Hangeul, Hunminjeongeum , '한글', '훈민정음'

During the Joseon Dynasty in Korea used Chinese characters to write. Chinese characters were difficult to learn. The people who worked and lived day by day did not think of learning Chinese characters, nor did they have a chance to learn them. King Sejong made letters that could be easily used by all people. King Sejong the Great (1418-1450), the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, was sorry that the people could speak but could not understand writing, so in December of the 25th year of King Sejong's reign, he made Hangeul which is our own writing and phonetic alphabet, and distributed Hunminjeongeum in the 28th year (1446). Hangul consisted of 28 characters, 17 consonants and 11 vowels at first. Now Hangul consists of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Today, October 9 was designated as the national holiday "Hangul Day". It is a day to celebrate King Sejong's invention and publication of Hangeul to the world, and to honor the excellence of the Korean letters. I really appreciate King Sejong and very happy to help foreign friends who want to learn Korean on Lang-8. ** Let me introduce the preface of Hunminjeongeum by King Sejong.** Since the Korean language is different from that of China, many people cannot communicate with each other by writing, even if they want to say something, they cannot express it well. I feel such pity for them, so I made 28 new letters which make it easier for people to learn and write everyday.

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