Yetgeul › Hunminjeongeum (The Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People) › Text and Principles
The royal preface御製序
Hunminjeongeum (The Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People) Text and Principles The book in which King Sejong made the twenty-eight letters and set down why he made them and how they are used. It carries the royal preface, which opens “The speech sounds of our country differ from those of China,” together with the Explanation of the Making of the Letters, which sets out how the letters were formed. Nowhere else in the world is there a case of the maker of a script setting down its principles in his own hand.
國之語音，異乎中國，與文字不相流通，故愚民，有所欲言，而終不得伸其情者多矣。予爲此憫然，新制二十八字，欲使人人易習便於日用耳。
The speech sounds of our country differ from those of China, and so they do not flow together with the Chinese characters. Because of this, among the simple people there are many who, though they have something they wish to say, in the end cannot set forth what they feel. Taking pity on this, I have newly made twenty-eight letters, wishing only that everyone may learn them easily and find them convenient for daily use.