|
On the contrary, to disjoint syllables into single
letters and write from left to write, is a suggestion
to change the shape of Hangeul that can be called
a revolution. Surprisingly,this suggestion appeared
as early as 1914, in ?Mare Sori?(The Sounds of
Speech, 말의 소리, 1914) by Chu Shi-Gy?ng. If we read
the last page, entitled ‘Review on Writing Hangeul
from Left to Right’(우리 글의 가로 쓰는 익힘), we encounter
the last sentence: writing from left to right
is good to write and print. It is clear evidence
that he considered horizontal writing as an ideal
of Korean spelling reform. This horizontal writing
system was in fact used in (1) a certificate of
completion(맞힌 보람) (배달 말 글 몯음 서울온몯음) given in 1913
and (2) a certificate of completion(마친 보람) (서울한글배곧)
given in 1915. All three seals stamped on (1),
were written by horizontal writing. What is important
is the fact (1) was given a year before the publication
of ?Mare Sori?(말의 소리).10)
Chu Shi-Gyong’s idea was followed
by his disciples, of whom Kim Tu-Bong and Choi
Hy?n-Bae were the most enthusiastic. The former
presented his personal opinion on writing from
left to right titled as ‘good writing’(좋을 글) in
an appendix of ?Kipt? Chos?nmalbon?(깁더 조선말본, 1934).
This is believed to be the first contrivance of
the handwriting style named ‘H?llim K?lssi’(cursive
style).11)
According to the preface of ?K?lchae Hy?ngmy?ng?(글자의
혁명, A Revolution of Letters), in the summer of
1922 the latter lectured on his personal opinion
about the horizontal writing of Hangeul, and he
announced it in the ?Tonga-Ilbo?(Tonga daily newspaper,
東亞日報). A paper by Kim Yun-Gy?ng (1937) introduced
Choi's real handwritings with horizontal writing
reported in the ?Chos?n-Ilbo?(Chos?n daily newspaper,
朝鮮日報, November 18～19, 1926). Especially, Choi
studied horizontal writing in Hamh?ng prison and
after the independence of Korea reported the result
in the above-mentioned in A Revolution of Letters,
and finally published ?Hangeul Karog?lssi Tokpon?(한글
가로글씨 독본, A Textbook for Hangeul Horizontal Writing)
in 1963. His belief and tenacity was revealed
in the first and last paragraph of the preface
of revised edition(고친 박음의 머리에) written at the
time of the publication of revised edition. I,
in Hamh?ng prison, achieved the result of a some
decade-long research on horizontal writing of
Hangeul, and at the cost of my own life I conveyed
it to the outer world for the reference of my
descendants. And I sincerely hope its practice……
On the New Year of 1954, I publish the second
edition of this book with great expectation and
inexhaustible passion and I hope that the rapid
realization of writing revolution in our nation
will make our progress of new culture accelerate.
It seems that the concern for
horizontal writing and disjointing syllables was
heightened in the earlier part of the twenties
and thirties. During this period two personal
opinions of Lee Phil-Su and Kim S?k-Kon were presented,
and the Linguistic Society of Chos?n, this subject
having been brought forth, made its members submit
their personal opinions. Its improvised meeting
decided to adopt a typeface style which preserved
the original shapes of Hangeul as much as possible
(please refer to the article of Kim Yun-Gy?ng's(1937)).
This decision made possible that the front cover
of a coterie magazine, ?Hangeul? saw the horizontal
writing from the volume 5-1 published at the outset
of the year 1937. Considering the fact that horizontal
writing appeared in the index of A Collection
of Judged Korean Standard Words (사정한 조선어 표준말 모음),
this system had already been somewhat acknowledged
before this decision.
Even after the independence of Korea, the writing
reform movement of horizontal writing and disjointing
syllables once seemed to wield power. It was because
they felt that the graphic shapes of Hangeul did
not fit mechanical engineering with the spread
of typewriters. The article of Choi Hy?n-Bae's(1947)
thought it the most important. However, horizontal
writing and disjointing syllables failed to get
wide support from academic circles and social
groups. The chief basis for horizontal writing
and disjointing syllables was that joining syllable
units caused heavy discomfort for mechanical engineering.
This discomfort was enormously mitigated with
the appearance of the computer, but all the related
problems were not solved.12)
The present author believes that
as the mechanical engineering goes further, the
day when there is no problem at all will certainly
come. If we changed the graphic shapes of our
letters for mechanical reasons, it would be or
foolish or having an operation on your feet to
make your shoes fit better. (Lee Ki-Moon , 1968). |
