Sinji letters are the first national letters made after several stages of letter life as a result of a long time of thinking and painstaking inquiry of the ancient Korean people who created their own language Korean to use as a powerful weapon for struggle and creation in the remote past.
Sinji letters were invented by a man called Sin Ji in Ancient Korea. The word sinji meant a big man, so it usually referred to a ruler, a master or a boss. In the historical records, the word sinji is written in several Chinese characters ―神誌 (sinji), 神志(sinji), 巨智(koji), etc. ― which have no connections with the meanings of each character but are of the same sound as the native Korean word sinji. Sinji letters are also recorded as wangmun (王文), which means that they were used by rulers including kings. It reflects the social and historical characteristics of the past societies like a slave society where the ruling classes used to hog letters, and at the same time it has some connections with the meaning of the name “sinji letters”.
Historical books “Kyuwonsahwa” and “Pyongyangji” have some records associated with sinji letters. In later national classics “Haedongryoktaemyonggaphilbo” and “Nyongbyonji” are recorded sixteen of the sinji letters of Ancient Korea, which became widely known to the world. Due to the lack of the remaining data, things like the number and system of the sinji letters, sound values of each letter and norm of use have not been fully illuminated yet. However, it is clear from the form of the letters that they were phonetic and syllabic letters and they were written downwards. The fact that similar letters are engraved on several archaeological relics such as earthenware of Ancient Korea and blocks of Rangnang old tombs proves that sinji letters were widely used in Ancient Korea.
In conclusion, sinji letters convincingly demonstrate that the Korean nation is a resourceful nation that created their independent national letters as early as in ancient times and developed their own unique civilization on the basis of them.
Kim Kwang Jo, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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