1. King Sejong the Great

2. “If the people prosper, how can the king not prosper with them
“If the people prosper, how can the king not prosper with them? And if the people do not prosper, how may the king prosper without them?”
- King Sejong, ruler of Choson Dynasty, Korea, 1418 CE-1450 CE

3. King Sejong’s Philosophy
“To share in the joys of living with Heaven’s people.”
How would this affect the way he reigned?
He believed the duty of the king was to look after the people of a heavenly race. When his people starved, he starved. Female government servants received 30 days leave prior to birth, and 100 days maternity leave. Fathers were given 30 days paternity leave. Was kind to prisoners. Believed “people of heaven” extended to all people, not just those of Korea. Thought it the job of a king to enable the people to reach their potential.

4. A New Dynasty The end of the Koryo dynasty was turbulent.
The Choson dynasty ascended and brought order to Korea.
Final years of Koryo: Political corruption that led the military to rebel. Foreign invaders were frequent. Japanese pirates often looted.
Koryo allowed Confucianism and Buddhism to coexist. Choson established Neo-Confucianism as the prevailing philosophy.

5. Sejong’s Accomplishments
Devotion to learning: Established “Jade Hall,” which was a royal institute for research.
Revised and improved the laws. Ensured they were made known to the people.
Reformed the criminal justice system.
1)Jade Hall housed scholars who completed academic investigations and political advising.
2) Allowed appeals against judges’ decisions. Wanted government to be a dialogue between the governors and the governed.
3) At the end of the Koryo dynasty, punishments were harsh and subjective, with little value placed on human life. He regulated the punishment system.

6. Sejong’s Accomplishments
Reformed the land tax system
Improved music
Instrumental in improving medicine
1)During Koroyo dynasty, farmers paid 10% of their harvest to the government. Tax collectors were corrupt and taxation was burdensome. Sejong weighed the decision to change carefully and implemented a flat-rate tax with variation according to land district (some areas were more fertile than others)
Developed and improved 56 musical instruments, and created a system of musical notation
3) Send scholars abroad to learn medical techniques. Published The Great Collection of Native Korean Prescriptions. Developed drugs with herbs, minerals and animal products. Included treatment for 959 maladies. Next, with Jade Hall scholars and medical experts, published a 365 volume medical encyclopedia. Implemented autopsies for forensic medicine.

7. Sejong’s Accomplishments
Increased population (through better medicine) necessitated better farming techniques.
Inventions during his reign: Rain gauge, astronomy observatory, sundial, water clock, recalculated standards of measurement (1 minute = 60 seconds, 360 degree circumference).
1) Published A Plain Guide to Farming, which was written so that people with little education could learn from it. Outlined methods of farming that corresponded to the natural features of the land. Included tilling, plowing, crop rotation, using tools, and fertilization.

8. Sejong’s Accomplishments
Improved the printing process
Through a new font that increased the speed of printing
Movable type printing reached its peak during Sejong’s reign.
1) Could print up to 100 copies per day. Set the type on copper plates instead of wax; this held the type in place firmly. Produced large-type publications for the elderly

9. The Korean Alphabet
The spoken language of our country is different from that of China and does not suit the Chinese characters. Therefore, amongst uneducated people there have been many who, having something that they wish to put into words, have been unable to express their feelings in writing. I am greatly distressed because of this, and so I have made twenty eight new letters. Let everyone practice them at their ease, and adapt them to their daily use.
--King Sejong’s Preface to Hunmin Chongum

10. Sejong’s Greatest Accomplishment
Hangul was created in 1443.
Vowels and consonants are visually different
The 28 symbols reflect the shape of the articulators.
Example: The symbol for /k/ looks like the tongue blocking the back of the mouth
--The only alphabet that’s creation rationale is known. It is unique because it was not evolutionary. October 9th is “Hangul Day” in Korea.
--Chinese characters were ill-suited for Korean script because Chinese sentences use particles, but in Korean inflections and suffixes are used to modify meaning.
--Vowels were formed after the three symbols of Eastern philosophy: round represents Heaven, flat Earth, and upright Man.
--Each vowel is assigned either yin or yang properties, and the five basic consonants represent the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water)

11. Opposition to Hangul
While today Hangul is celebrated as an amazing literary achievement, King Sejong met opposition after he created it.
Members of the court and Jade Hall were concerned that the simplicity of the alphabet lessened its importance.
Sejong was persistent because he wanted to give all people a means of writing. Slowly, the Koreans embraced the alphabet.
Jade Hall member stated: “Since the new alphaet is so easily understood, I fear that the people will fall into laziness and never make efforts to learn. Those who do not use Chinese characters but other letters and alphabets, such as the Mongols, Sohans, Jurchens, Japenese, and Tibetans, are all barbarians without exception. To use new letters would surely make us barbarians ourselves.”

12. Which influenced King Sejong?
Legalism
Daoism
Confucianism
They embraced Confucianism, which affected all aspects of politics and culture.