🔼 the fourth monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea, Sejong the Great

King Sejong the Great, a king of the Joseon Dynasty born in 1397, is one of the most respected figures among Koreans. Among his many achievements, the greatest is the creation of Hangul, the Korean alphabet.

🔼 Chinese

For a very long time, Korea used China's Hanja (Chinese characters). Because Hanja are logographic characters that are difficult to learn, reading and writing them required a significant investment of time.

Studying Hanja was a privilege of the economically affluent upper class, so the majority of the population, who had to spend most of their time making a living through farming and other means, did not know how to read or write Hanja.

This made it difficult for them to acquire information or apply for national civil service exams.

Below is my name. Above is in Hangul, and below is in Hanja.

박지철 🇰🇷

朴智澈 🇨🇳

King Sejong had simple reasons for wanting an easy-to-use writing system:

1. He wanted Joseon (Korea) to have its own independent writing system, not a foreign one like Chinese characters.

2. He was deeply saddened that many of his people were illiterate.

3. He hoped that a unique, easy-to-learn writing system would lead to social reform and progress.

Even with the best intentions, creating and adopting a new writing system for a country wasn't easy.

However, after many challenges, Hangul was born, and today Korea uses Hangul instead of Chinese characters.