and destroyed by fire, and it is estimated that around 500 copies of the Hae-rye-bon were also burned.
After this incident in 1504, the Hunminjeongeum Haerye disappeared from history for about 430 years. Until it reappeared, no one could know the principles behind the creation of Hangul.
The second painful historical event related to Hangul was its oppression during the Japanese colonial period.
The Haeryebon, which disappeared during the reign of Yeonsangun, was finally discovered in 1940.
This Haeryebon was purchased by Principal Jeon Hyeong-pil. It’s worth noting that this was 1940 when the book was discovered.
Examining the modern history related to Hangul in Korea, Hangul was established as the national language in 1894. At this time, Hangul became the official language of the country.
Hangul was designated as the official script 451 years after its creation.
However.
In 1910, Korea was forcibly annexed by Japan, marking the official beginning of the Japanese colonial period.
In 1911, the Korean linguist Ju Si-gyeong, concerned that Japan would eradicate the Korean language, started compiling a dictionary. He created the name “Hangul” for Hunminjeongeum and spent three years compiling a dictionary before he passed away in 1914 without completing it.
Subsequently, people gathered to protect Hangul, which was in danger of disappearing, and resumed the work of compiling the dictionary.
In 1929, 108 members of the Korean Language Society gathered to continue the will of Ju Si-gyeong and organize the Korean Dictionary Compilation Committee. To create a dictionary, they announced the Unified Hangul Orthography in 1933.
The main reason for determining the order of consonants and vowels at that time was to establish the order of words to be listed in the dictionary.
At that time, there was no Haeryebon available.
The subsequent history of Hangul is as follows.
In 1938, the Japanese colonial rule prohibited the use of Korean in schools.
In 1940, Koreans were prohibited from using their Hangul names and were forced to change them to Japanese names.
In 1941, the national language of Korea was changed to Japanese, not Korean.
In 1942, the Japanese colonial rule labeled the Korean Language Society as a national independence movement group and invoked the most severe charge under the Public Security Maintenance Act of that time to urgently arrest members nationwide. Most of the members of the Korean Language Society who were arrested at that time died from torture before six months had passed.
In 1943, the Japanese colonial government completely eliminated Korean language courses that were taught as a second language.
In the 1940s, at the time when Haeryebon was discovered, Korean names were forcibly changed to Japanese names, and the national language of the country was Japanese. Hangul was on the brink of disappearing forever.
In such a historical context, although the Haeryebon was discovered, it could not be revealed to the world. However, before the Haeryebon was made public, the order of consonants and vowels was determined without knowing the principles behind the creation of Hangul, and the method of teaching Hangul also became quite different from the explanations in the Haeryebon.
After the liberation in 1945, Hangul, which had endured Japanese colonial rule, triumphed over its painful past and survived.
The surviving Hangul received recognition for its excellence through the book Haeryebon. The Haeryebon was designated as a national treasure of South Korea in 1962 and was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
However, by the time the Haeryebon reappeared in the world, the method of Hangul education had already changed from that of the Haeryebon.
Many decisions had been made, and due to the socio-economic costs, as well as the pressing issue of survival during the 1950s because of the Korean War, it was impossible to revise the Korean dictionary according to the Haeryebon.
This situation has persisted, and the current order in which Koreans learn Hangul does not incorporate the principles of Hangul creation. In the end, while Hangul continues to be used, the principles of its creation have faded. As a result, the majority of Koreans do not properly understand the principles of Hangul creation as written in the Haeryebon, and they are not learning Hangul using the methods provided in the Haeryebon (Hangul manual).
