Dongguk jeongun (Standard Rhymes of the Eastern State), Volumes 1 and 6

The first Korean book on standard pronunciation, compiled on King Sejong's order by Sin Suk-ju, Choe Hang, Bak Paeng-nyeon and others and published in 1448: six volumes in six books, printed from type. It was set against the Chinese rhyme book Hongwu zhengyun, and its name means the correct sounds of the Eastern country. It was compiled and published to correct the Sino-Korean readings of characters, which were then in confusion, and fix a unified standard. When it was completed in the ninth month of 1447 the king ordered it printed, and in the eleventh month of 1448 it was distributed to Seonggyungwan, the four schools of the capital and elsewhere, which dates its publication and circulation. Only volumes 1 and 6 of the six survive. In the text the large characters are wooden type and the small characters, with the large characters of the preface, are Gabin-ja metal type; the large characters are in the hand of Prince Jinyang. It matters above all as the first book to write the readings of Chinese characters in Korean letters, and as a source for the study of the Korean language it is valued on a level with the Hunminjeongeum itself. It is a basic source not only for the sound system of Sino-Korean but for the background of how the letters of Hunminjeongeum were made.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보