Alphabet Key To History Of Mankind

Author(s): David Diringer
Publisher: Hutchinsons Scientific and Technical Publications

Page 446

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VII
445 first printing from movable types was known in Europe), within a few months several hundred thousand types were cast. This invention increased still more the difficulties of using the cumbersome Chinese characters.
It is, thus, not surprising that the new king Set-jong (1419-1451) sent missions to Nanking and Pyolmun to seek advice about the possibility of introducing a simplified script. These missions having failed, the king-with the assistance of some of the literati of the court-invented the new script. It happened probably in 1446; other dates, such as 1443 or the beginning of the fifteenth century," and so forth, have also been suggested. Some scholars, instead, hold that On-mun was invented, in 1446, by a Buddhist priest named Syol Chong; this opinion may have been caused by confusion with the generally accepted theory, although I do not exclude the possibility that the Korean alphabet was a Buddhist creation, and that it was, at a later time, attributed to the Korean king. In the years 1777-1781, the Korean alphabet was revised.
According to some scholars, the Deva-nagari character was the model of the On-mun, but only six Korean letters, eventually, can be considered as having some similarity with Deva-nagari signs. Besides, the two systems are, on the whole, quite different. A connection with the Latin alphabet, though chronologically quite possible, and though suggested by some scholars, must also be excluded.
The most general theory is that the origin of the On-mun is connected with the ancient diffusion of Buddhism in Korea, and with the great influence there of the Buddhistic, especially Tibetan, literature. It is, therefore, suggested, that the Tibetan system of writing was the prototype of the Korean alphabet. This theory has been accepted by Taylor and other scholars, such as G. J. Ramstedt. If this theory is right, it would be reasonable to attribute the invention of this script to Buddhists, and we could more easily understand why Ön-mun until recently was looked upon with contempt by the Korean higher social classes,
Another theory has been suggested by P. Andreas Eckardt; according to him, the Korean alphabet consists of very simple elements, such as small circles, strokes, angles, and has been invented as a whole on the basis of the shapes of Korean windows and doors. (It is unlikely.) Other scholars, for instance Jensen, also believe that On-mun was an independent invention, that is to say, it was not connected with any other script.
The problem is still open. In my opinion, the Korean letters are mainly arbitrary inventions, although as a whole the alphabet is not an independent creation but the ideal adaptation of idea-diffusion (see p. 38, 151, etc.) to the Korean tongue. There is no doubt that at the beginning of the fifteenth century A.D. various scripts, including, obviously, the T writing, were known in the Chinese and Korean Buddhist monasteries, and gave king Set-jong the idea of the creation of an alphabetic script. If this be true, the problem of the invention of the single letters would be