L | A (Translated with ChatGPT)
By Oh In-hwan
"The Power of Reading Hanja Characters for Elementary School - Making Textbooks Easier: The ultimate Hanja study guide for improving vocabulary, reading comprehension, and thinking skills"
The statement "Hangul is great" is true. However, that does not mean we should only use Hangul.
While Hangul is great, it is not the only great writing system. Hangul cannot replace mathematical symbols and Arabic numerals, nor can it accurately express the sounds of F and V. It is certainly true that "Hangul is great," but it is not true that "only Hangul is great."
We have long surpassed the Bronze Age, yet we still use bronze in various fields like mechanical industry, electrical industry, and art. If asked what the main use is, one could answer that it is "not stone," but discovering something better does not mean it replaces everything.
Chinese characters (Hanja) began around 3300 years ago, in the 14th century BCE. After 2700 years, Hangul was created. The discovery of Hangul was revolutionary, but it cannot express everything by itself.
Chinese characters clearly have advantages. They make it easy to form nouns. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." Humans understand the world through language and communicate through it. The range of the language we use limits the world we can understand.
In other words, language is an important tool for forming the world we experience and contemplate. As language develops, our thinking and worldview expand. Therefore, having many tools that make up language is correspondingly important.
So, what is language composed of? It is made up of "words." We call having many words "vocabulary." What is most important in vocabulary? It is "nouns." Nouns are extremely important. The more types of nouns there are, the broader the expression of language becomes. Nouns represent people, objects, concepts, etc., and the more these nouns are subdivided, the more accurate the expression can be.
For example, the general noun "animal" can be divided into more specific nouns like "lion," "tiger," and "cat." Further, "cat" can be subdivided into "Persian," "Siamese," and "Sphynx." The more diverse nouns we know, the more precise and rich our expressions can be.
In this way, the more types of nouns there are, the more we can distinguish and convey our thoughts more finely. Saying "a mammal is standing" is much less clear than "a cat is standing," and even more precise is "a Sphynx cat is standing."
Chinese characters are a writing system very favorable for nominalization. We can change the expression "the surface and the heart are different" into the noun "pyo-ri-bu-dong" (표리부동) (Duplicitous).
It is very important that a concept has been nominalized. In language, all nouns can be turned into verbs. "Computer" becomes "to compute," "Google" becomes "to Google," and "soccer" becomes "to play soccer," etc.
Again, all verbs can be turned into adjectives. For example, "Googling," "playing soccer," "computing," etc. These adjectives can then be turned into adverbs. For instance, "to Google," "in order to play soccer," "in a computable manner," and so on.
Thus, "pyo-ri-bu-dong" (표리부동) becomes "pyo-ri-bu-dong-ha-da" (표리부동하다) (to be duplicitous) and can infinitely expand into "pyo-ri-bu-dong-han" (표리부동한) (that which is duplicitous) and "pyo-ri-bu-dong-ha-ge" (표리부동하게) (in a duplicitous manner), etc.
Human knowledge expands through "classification." Nearly all sciences, excluding physics, are closely related to "taxonomy," where subjects are classified and meticulously organized, giving rise to "science." Therefore, naming in language is very important.
For the past 3,000 years, we have been naming and verbalizing through Hanja characters. In this sense, not knowing Hanja restricts our language, which is akin to narrowing our world.
Some people refer to Hanja characters as "Chinese writing" and avoid using them. However, this argument remains silent when it comes to "Arabic numerals," "the alphabet," or "mathematical symbols." The strong aversion to Japanese and Chinese characters might stem from a historical sense of inferiority.
First and foremost, Hanja characters are not "Chinese writing." China has a "territorial-centered historical perspective." In other words, all history that has occurred within the current territory of China is considered "Chinese history." In our case, we have a "ethnic-centered historical perspective." This perspective focuses on the history experienced by an ethnicity, irrespective of territory.
While the difference in these historical perspectives may seem minor, it can lead to significant conflicts.
From the perspective of Chinese history, Goguryeo's history occurred within the territory of China, thus making it Chinese history. However, from our perspective, Goguryeo is part of our ethnic history, as it is a history experienced by the Korean people. This merely illustrates a difference in methods of understanding history.
Therefore, from the perspective of Chinese history, Hanja characters are considered Chinese writing because they originated within China. However, from our historical viewpoint, they are also our writing, as our people have used them for a long time. This can be likened to the differing perspectives of China and Korea regarding the history of Goguryeo.
In fact, "writing" has no inherent "nationality." Recently, the words "누나" (nuna, older sister) and "오빠" (oppa, older brother) were added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Now, "nuna" and "oppa" are not only part of the Korean language but also part of the English language.
Sometimes, we assign "nationality" to "culture." We ask questions like, "What country does sushi belong to?" or "What country does hamburger come from?" and "What country does kimchi belong to?" However, this is quite challenging to delineate.
It's akin to trying to identify the first person who placed raw fish on rice, the first person who put ham between two pieces of bread, or the first person who seasoned fermented vegetables with spicy condiments.
This issue revolves around where a food has gained popularity, and questioning its origins is rather unproductive. Regardless, we generally associate sushi with Japan, kimchi with Korea, and hamburgers with the United States because these foods have become popular in those countries.
So, what about Hanja characters?
While Chinese characters are indeed the most popular in China, they are a shared culture in East Asia. In fact, the characters used in Korea, China, and Japan are different and were developed and utilized in their own unique ways. Therefore, while there is a correlation between Chinese characters and China, it does not define the identity of Hanja characters. Their identity is firmly rooted in our culture.
In other words, studying and using Hanja characters allows us to understand ourselves better.
By Oh In-hwan
"The Power of Reading Hanja Characters for Elementary School - Making Textbooks Easier: The ultimate Hanja study guide for improving vocabulary, reading comprehension, and thinking skills"
The statement "Hangul is great" is true. However, that does not mean we should only use Hangul.
While Hangul is great, it is not the only great writing system. Hangul cannot replace mathematical symbols and Arabic numerals, nor can it accurately express the sounds of F and V. It is certainly true that "Hangul is great," but it is not true that "only Hangul is great."
We have long surpassed the Bronze Age, yet we still use bronze in various fields like mechanical industry, electrical industry, and art. If asked what the main use is, one could answer that it is "not stone," but discovering something better does not mean it replaces everything.
Chinese characters (Hanja) began around 3300 years ago, in the 14th century BCE. After 2700 years, Hangul was created. The discovery of Hangul was revolutionary, but it cannot express everything by itself.
Chinese characters clearly have advantages. They make it easy to form nouns. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." Humans understand the world through language and communicate through it. The range of the language we use limits the world we can understand.
In other words, language is an important tool for forming the world we experience and contemplate. As language develops, our thinking and worldview expand. Therefore, having many tools that make up language is correspondingly important.
So, what is language composed of? It is made up of "words." We call having many words "vocabulary." What is most important in vocabulary? It is "nouns." Nouns are extremely important. The more types of nouns there are, the broader the expression of language becomes. Nouns represent people, objects, concepts, etc., and the more these nouns are subdivided, the more accurate the expression can be.
For example, the general noun "animal" can be divided into more specific nouns like "lion," "tiger," and "cat." Further, "cat" can be subdivided into "Persian," "Siamese," and "Sphynx." The more diverse nouns we know, the more precise and rich our expressions can be.
In this way, the more types of nouns there are, the more we can distinguish and convey our thoughts more finely. Saying "a mammal is standing" is much less clear than "a cat is standing," and even more precise is "a Sphynx cat is standing."
Chinese characters are a writing system very favorable for nominalization. We can change the expression "the surface and the heart are different" into the noun "pyo-ri-bu-dong" (표리부동) (Duplicitous).
It is very important that a concept has been nominalized. In language, all nouns can be turned into verbs. "Computer" becomes "to compute," "Google" becomes "to Google," and "soccer" becomes "to play soccer," etc.
Again, all verbs can be turned into adjectives. For example, "Googling," "playing soccer," "computing," etc. These adjectives can then be turned into adverbs. For instance, "to Google," "in order to play soccer," "in a computable manner," and so on.
Thus, "pyo-ri-bu-dong" (표리부동) becomes "pyo-ri-bu-dong-ha-da" (표리부동하다) (to be duplicitous) and can infinitely expand into "pyo-ri-bu-dong-han" (표리부동한) (that which is duplicitous) and "pyo-ri-bu-dong-ha-ge" (표리부동하게) (in a duplicitous manner), etc.
Human knowledge expands through "classification." Nearly all sciences, excluding physics, are closely related to "taxonomy," where subjects are classified and meticulously organized, giving rise to "science." Therefore, naming in language is very important.
For the past 3,000 years, we have been naming and verbalizing through Hanja characters. In this sense, not knowing Hanja restricts our language, which is akin to narrowing our world.
Some people refer to Hanja characters as "Chinese writing" and avoid using them. However, this argument remains silent when it comes to "Arabic numerals," "the alphabet," or "mathematical symbols." The strong aversion to Japanese and Chinese characters might stem from a historical sense of inferiority.
First and foremost, Hanja characters are not "Chinese writing." China has a "territorial-centered historical perspective." In other words, all history that has occurred within the current territory of China is considered "Chinese history." In our case, we have a "ethnic-centered historical perspective." This perspective focuses on the history experienced by an ethnicity, irrespective of territory.
While the difference in these historical perspectives may seem minor, it can lead to significant conflicts.
From the perspective of Chinese history, Goguryeo's history occurred within the territory of China, thus making it Chinese history. However, from our perspective, Goguryeo is part of our ethnic history, as it is a history experienced by the Korean people. This merely illustrates a difference in methods of understanding history.
Therefore, from the perspective of Chinese history, Hanja characters are considered Chinese writing because they originated within China. However, from our historical viewpoint, they are also our writing, as our people have used them for a long time. This can be likened to the differing perspectives of China and Korea regarding the history of Goguryeo.
In fact, "writing" has no inherent "nationality." Recently, the words "누나" (nuna, older sister) and "오빠" (oppa, older brother) were added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Now, "nuna" and "oppa" are not only part of the Korean language but also part of the English language.
Sometimes, we assign "nationality" to "culture." We ask questions like, "What country does sushi belong to?" or "What country does hamburger come from?" and "What country does kimchi belong to?" However, this is quite challenging to delineate.
It's akin to trying to identify the first person who placed raw fish on rice, the first person who put ham between two pieces of bread, or the first person who seasoned fermented vegetables with spicy condiments.
This issue revolves around where a food has gained popularity, and questioning its origins is rather unproductive. Regardless, we generally associate sushi with Japan, kimchi with Korea, and hamburgers with the United States because these foods have become popular in those countries.
So, what about Hanja characters?
While Chinese characters are indeed the most popular in China, they are a shared culture in East Asia. In fact, the characters used in Korea, China, and Japan are different and were developed and utilized in their own unique ways. Therefore, while there is a correlation between Chinese characters and China, it does not define the identity of Hanja characters. Their identity is firmly rooted in our culture.
In other words, studying and using Hanja characters allows us to understand ourselves better.
