John Moon

Period 4

EDITED VERSION

1. Childhood
King Sejong the Great, of the House of Yi, was the 4th King of the Joseon dynasty of Korea.
King Sejong accomplished a great deal in his lifetime, and is known as one the greatest kings of
Korea. He introduced Confucianism into Korean politics, made good relationships with foreign
nations, strengthened the Korean military, and most notably developed Hangul, the official
language of Korea after his development. King Sejong left behind an impressive legacy, as his
face is on the 10,000 won bill of Korean currency.

2. Family
King Sejong was born on May 7, 1397. Sejong was the 3rd son of King Taejong, and his mother
was Queen Wongyeoung ( also known as Consort Min ). His older brother Yangnyeoung was
supposed to rule, but since he was stripped of his title for being too complacent and lazy,
Sejong took over that role. He was named Grand Prince when he turned 12. He ascended to
the throne at the age of 22, and would rule for 42 years.

3.Accomplishments
During his rule, King Sejong would bring forth advancements of science, agriculture, and
technology. He funded and supported a little known peasant inventor named Jang Yeoung-sil.
With the King’s help Jang would invent many different forms of measuring time, including water
clocks, sundials, and a new calender. He would also go on to invent the celestial globe, an
instrument that can track the movement of the planets. King Sejong wrote a book called
Nongsal jikseo, a farmer’s handbook that brought together all the different ways and techniques
farmers used to cultivate crops so that people have an official guide to look to if they want to
learn themselves.

4. Problems / Obstacles
King Sejong faced many obstacles in his rule. The Hangul was not accepted by the Korean
people at first. Elite politicans and other fellow Confucians philosophers disagreed with the new
Hangul system proposed, because they believed Hanja was the only true acceptable Korean
language. The social elite and rich were threatened by the introduction of Hangul, as it meant
that the peasants were now on par with them in terms of reading and writing. However, the
Hangul code slowly got more popular on its own. King Sejong also had problems with Japanese
pirates kidnapping Korean citizens as well as Chinese citizens. He sents out expeditions and
rescued 8 Koreans and 150 Chinese. This was called the Gihae Eastern Expedition.

5. End of Life
King Sejong suffered complications with diabetes in his later days, and died in 1450. At his
deathbed, he named his grandson Danjong heir instead of his son Munjong, as he was sickly
--and wasn’t expected to live long. King Sejong’s Hangul is still being taught and learned in
Korea and all over the world today.

6. Other Things to Consider

King Sejong was skilled in many areas, he was a philosopher of Confucian principles, an
advocator for low-born peasants, and most notably a scholar. He considered education and
scholarship to be very important and believed everyone had the right to learn. King Sejong is
most famous for his development of Hangul, the official language of Korea. Before Hangul,
Chinese characters were used, as historically Korea was a vassal state of China. However, the
Chinese characters were complex and hard to learn or memorize, thus only allowing mentally
gifted and / or the rich to learn how to read and write. The way Koreans used Chinese was also
very awkward, as it did not fit the way they speak and the sounds were hard to reproduce. King
Sejong wanted a phonetic alphabet simple enough for all who wished to learn to read and write.
The King worked hard with his institute of scholars, “The Hall of Worthies”, until in 1446 Hangul
was ready to be taught and learned.

7. Final Question
King Sejong was a remarkable person because of how he treated people. He was known for his
generosity and willingness to treat everyone equally. He devoted his life to educate and
empower the Korean nation, especially the poor and uneducated.