Proverbs are known to have been widely used in Korea since the period of Three Kingdoms.
The proverb found in “Samgukyusa” (“Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms”) is the first one in all the existing historical documents. At that time it was called “rion”. After that it was given the name “sangon” and it has been called “soktam” (Korean pronunciation of “proverb”) since the middle years of the feudal Joson dynasty.
The first book of proverbs in Korea is “Sunoji” (by Hong Man Jong) published in the seventeenth century. It has a collection of more than 130 proverbs that were popular in those days. Later, “Paekonhae” (by Ri Ik), “Yangyopki” (by Ri Tok Mu), “Idamsokchan” (by Jong Yak Yong), etc. were compiled.
The first proverb dictionary written in Korean is “Joson Rion” compiled by Choe Won Sik in 1913, which has over 900 proverbs. Later, several proverb books were compiled.
After liberation, “Book of Korean Idioms and Proverbs”, “Book of Korean Proverbs”, “Korean Proverbs”, “Dictionary of Korean Idioms and Proverbs”, etc. were compiled and published.
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