The Great King Sejong and Hangul

The Great Sejong and King Hangul

世宗大王与朝鲜文

Long, long ago, in the fifteenth century, there was a very bored king. None of his subjects knew why he was bored. Even the king did not know why he was bored. He was the fourth king of Choson Dynasty, King Sejong. “ Why am I so bored?” King Sejong wondered. He thought about it day and night. It bothered him so much that he could not eat or sleep. Just when he was ready to give up, it dawned on him. There were no new ideas circulating in his kingdom.

很久以前，在十五世纪，有一个非常无聊的国王。 他的臣民都不知道他为什么无聊。 连国王都不知道他为什么感到无聊。 他是朝鲜王朝的第四位国王，世宗王。 “我为什么这么无聊？”世宗国王纳闷。 他日思夜想。 这件事让他很烦恼，他吃不下饭，睡不着觉。 就在他准备放弃的时候，他恍然大悟。 他的王国里没有传播的新思想。

Sejong had read every book in Korea, and none of them were fresh or original to him anymore . Every play, every song, and every poem sounded the same to him. None of them seemed to truly portray the lives of the spirited merchants, or the hardworking farmers, or the honest peasants that lived in his kingdom . Sejong, being a clever king, knew why no stories accurately depicted his kingdom. Only a small group of aristocrats could read and write.

世宗在韩国读过每一本书，其中没有一本对他来说是新鲜的或独创的。 每一场戏、每一首歌和每一首诗对他来说听起来都是一样的。 这些作品中的任何一个似乎都没有真实地描绘出在他的王国里生活的富有活力的商人、勤劳的农民或诚实的老粗的生活。 世宗是一个聪明的国王，他知道为什么没有故事能准确描述他的王国。 只有少数贵族能读写。

How could an aristocrat know what it was like to be a merchant or a farmer or a peasant? Not only that, how could a merchant, farmer, or peasant know about the kingdom he lived in when he could not read or write? Furthermore, Sejong was dissatisfied with the current writing system. At that time, Korean was written using only Chinese characters. While Chinese characters were beautiful to look at, they were very complex and difficult to learn.

一个贵族怎么会知道做商人、农民或老粗是什么样的呢？ 不仅如此，当一个商人、农民或老粗不能阅读或写字时，他怎么可能知道他所生活的王国？ 此外，世宗对目前的书写体系感到不满。 当时，韩语只使用汉字。 虽然汉字看起来很漂亮，但它们非常复杂，很难学习。

They also did not accurately capture the sounds of the Korean language. “ We need a writing system of our own, ” Sejong thought. 。 He summoned a team of his most talented scholars. “ Develop a beautiful but easy to use writing system for the people, ” Sejong ordered the scholars. Coming up with a new writing system was no easy task, especially when commissioned by a very picky king .

他们也没有准确表达出韩语的声音。 “我们需要自己的书写体系，”世宗想 他召集了一支由他组建的最有才华的学者团队。 世宗命令学者们：“为人民研发一个美丽但易于使用的书写体系。” 推出一个新的写作体系并不是一件容易的事，尤其是在一位非常挑剔的国王的委任下。

“ Too difficult! ” Sejong would say when the scholars presented him with a new writing system, or “ Too simple! ” or “ Too elaborate! ” But Sejong was being fickle for good reason. The new writing system had to be easy to learn so that everyone could use it, even young children. The new writing system needed to capture the Korean language the way it was spoken by the people, otherwise it would not be a truly Korean writing system. Lastly, the new writing system needed to be elegant and pleasing, for writing is a form of art.

当学者们向世宗介绍一种新的书写系统时，世宗会说，“太难了！”“太简单了！”或者“太复杂了！” 但世宗善变是有充分理由的。 新的书写体系必须易于学习，以便每个人都能使用，即使是小孩子。 新的书写体系需要按照人们所说的方式来表达韩语，否则它就不是真正的韩语书写体系。 最后，新的写作体系需要优雅和愉悦，因为写作是一种艺术形式。