• Joseon Dynasty, 1446
• Woodblock print on paper
• Kansong Art & Culture Foundation
• National Treasure

King Sejong invented a new writing system for the Korean language in 1446, and this book offers an exposition of its principles in Classical Chinese. This book is commonly called the “haerye” edition, for it explicates the conceptual basis of each Korean letter (hae) with examples (rye). Its preface was authored by King Sejong himself. The main text is comprised of two parts, one for elucidating the ideas behind the script in its forms and sounds, and the other for explaining the rules by which the consonants and the vowels operate. One can find early Joseon words that were in actual usage when they appear in the book to demonstrate the spelling of Korean letters.