Hangul Through the Centuries

Right after the letters were made, King Sejong and his court began to test them in real books. One of the earliest is 용비어천가, a long song praising the founders of the Joseon kingdom. Another is 석보상절, which tells the life of the Buddha in Korean. These books were completed in the late 1440s.

The royal court also used the new letters to translate important books, such as Buddhist and Confucian texts, into Korean. A translated book of this kind is called an 언해 book. In this way, ideas that were once locked inside 한문 slowly became readable for more people.

During most of the Joseon period, the official writing of the government and of scholars was still 한문. Many members of the upper class saw Hangul as something simple and less serious. They often called it 언문, which means something like 'the common script' or 'the script of everyday speech'. Sometimes they even used less respectful nicknames.

But Hangul did not disappear. It quietly spread into daily life. Women of all classes used it to write 편지, letters, to their families. Many letters written by queens and noblewomen in Hangul still survive today. Some kings also wrote Hangul letters to their daughters or other family members. Ordinary people used it for notes, songs and household records.

Not every king was kind to Hangul. In 1504, King Yeonsangun (연산군), a ruler remembered for his cruelty, became angry when posters written in Hangul criticized him. He ordered people not to teach or learn Hangul, and he had Hangul books collected and burned.

This was a hard time, but the ban did not last. Hangul had already spread too far into the lives of ordinary people. After his rule ended, the letters continued to be used.

In the later centuries of Joseon, more and more stories, or 소설, were written and read in Hangul. Famous tales such as the story of Chunhyang (춘향전) circulated in Hangul versions. People read them aloud, copied them by hand and shared them. Storytellers performed them in markets.

This was an important change. Reading was no longer only for scholars. It became a pleasure that many ordinary people could enjoy.

At the end of the 19th century, Korea faced great changes. The world was opening up, and many Koreans felt that the nation needed education for everyone. In 1894, during a period of reforms, a royal order said that official documents should be based on 국문, the 'national script', meaning Hangul. Chinese characters could be added or mixed in, but for the first time, Hangul was officially given the main place.

Two years later, in 1896, the 독립신문 (The Independent) was published. It was a newspaper written in Hangul so that anyone could read it. It also put spaces between words, called 띄어쓰기, which made reading much easier. Today, spaces between words are a normal part of Korean writing.

One of the most important people in this story is Ju Si-gyeong (주시경). He was a scholar and teacher who studied the grammar of Korean deeply and taught it to many young students. He believed that a nation's language and writing are the heart of its people.

In the early 1910s, the name 한글 came into use, and Ju Si-gyeong played a central role in spreading it. Most people explain the name as 'great writing' or 'the writing of the Korean people'. Before this, names such as 언문 and 국문 were more common. The new name carried respect and pride.

Ju Si-gyeong died young, in 1914, but his students continued his work.

From 1910 to 1945, Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. During this time, the use of the Korean language was more and more restricted, especially in later years.

Scholars who followed Ju Si-gyeong formed a group that later became the Korean Language Society. In 1926, they held the first celebration of a day for Hangul, which was soon renamed 한글날. In 1933, they published a unified set of spelling rules, or 맞춤법. These rules became the foundation of the Korean spelling we use today. They also began collecting words for a large Korean 사전, dictionary.

In 1942, many members of the society were arrested by the colonial authorities, and some died in prison. Korean people remember this as a painful sacrifice made to protect their language.

In 1945, Korea was liberated. The dictionary manuscripts had been taken away during the arrests, and many people feared they were lost. Then, after liberation, they were found in a warehouse at Seoul Station. The scholars returned to work, and the great dictionary was finally completed in the 1950s.

After liberation, Hangul became the writing of schools, newspapers and government. Over the following decades, Korean writing also changed from vertical lines read right to left, to horizontal lines read left to right, as you see today. The Korean Language Society still exists today under the name 한글학회.