Editing Thousand Character Classic (section)

== Korea ==

The ''Thousand Character Classic'' has been used as a [[Primer (textbook)|primer]] for learning Chinese characters for many centuries. It is uncertain when the ''Thousand Character Classic'' was introduced to Korea.

The book is noted as a principal force—along with the introduction of [[Buddhism]] into [[Korea]]—behind the introduction of Chinese characters into the Korean language. [[Hanja]] was the sole means of writing Korean until the [[Hangul]] script was created under the direction of [[Sejong the Great|King Sejong the Great]] in the 15th century; however, even after the invention of Hangul, most Korean scholars continued to write in Hanja until the late 19th century.

The ''Thousand Character Classic's'' use as a writing primer for children began in 1583, when [[Seonjo of Joseon|King Seonjo]] ordered [[Han Seok-bong|Han Ho]] (1544–1605) to carve the text into wooden printing blocks.

The ''Thousand Character Classic'' has its own form in representing the Chinese characters. For each character, the text shows its [[Hanja#Eumhun|meaning]] ([[Korean language|Korean]] [[Hanja]]: {{lang|ko|訓}}; ''{{transliteration|ko|saegim}}'' or ''{{transliteration|ko|hun}}'') and [[Hanja#Eumhun|sound]] (Korean Hanja: {{lang|ko|音}}; ''{{transliteration|ko|eum}}''). The vocabulary to represent the ''{{transliteration|ko|saegim}}'' has remained unchanged in every edition, despite the natural evolution of the Korean language since then. However, in the editions ''Gwangju Thousand Character Classic'' and ''Seokbong Thousand Character Classic'', both written in the 16th century, there are a number of different meanings expressed for the same character. The types of changes of ''{{transliteration|ko|saegims}}'' in ''Seokbong Thousand Character Classic'' into those in ''Gwangju Thousand Character Classic'' fall roughly under the following categories:

#Definitions turned more generalized or more concrete when semantic scope of each character had been changed
#Former definitions were replaced by synonyms
#Parts of speech in the definitions were changed

From these changes, replacements between native Korean and [[Sino-Korean vocabulary|Sino-Korean]] can be found. Generally, "rare ''{{transliteration|ko|saegim}}'' vocabularies" are presumed to be pre-16th century, for it is thought that they may be a fossilized form of native Korean vocabulary or affected by the influence of a [[Dialects of Korean|regional dialect]] in [[Jeolla]] Province.

South Korean senior scholar, Daesan Kim Seok-jin (Korean [[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|대산 김석진}}), expressed the significance of Thousand Character Classic by contrasting the Western ''concrete science'' and the Asian ''metaphysics'' and ''origin-oriented thinking'' in which "it is the collected poems of nature of cosmos and reasons behind human life".<ref>{{cite news | first = In-u (인우) | last = Lee (이) |author2=Kang Jae-hun (강재훈) |script-title=ko:[이사람] "천자문이 한문 입문서? 우주 이치 담은 책" | date = 2012-01-03 | url = http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/culture/book/513193.html | work=[[The Hankyoreh]] | access-date = 2012-01-03 | language = ko}}</ref>

The first 44 characters of the Thousand Character Classic were used on the reverse sides of some {{Ill|Sangpyeong Tongbo|ko|상평통보}} cash coins of the [[Korean mun]] currency to indicate furnace or "series" numbers.<ref name="primaltrek">{{cite web|url= http://primaltrek.com/koreancoins.html|title=Korean Coins – 韓國錢幣 - History of Korean Coinage|date=16 November 2016|access-date=5 June 2017|work= Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture)|language=en}}</ref>