Korean mixed script

The calligraphy of Korean scholar, poet and painter Gim Jeonghui (김정희; 金正喜) of the early nineteenth century. Like most educated Koreans from the Three Kingdom period until the fall of the Joseon Dynasty in 1910, Gim Jeong-hui composed most of his works in hanmun or literary Chinese.

Literacy on the Korean Peninsula began with the adoption of literary Chinese (한문; 漢文; hanmun) written in Chinese characters (한자; 漢字; hanja). The earliest evidence of Korean hanmun is an engraving on a sword dated to 222 BC and unearthed from what is now Pyeongyang, with the next earliest example being a stone inscription from 85 AD in Pyeong-annam Province. By the start of the early Three Kingdom period (삼국시대; 三國時代; Samguk Shidae) (57 BC—668 AD), each of the kingdoms of Baekje (백제; 百濟), Silla (신라; 新羅) and Goguryeo (고구려; 高句麗), later shortened to Goryeo (고려; 高麗), the use of hanmun was entrenched as the official written language of the respective royal courts and nobility.

Several factors at the start of the Three Kingdom period facilitated the spread of Sinitic culture and hanmun literacy amongst the nobility. The Korean peoples were originally several tribes that had been at the periphery of Chinese civilisation, and naturally were inclined to adopt the more advanced culture and technology of their larger neighbor. From 108 BC to 313 AD, the Chinese Han Dynasty established the Four Commanderies of Han in northern Korea.[2] The spread of Buddhism in Korea also occurred around the 4th century.[2]

Another major factor in the adoption of hanmun was the adoption of the gwageo (과거; 科擧; gwageo), copied from the Chinese imperial examination, open to all freeborn men. Special schools were set up for the well-to-do and the nobility across Korea to train new scholar officials for civil service. Adopted by Silla and Goryeo, the gwageo system was maintained by Goryeo after the unification of Korea until the end of the nineteenth century. The scholarly élite began learning the hanja by memorising the Thousand Character Classic (천자문; 千字文; Cheonjamun), Three Character Classic (삼자경; 三字經; Samja Gyeong) and Hundred Family Surnames (백가성; 百家姓; Baekja Seong). Passage of the gwageo required the thorough ability to read, interpret and compose passages of works such as the Analects ((논어; 論語; Non-eo), Great Learning (대학; 大學; Daehak), Doctrine of the Mean (중용; 中庸; Jung-yong), Mencius (맹자; 孟子; Maengja), Classic of Poetry (시경; 詩經; Sigyeong), Book of Documents (서경; 書經; Seogyeong), Classic of Changes (역경; 易經; Yeon-gyeong), Spring and Autumn Annals (춘추; 春秋; Chuncho) and Book of Rites (예기; 禮記; Yeogi). Other important works include Sūnzǐ's Art of War (손자병법; 孫子兵法; Sonja Byeongbeop) and Selections of Refined Literature (문선; 文選; Munseon).

The Korean scholars were very proficient in literary Chinese. The craftsmen and scholars of Baekje were renowned in Japan, and were eagerly sought as teachers due to their proficiency in hanmun. Korean scholars also composed all diplomatic records, government records, scientific writings, religious literature and much poetry in hanmun, demonstrating that the Korean scholars were not just reading Chinese works but were actively composing their own. Well-known examples of Chinese-language literature in Korea include Three Kingdoms History (삼국사기; 三國史記; Samguk Sagi), Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (삼국사기; 三國遺事; Samguk Yusa), New Stories of the Golden Turtle (금오신화; 金鰲新話; Geumo Sinhwa), The Cloud Dream of the Nine (구운몽; 九雲夢; Gu Unmong), Musical Cannon (악학궤범; 樂學軌範; Akhak Gwebeom), The Story of Hong Gildong (홍길동전; 洪吉童傳; Hong Gildong Jeon) and Licking One's Lips at the Butcher's Door (도문대작; 屠門大嚼; Domun Daejak).

The Chinese language, however, was quite different from the Korean language, consisting of terse, often monosyllabic words with a strictly analytic, SVO structure in stark contrast to the generally polysyllabic, very synthetic, SOV structure, with various grammatical endings that encoded person, levels of politeness and case. Despite the adoption of literary Chinese as the written language, Chinese never replaced Korean as the spoken language, even amongst the scholars that had immersed themselves into its study.

The first attempts to make literary Chinese texts more accessible to Korean readers were hanmun passages written in Korean word order. This would later develop into the gugyeol (구결; 口訣) or 'separated phrases,' system. Chinese texts were broken into meaningful blocks, and in the spaces were inserted hanja used to represent the sound of native Korean grammatical endings. As literary Chinese was very terse, leaving much to be understood from context, insertion of occasional verbs and grammatical markers helped to clarify the meaning. For instance, the hanja '爲' was used for its native Korean gloss whereas '尼' was used for its Sino-Korean pronunciation, and combined into '爲尼' and read hani (하니), 'to do (and so).'[3] Special symbols were sometimes used to aid in the reordering of words in approximation of Korean grammar. It was similar to the kanbun (漢文) system developed in Japan to render Chinese texts. The system was not a translation of Chinese into Korean, but an attempt to make Korean speakers knowledgeable in hanja overcome the difficulties in interpreting Chinese texts. Although it was developed by scholars of the early Goryeo Kingdom (918 - 1392), gugyeol was of particular importance during the Joseon period, extending into the first decade of the twentieth century, since all civil servants were required to be able to read, translate and interpret Confucian texts and commentaries.[4]

The Korean Baegun Hwasang Chorok Buljo Jikji Simche Yojeol (백운화상초록불조직지심체요절; 白雲和尙抄錄佛祖直指心體要節) or roughly 'Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings' is the oldest example of a book printed with moveable type and was printed in Korea in 1377, but is written in literary Chinese.

The first attempt at transcribing Korean in hanja was the idu (이두; 吏讀), or 'official reading,' system that began to appear after 500 AD. In this system, the hanja were chosen for their equivalent native Korean gloss. For example, the hanja '不冬' signifies 'no winter' or 'not winter' and has the formal Sino-Korean pronunciation of (부동) budong, similar to Mandarin bù dōng. Instead, it was read as andeul (안들) which is the Middle Korean pronunciation of the characters' native gloss and is ancestor to modern anneunda (않는다), 'do not' or 'does not.' The various idu conventions were developed in the Goryeo period but was particularly associated with the jung-in (중인; 中人), the upper middle class of the early Joseon period.[5]

A subset of idu was known as hyangchal (향찰; 鄕札), 'village notes,' and was a form of idu particularly associated with the hyangga (향가; 鄕歌) the old poetry compilations and some new creations preserved in the first half of the Goryeo period when its popularity began to wane.[2] In the hyangchal or 'village letters' system, there was free choice in how a particular hanja was used. For example, to indicate the topic of Princess Shenhua, the half-sister of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty was recorded as '善化公主主隱' in hyangchal and was read as (선화공주님은), seonhwa gongju-nim-eun where '善化公主' is read in Sino-Korean, as it is a Chinese name and the Sino-Korean term for 'princess' was already adopted as a loan word. The hanja '主隱,' however, were read according to their native pronunciation but was not used for its literal meaning signifying 'the prince steals' but the native postpositions (님) nim, the honorific marker used after professions and titles, and eun, the topic marker. In mixed script, this would be rendered as '善化公主님은.' The idu and its hyangchal variant were similar to the Japanese man'yogana (万葉仮名) system that would develop much later in Japan. Idu and its hyangchal variant were mostly replaced by mixed-script writing with hangul although idu was not officially discontinued until 1894 when reforms abolished its usage in administrative records of civil servants. Even with idu, most literature and official records were still recorded in literary Chinese until 1910.[5][4]

Example of hangul written in the traditional vertical manner. On the left are the hunminjeong-eum and on the right are modern hangul.

Despite the advent of vernacular writing in Korean utilizing hanja, these publications remained the dominion of the literate class, comprising royalty and nobility, Buddhist monks, Confucian scholars, civil servants and members of the upper classes as the ability to read these texts required proficient ability to understand the meaning of the Chinese characters, with both their adopted Sino-Korean pronunciation and their native gloss. To rectify this, King Sejong the Great (조선 세종대왕; 朝鮮 世宗大王) summoned a team of scholars to devise a new script for the Korean language, leading to the 1446 promulgation of the hunminjeong-eum (훈민정음; 訓民正音), 'correct pronunciation for teaching the people.' The problems surrounding literacy in literary Chinese to the common populace was summarized in the opening of Sejong's proclamation, written in literary Chinese:

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
'Because our language is different from the Chinese language, our ignorant people cannot express themselves in Chinese writing. In my pity for them I create twenty-eight letters, which all can learn easily and use in their daily lives.'

The script is now the primary and most commonplace method to write the Korean language, and is known as hangul (한글)) in South Korea, from han (한) but homophonous with Sino-Korean han ((한; 韓), 'Korean,' and the native word gul (글), 'script.' In North Korea, the script is known as joseon ('Chosan') (조선글; 朝鮮글) from an old name of Korea. The promulgation is of the indigenous script is celebrated as a national holiday on 9 October in the south and 15 January in the north, respectively.[6][7]

The new script rapidly spread to the segments of the population traditionally denied access to education such as farmers, fishermen, women of the lower classes, rural merchants and young children. Several attempts to ban or over-turn the use of hangul were initiated but failed to halt its spread. These attempts were initiated by several rulers, who discovered disparaging remarks about their reigns, and the upper classes, whose grip on power and influence was predicated upon their ability to read, write and interpret classical Chinese texts and commentaries thereof. The scholarly élite mocked the sole use of hangul pseudo-deferentially as jinseo 진서; 真書), 'real script.' Other insults such as 'women's script,' 'children's script' and 'farmer's hand' are known anecdotally but are not found in the literature.[7]

A South Korean road sign which indicates 'no thoroughfare' or 'do not enter' in hangul. As a Sino-Korean phrase, it would have historically been written in hanja as '通行禁止.'

Despite the fears of the upper classes and scholarly élite, the introduction of the early hangul actually increased proficiency in literary Chinese. New-style hanja dictionaries appeared, arranging words according to their alphabetic order in when spelled out in hangul, and showing compound words containing the hanja as well as its Sino-Korean and its native, sometimes archaic, pronunciation—a system still in use for many contemporary Korean-language hanja dictionaries. The syllable blocks could be written easily between meaningful units of Chinese characters, as annotations, but also began to replace the complex notation of the early gugyeol and idu, including hyangchal, although gugyeol and idu were not officially abolished until the end of the 19th century in part because literary Chinese was still the official written language of the royal court, nobility, governance and diplomacy until its usage was finally abolished in the early twentieth century and its local production mostly ceased by mid-century.[7]

The real spread of hangul to all elements of Korean society was the late eighteenth century beginning of two literary trends. The ancient sijo (시조; 時調), 'seasonal tune,' poetry. Although sijo, heavily influenced by Chinese Tang Dynasty poetry, was long written in Chinese, authors began writing poems in Korean written solely with hangul. At the same time, gasa (가사; 歌詞), 'song lyric,' poetry was similarly spread. Korean women of the upper classes created gasa by translating or finding inspiration in the old poems, written in literary Chinese, and translating them into Korean, but as the name suggests, were popularly sung.[8] Although Catholic and Protestant missionaries initially attempted to evangelise the Korean Peninsula starting with the nobility using Chinese translations and works. In the early nineteenth century, Bishop Siméon-François Berneux, or Jang Gyeong-il (장경일; 張敬一) mandated that all publications be written only in hangul and all students in the missionary schools were required to use it. Protestant and other Catholic missionaries followed suit, facilitating the spread of Christianity in Korea, but also created a large corpus of Korean-language material written in hangul only.[9]

The lyrics to the National anthem of the Korean Empire in Korean mixed script. The smaller hangul after each hanja group would normally be unwritten, but are presented to indicate the pronunciation of the Sino-Korean elements.

The practice of mixing hangul into hanja began as early as the introduction of hangul. Even King Sejong's promulgation proclamation was written in literary Chinese and idu passages to explain the alphabet and mixed passages that help 'ease' the reader into the use of the alphabet. The first novel written in hangul, Yongbieocheonga (용비어천가; 龍飛御天歌), Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, is actually mostly written in what would now be considered mixed-script writing. Another major literary work touted as a masterpiece of hangul-based literature, the 1590 translation of The Analects of Confucius (논어; 論語) by Yi Yulgok (이율곡; 李栗谷) is also written entirely in hanja-honyong.

Although many Koreans today attribute hanja-honyong to the Japanese occupation of Korea, in part due to the visual similarity of Chinese characters interspersed with alphabetic text of Japanese-language texts to Korean-language texts in mixed script, and the numerous assimilation and suppression schemes of the occupational government carried out against the Korean people, language and culture. In fact, hanja-honyong was commonplace amongst the royalty, yangban (양반; 兩班) and jung-in classes for personal records and informal letters shortly after the introduction of the alphabet, and replaced the routine use of idu by the jung-in. The heyday of hanja-honyong arrived with the Gap-o reforms (갑오; 甲午) passed in 1894 - 1896 after the Donghak Peasant Rebellion (동학농민혁명; 東學農民革命). The reforms ended the client status of Korea to the Qing Dynasty emperors, elevating King Gojong to Emperor Gwangmu (고종 광무제; 高宗 光武帝), ended the supremacy of literary Chinese and idu script, ended the gwageo imperial examinations. In place of literary Chinese, the Korean language written in the 'national letters' (국문; 國文)—now understood as an alternate name for hangul but at the time referred to hanja-honyong—was now the language of governance.[10]

Yu Giljun (유길준; 兪吉濬), author of the hanja-honyong publication Seoyu Gyeonmun (서유견문; 西遊見聞) or Observations on Travels to the West.

Due to over a thousand years of literary Chinese supremacy, the early hanja-honyong texts were written in a stiff, prosaic style, with a preponderance of Sino-Korean terms barely removed from gugyeol, but the written language was quickly adapted into the current format with a more natural style, using hanja only where a Sino-Korean loan word was read in Sino-Korean pronunciation and hangul for native words and grammatical particles. One of the most important publications the end of the Joseon period was the weekly newspaper, Hanseong Jugang (한성주간; 漢城週刊), one of the first written in the more natural style several years before the Gap-o reforms. The popular newspaper was originally started as a hanja-only publication that lasted only a few weeks before they switched formats. During the reforms, Yu Giljun (유길준; 兪吉濬) published his travel diaries, Seoyu Gyeonmun (서유견문; 西遊見聞) or Observations on Travels to the West was a best-seller at this time. The success of Hanseong Jugang and Seoyu Gyeonmun urged the literati to switch to vernacular Korean in hanja-honyong.[11]