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The Korean Alphabet Day, known as Hangeul Day () in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and Chosŏn'gŭl Day () in
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
, is a national Korean commemorative day marking the invention and proclamation of
Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...
(), the Korean
alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...
, by the
15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. ...
Korean King
Sejong the Great Sejong of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do (Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great (Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initial ...
. It is observed on October 9th in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and January 15th in
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
. Excluding the years 1990 to 2012, when the government maximized business days to expedite industrial growth, Hangul Day has been a national holiday in South Korea since 1970.


Synopsis

October 9th is dedicated to spreading information and use of
Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...
. Because Hangul is one of the few
writing system A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable fo ...
s where both the founder and the founding date are known, the day is also dedicated to commemorating the achievements of King Sejong. The
Government of South Korea The Government of South Korea is the union government of the Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of state and is th ...
legislated an amendment regarding the holiday: The holiday is celebrated in both
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
. In the south the holiday is formally known as Hangeul Proclamation Day, or Hangeul Day for short, and is celebrated on October 9th to commemorate the promulgation of the
Hunminjeongeum ''Hunminjeong'eum'' () is a document describing an entirely new and native script for the Korean language. The script was initially named after the publication but later came to be known as hangul. Originally containing 28 characters, it was c ...
on October 9th, 1446. In the north the holiday is formally known as Chosŏn'gŭl Day, and is celebrated on January 15th to commemorate the creation of the
Hunminjeongeum ''Hunminjeong'eum'' () is a document describing an entirely new and native script for the Korean language. The script was initially named after the publication but later came to be known as hangul. Originally containing 28 characters, it was c ...
on January 15, 1444. The
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture Yanbian (; Chosŏn'gŭl: , ''Yeonbyeon''), officially known as the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the east of Jilin Province, China. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang Province, on the wes ...
in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
has also designated September 2nd as the official "Day of the Korean Language" since 2014.


History

Before the creation of Hangul, people in Korea (known as
Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
at the time) primarily wrote using
Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...
alongside native phonetic writing systems that predated Hangul by hundreds of years, including idu, hyangchal,
gugyeol Gugyeol, also ''kwukyel'', is a system for rendering texts written in Classical Chinese into understandable Korean. It was chiefly used during the Joseon Dynasty, when readings of the Chinese classics were of paramount social importance. Thus ...
, and gakpil. However, due to the fundamental differences between the Korean and Chinese languages, and the large number of characters needed to be learned, there was much difficulty in learning how to write using Chinese characters for the lower classes, who often didn't have the privilege of education. To assuage this problem, King Sejong created the unique alphabet known as Hangul to promote literacy among the common people. Hangul Proclamation Day has been celebrated annually in South Korea on October 9 since 1970. However, this does not include the period from 1990 to 2012 since people were required to work for their businesses on this day instead of taking time off. It is also celebrated in North Korea on January 15. Despite all of Hangul’s benefits, it nearly went out of existence during the Joseon dynasty. The elite of the time wanting to preserve their status saw Chinese characters as the only true way to write Korean. In the early 16th century, Hangul was effectively banned by the king. However, Hangul had a resurgence in the 19th century, and gradually grew more and more common, especially due to its role in Korean nationalism during the era of Japanese occupation. By the 1970s the use of Chinese characters declined, and these days, almost all Korean is written in Hangul. According to the ''
Sejong Sejong of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do ( Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great ( Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. I ...
Sillok'' (), King Sejong proclaimed publication of ''
Hunmin Jeongeum ''Hunminjeong'eum'' () is a document describing an entirely new and native script for the Korean language. The script was initially named after the publication but later came to be known as hangul. Originally containing 28 characters, it was ...
'' (), the document introducing the newly created alphabet which was also originally called by the same name, in the ninth month of the
lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, t ...
in 1446. In 1926, the Korean Language Society, whose goal was to preserve the Korean language during a time of rapid forced
Japanization Japanization, Japanisation or Japanification is the process by which Japanese culture dominates, assimilates, or influences other cultures. According to ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', "To japanize" means "To make ...
, celebrated the octosexigesimal (68th) anniversary of the declaration of hangeul on the last day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, which is on November 4 of the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...
. Members of the Society declared it the first observance of "Gagyanal" (). The name came from "Gagyageul" (), an early colloquial name for hangeul, based on a mnemonic recitation beginning "gagya geogyeo..." (). The name of the commemorative day was changed to "Hangullal" in 1928, soon after the term "
hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...
", coined originally in 1913 by Ju Sigyeong, became widely accepted as the new name for the alphabet. The day was then celebrated according to the
lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, t ...
. In 1931, the celebration of the day was switched to October 29 of the
Gregorian Calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...
, the calendar which is in contemporary use. Three years later, the date was moved to October 28, to coordinate the date with that of the
Julian Calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandri ...
, which had been in use during the 15th century, when King Sejong had made his proclamation. The discovery in 1940 of an original copy of the '' Hunmin Jeongeum Haerye'', a volume of commentary to the ''Hunmin Jeongeum'' that appeared not long after the document it commented upon, revealed that the ''Hunmin Jeongeum'' was announced during the first ten days (''sangsun''; ) of the ninth month. The tenth day of the ninth month of the 1446 lunar calendar was equivalent to October 9 of that same year's
Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandri ...
. The
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n government, established in 1945, declared October 9 to be Hangeul Day, a yearly legal holiday which excused government employees from work. Major employers pressured the South Korean government to increase the country's annual number of work days. In 1991, to balance out the adoption of the United Nations Day, it vacated Hangeul Day's status as a holiday. By law, Hangeul Day remained a national commemoration day, and the Hangeul Society campaigned for the holiday's restoration. On November 1, 2012, the Society won that campaign, when the National Assembly voted 189 to 4 (with 4 abstaining) in favor of a resolution that called for the return of Hangeul Day as a national holiday. This put pressure on the Lee Myung Bak administration, which applied the change in 2013.


Celebrations

In 2009, a heavy bronze Statue of King Sejong was revealed to the public
Sejongno Sejongno (), also known as Sejong-daero, is a street that runs through Jongno-gu in downtown Seoul. It is named after King Sejong the Great of Joseon. The street is 600 meters in length, but due to its central location it is of great symbolic ...
,
Gwanghwamun Plaza Gwanghwamun Plaza (, also known as Gwanghwamun Square) is a public open space on Sejongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The plaza was opened on 1 August 2009 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and is part of the City's plans for environment ...
in central
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. It towers over citizens and tourists at approximately 20 feet. Underneath the large golden statue there is a museum, which many people visit on Hangul Day. Inside the museum there are many exhibits explaining the creation of the language and technological advancements made during King Sejong's reign.


See also

* Public holidays in North Korea * Public holidays in South Korea *
Korean alphabet The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's Revised Romanization of Korean, standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system f ...
* Yeominrak * Hangul supremacy


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links


Hangeul Day
at
Language Log ''Language Log'' is a collaborative language blog maintained by Mark Liberman, a phonetician at the University of Pennsylvania. Most of the posts focus on language use in the media and in popular culture. Text available through Google Search f ...
Korean language Korean culture Hangul Language observances January observances October observances Public holidays in South Korea Public holidays in North Korea Winter events in North Korea Autumn events in South Korea