Oldest Hangeul Monument - The Korea Times

By Choe Chong-dae

Oct. 9, 2009, marked the 563rd anniversary of the creation of Hangeul, and the occasion was fittingly celebrated with a variety of events, including an academic seminar, a composition contest, an oratorical contest, a parade, and the dedication of a newly-erected bronze statue of King Sejong the Great in Gwanghwamun Plaza, central Seoul.

Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, is considered to be one of the most efficient alphabets in the world and has garnered unanimous praise from language experts for its scientific design and excellence.

Among the many events at home and abroad, I was deeply impressed by Dr. Robert Ramsey's lecture in the United States pertaining to the excellence of the Hangeul system. Ramsey is a renowned American scholar, a prominent linguist and a professor of East Asian linguistics at the University of Maryland. He has lavished praise on the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, calling its invention one of the world's greatest achievements. He gave a special lecture prior to Hangeul day at the Korean embassy in Washington, D.C. Ramsey emphasized that Hangeul is made of phonetic letters as in English, and features a scientific method of recording that systematically links sounds and letters.

In 1973, when I was a university student, I accompanied Dr. Ramsey on an excursion to several historical sites on the outskirts of Seoul, where we saw a number of ancient monuments with inscriptions written mainly in Chinese characters. At the time, Ramsey was a prominent Fulbright scholar researching the 15th- and 16th-century dialects of Gyeongsang and Hamgyeong Provinces at Seoul National University. I have often thought of him since his departure from Korea in 1974, as he had deep knowledge of Korea's culture and history and its language, Hangeul. Ramsey was himself a fluent speaker of Korean. On this particular day, I attempted to guide Ramsey to ``Hangeul Go-bi," the ancient Hangeul monument, but due to unforeseen circumstances we were unavailable to make the visit.

There have been many valuable discoveries of ancient cultural monuments in Korea featuring Chinese inscriptions engraved on stone tablets. However, very few with Hangeul inscriptions have been found, primarily because Hangeul was created in 1446, relatively late compared to the length of time Korean people have used Chinese characters.

For myself, it is difficult to think of the cultural heritage of Hangeul without thinking of ``Hangeul Go-bi," the oldest monument featuring an inscription written in Hangeul. "Hangeul Go-bi" is a monument erected in front of the graves of a man's deceased parents. The stone monument was erected by Lee Moon-geon, a scholarly man who lived in the Joseon Dynasty during the reign of King Joong-jong. Lee erected the monument in 1536 because he was concerned someone might vandalize the gravestone and grave.

It is the oldest gravestone featuring a Hangeul epitaph and is currently located in Hagye-dong, Seoul. It features the archaic block style of Korean handwriting, and the seal character style of the Korean alphabet. The epitaph reads, ``This gravestone monument is a sacred stone. Whoever vandalizes the gravestone will face fatal disaster. This is a notice for the illiterate." Fortunately, in 2007, the monument was designated as Treasure No. 1524 by the Korean government. From ancient times, many stone tablets with inscriptions have been erected in Korea. These monuments have played a significant role in documenting a variety of historical events.

Understanding the difficulties common people had in trying to express themselves using Chinese characters, in 1446 King Sejong the Great invented the Korean alphabet system, Hangeul, consisting of 28 letters. The creation and use of Hangeul has resulted in a very high rate of literacy among the Korean people, and afforded all Koreans an equal opportunity to read, write and learn.

It is worthy of note that the Hangeul system has frequently made appearances among international communities, drawing the world's attention. In July this year, the Jjia Jjia, a minority tribe in Indonesia, began using Hangeul as their writing system to express their spoken aboriginal language. In addition, a Korean-language school is scheduled to open in Sri Lanka for the first time in the region.

Therefore, Hangeul is destined to continue to spread and be used internationally as a unique and efficient writing system.

Unlike other famous cultural heritage sites, "Hangeul Go-bi" is not well-known to the Korean public. However, it deserves to be preserved, protected and promoted as a significant academic resource for the study of ancient Korean inscriptions and the Korean language, considering it is the oldest Hangeul inscription in existence. Consequently, it should hold a special place among Korean cultural heritage sites.

I am sure that Lee Moon-geon would be surprised that the monument he erected for his parents, and the inscription written on it, would become, almost five centuries later, the center of so much scholarly and cultural attention.

The writer is the president of Dae-kwang International Co. and the Korean representative of Compagnie Cotonniere of Paris. A longtime director of the Korean-Swedish Association, he can be reached at dkic98@chol.com.