There were many complications
in the history of designation of Han-geul Day on 9th
October as today. Since King Sejong performed the
project of inventing Han-geul secretly, there is no
evident record related to the invention of Han-geul
even in the authentic history. Although it is common
to record the events connected with kings with exact
dates, the record related to invention of Han-geul
is not seen at all in the authentic history until
the end of December of 1443(King Sejong 25). It just
says without the date that 'the king invented 28 Un
Mun(언문) this month'.
And then after 3 years, at the end of September
1446(King Sejong 28), the record 'Hoon Min Jung Um(훈민정음)
was completed this month' is seen without the date,
either. These two records confused contemporary scholars
a bit. So, they interpreted that Han-geul was first
invented in December of 1443 but it was completed
in September of 1446 after 3 years of modification
and supplement. Thus they thought it would be better
to take the invention time of Han-geul September 1446
rather than December 1443. Since the exact date of
September was not recorded in the authentic history
however, they just assumed the last day of the month
and fixed Han-geul Day on 29th of October by converting
it into solar calendar.
In 1940's, Bang Jong Hyun(방종현) pointed
out the record of September 1446 should be interpreted
as meaning completion of the book {Hoon Min Jung Um(훈민정음)}
(so called HaeRyeBon(해례본)) rather than completion
of Han-geul itself as letters. Being embarrassed,
the scholars who misinterpreted the record of September
1446 made an excuse that the designation of Han-geul
Day was not totally wrong because Hoon Min Jung Um
was promulgated in September 1446.
Thereupon Han-geul Day had been maintained on
29th of October. However, the assertion that Hoon
Min Jung Um was promulgated in September 1446 is also
groundless. The record of September 1446 is about
reporting the completion of a manuscript of HaeRyeBon(해례본)
to King Sejong. It usually took several months for
the books to be published and granted to the vassals
even after a manuscript was completed. Consequently,
Hoon Min Jung Um could never have been promulgated
in September 1446.
Even though there are some places in which hang the
picture 'the promulgation of Hoon Min Jung Um' on
the wall, there is no record of any official events
of promulgation of Hoon Min Jung Um by King Sejong.
In short, designation of Han-geul Day on 29th of October
stemmed from misinterpretation of historical records.
The original copy of Hoon Min Jung Um HaeRyeBon(훈민정음
해례본) was found afterwards. The date is written
as 'the first part of September in the 28th
year of King Sejong' in the preface by Jung
In Ji. Although it was not the exact date either,
it provided them with the necessity to shift approximately
20 days ahead from the last day of September. Therefore,
Han-geul Day was fixed on the 9th of October moving
20 days ahead from 29th of October.
Although there were a lot of meanderings and happenings
in the process of designation of Han-geul Day, it
is true that all Korean people need a commemoration
day to remember the intention of King Sejong and the
scientific excellence of Han-geul. It is said that
a linguist in the United States throw a party every
year to commemorate the day on which the greatest
character in the world was invented. Not only on Han-geul
Day, but sometimes we need to be grateful to Han-geul
for allowing us to live more comfortable lives.