darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:08:17 GMT
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:10:08 GMT
In 1956, South Korea issued a set of 5 stamps adding to what would become a series of large format definitives depicting historical figures, historical monuments and culturally significant animals and plants. This series of stamps would not be replaced until 1962. Among the set, is the first of many stamps issued by the Republic of Korea, depicting King Sejong the Great. 4 different printings of this design were issued between 1956 and 1959. From left to right are Scott nos. 236, 241, 255 and 275. Scott 236 (KPS 146) is unwatermarked and printed on thin laid paper. Scott 241 (KPS 158) is watermarked with zigzag lines and the same goes for Scott 255 (KPS 161) which was issued in the additional denomination of 40 hwan. Finally, Scott 275 (KPS 175) for the 1957-59 series and is watermarked with the Korean Postal Emblem.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:11:42 GMT
So who was King Sejong and what did he do? Sejong was the youngest of three children of King Taejong, ruler of the early Joseon Kingdom. He was born in 1397 and died in 1450. He was favored by his father because he excelled in his studies. Later, his older brother, Yangnyeong, who had been designated as heir-apparent, was seen to be too free spirited by his father and was known to prefer leisure activities. This lack of seriousness was a fault to his father, so in 1418, Sejong was designated heir-apparent and became King upon the abdication of his father. These two semi-postal stamps are the same basic design as the definitives issued in 1956. These are Scott B3 and B4. B3 (KPS S3)on the left is watermarked with zigzag lines B4 (KPS S4) on the right is watermarked with the postal emblem Both were issued in 1957 and the additional surtax of 10 hwan was meant for flood relief.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:12:40 GMT
King Sejong was in many ways quite progressive for his times, he instituted Confucian principles in government and politics, his foreign policy maintained good relationships with the Chinese Ming Dynasty and with Japan, he strengthened the military and made the borders secure and he emphasized the importance of science and technology. The King Sejong seated on his throne design used on both definitives and semi-postals was used a final time on this souvenir sheet depicting the 40 hwan King Sejong stamp, the Namdaemun Gate, a tiger and the Rose of Sharon flower which is a symbol of South Korea. This souvenir sheet is Scott 291B (KPS C122) and it was issued in 1959.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:15:49 GMT
Most importantly, however, King Sejong was known for his promotion of scholarship via the creation of the Hall of Worthies (Jiphyeonjeon/집현전) and the creation and promulgation of Hangul (한글), the Korean script. Up until that time, the Korean educated and ruling class had been using Chinese characters to represent their language. Indeed, as many as 300 Chinese characters are still in use today and can be seen in some books and Korean newspapers. This is, however, falling by the wayside. The Korean language and Chinese are wholly different, unrelated languages and the scholars of the Jiphyeonjeon were asked to come up with a writing system that was easy to learn and could be used by the person on the street. The "letters" surrounding the vignette on this new definitive, show the script created by King Sejong. It is easy to learn, easy to write and logical.The idea was to shape the letter by the way the sounds are formed in the mouth. The letters are written in sets of 2 or 3 or even 4 and typically consist of consonant/vowel combinations. To non-Koreans the letters may look superficially like Chinese but they are much more regular and boxy looking. This new set of definitives which included this King Sejong design was issued starting in 1962. The same or similar design was used 4 different times in 4 different printings as follows: From left to right: Scott 339 (KPS 191) was from the last Hwan denominated group of definitives. Scott 365 (KPS 200) was part of the new "won" white paper series and is denominated in the new currency of Cheon and Won. Scott 390 (KPS 211) was issued with the postal emblem watermark Scott 519 (KPS 242) is from a set of definitives issued in 1966 where the same designs as previous are used but the stamps are now in a smaller format. Note that the KPS or Korean Postage Stamp Catalogue recognizes an additional set of stamps printed on Granite Paper which are listed in Scott as minor numbers. In this case, Scott 390a (KPS 225) which would be exactly the same as Scott 390 noted above except for the paper type.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:17:07 GMT
King Sejong carried out these language reforms by way of a document issued in 1443 called the Hunminjeungeum (훈민정음), the literal translation of which is "The Correct/Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People" It is said that the King himself created this new script and then had his scholars in the Jiphyeonjeon compile and publish the document. The document was published in Classical Chinese with a preface noting the new script. In 1993 a new series of definitive stamps was issued with a picture of King Sejong with a portion of text of the Hunminjeongeum behind him. These are Scott 1594B (KPS 359) and Scott 1733 (KPS 361). These high value definitives were used to pay international postage rates and parcels.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:18:02 GMT
Historically it is thought that King Sejong introduced Hangul on October 9, 1446. Because of the importance of Hangul that date has remained a commemorative day up to the present day in Korea. In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Hangul, a stamp was issued on October 9, 1946. This stamp is the first of several issued commemorating this important day. Scott no. 74 (KPS C10).
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:20:06 GMT
Similarly, on October 9, 1996, a stamp was issued for the 550th Anniversary of the introduction of Hangul. This remains one of my favorite Korean stamps. I really like the dark brown block letters on plain white with the simple light blue country name, year and denomination. To me this is a well designed and attractive stamp. The Scott no. is 1889 (KPS C1428) In addition to the individual postage stamp, a commemorative souvenir sheet was issued, Scott no. 1889a (KPS C1428a. s/s) with additional design elements in the form of a spiral created by the block Korean script.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:21:03 GMT
Less attractive, in my opinion, is this stamp issued in commemoration of Hangul Day, Scott no. 2232 (KPS C1954), issued on October 9, 2006. It is possible Korea will start issuing a stamp every 10 years for Hangul Day but this is speculation on my part. This stamp, however, does touch on the idea that King Sejong based the shape of his alphabet on the articulation points in the human mouth which is shown by the background profile often seen in phonetics textbooks.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:22:59 GMT
I lived in Korea for almost 8 years from 1988 to 1996 and met my wife there. In 2018, we visited my wife's family but also had a lot of free time to do tourist-type stuff. Our first day was spent touring the area near our hotel in northern Seoul and so we took a walk down Sejong-ro (Sejong Way or Boulevard in this case) and came to this large statue of King Sejong on his throne in the middle of the boulevard.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:24:10 GMT
King Sejong's statue is situated just south of the entrance to his palace, Gyeongbokgung. This is that entrance.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:26:26 GMT
This is Gyeongbokgung itself. A very popular tourist destination.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:27:41 GMT
And, finally, this is the throne room where King Sejong would have held court.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:28:52 GMT
For the millenium, from 1999 to 2001, a series of large format souvenir sheets were issued commemorating significant events and people in Korean history. Scott no. 1973 (KPS C1575-C1579) including the stamps 1973a to 1973e plus a center bottom label, was issued to commemorate the Early Chosun or Yi Dynasty. This sheet includes 1973a, King Sejong with Hangul as a backdrop.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 2:29:58 GMT
King Sejong's legacy was recognized in 2000 with the addition of the Hunmincheongeon manuscript and the Annals of the Chosun Dynasty to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This occasion was celebrated with the issuance of a beautiful set of lithographed and engraved stamps depicting King Sejong and the two manuscripts. The Scott no. is 2042 (KPS C1626 and C1627) for the sheet of 8 stamps and 2042a and 2042b for the two different stamps contained in the sheet.
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Philatarium
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Post by Philatarium on Jun 7, 2019 5:21:43 GMT
Wow! What a great presentation, Darrin! ( darkormex) Thanks for taking the time to write this up!
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tobben63
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Post by tobben63 on Jun 7, 2019 8:50:26 GMT
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Jerry B
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Post by Jerry B on Jun 7, 2019 8:59:33 GMT
Hi darkormex
Fantastic write up and very very interesting. Thanks for writing this.
Jerry B
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Jun 7, 2019 10:40:51 GMT
Wow! What a great presentation, Darrin! ( darkormex ) Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Thank you. It certainly looks better here than on my own FB page. I had been working on it over the last couple of days, hiding it from my timeline until complete, but when I finally posted the whole album, the results were disappointing. It is just not a nice presentation on FB.
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brightonpete
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Post by brightonpete on Jun 7, 2019 19:18:54 GMT
Thanks for the history of these stamps, darkormex. It is very interesting to hear the story behind the stamps!
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angore
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Post by angore on Jun 8, 2019 10:15:47 GMT
This could have been or could be an article in the newsletter.
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Admin
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Post by Admin on Jun 8, 2019 12:11:08 GMT
It has already been formatted for inclusion in the July - September issue.
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Post by outremer01 on Aug 18, 2019 19:22:55 GMT
A superb summary of the birth of Hangul, well worthy of inclusion in the newsletter. I never managed much Korean beyond basic greetings, answering the phone, ordering a beer, getting a receipt and writing my name in Hangul. When I opened a bank account, it was explained that I couldn't sign documents, but would need a chop, or rubber stamp,
with my name in Hangul characters as a unique identifier. I duly went (with minder) to a shop to get one made,
and this was the result.
My name reads clockwise from the aircraft symbol (I was attached to the Republic of Korea Air Force)
Phi-li-p Le Pa-(i)g-e
I can't remember what the Chinese symbol in the centre says, although I think it might be "good luck".
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Aug 18, 2019 19:37:13 GMT
I can't remember what the Chinese symbol in the centre says, although I seem to recall it might be "good luck".
Yes, you are correct. That is the Hanja (Chinese character set used in Korea) symbol for "good luck" or fortune. In Korean it is pronounced "Bok" with the vowel being the long "O" vowel sound. If you were to use hangeul to spell this word it would look like this...복. The character in your chop is stylized and made to look as if it is hand drawn rather than formal type-face. Here is a good summary from Wikipedia: 복 • (bok) (hanja 福) fortune, blessing, luck a figurative word for a large share of something to be allotted 당신은 돈복이 많군요. Dangsineun donbogi mankunyo. you are blessed with money and fortune. 나는 인복이 많다. Naneun inbogi manta. I have a lot of good people around me.
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Post by outremer01 on Aug 18, 2019 19:46:01 GMT
Thanks, Darrin, my memory is good, but it's short! I was trying to find Hangul characters on my PC, but they haven't been installed on this build.
The "f" sound, as in Phil, is not present in Korean so pronunciation of my name was always "Pil", or else they called me by my surname, with a "y" on the end, so "Le Pagey"! Coffee shops always sounded like "copy shop", which confused me for a while.
Once explained to me, the rules in Hangul were generally simple and rigid unlike in English, but I never worked out why my Warrant Officer, whose name was written "Roh" was always referred to as "Noh".
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Aug 18, 2019 20:20:12 GMT
Once explained to me, the rules in Hangul were generally simple and rigid unlike in English, but I never worked out why my Warrant Officer, whose name was written "Roh" was always referred to as "Noh". That is because the "r" sound as it is pronounced in English is not the same in Korean. The Korean "r" or "l" sound is pronounced with a quick touch of the tongue to the alveolar ridge directly behind the teeth, similar to but not the same as an English "n" sound. The "n" in English, however, is more of a sustained touch. There are few words that actually begin with the "r" sound in Korean and most of these words are borrowings from other languages. What is odder to me is that this gentleman chose to transliterate his name using "r" as opposed to "n" since there is no common surname that I am aware of that is spelled "Ro" or in hangeul, 로. His surname would have been spelled "No" or in hangeul, 노. But I have seen this before and he is not the only Korean who chooses to use "r" instead of "n". Also, thank you for your compliments regarding my piece about the creation of Hangeul. I am glad you like it.
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darkormex
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Post by darkormex on Sept 1, 2019 1:38:05 GMT
My wife alerted me tonight that a Korean movie has been posted on Youtube called The King's Letters. It is a dramatic presentation of King Sejong and the creation of the Korean Script, hangeul. It looks really good. Here is a link in case you are interested in watching it. It has English subtitles available. The King's Letters
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