Idu (Korean: 이두; Hanja: 吏讀; lit. ''official's reading'') was a writing system developed during the Three Kingdoms period of Korea (57 BC – 668 AD) to write the Korean language using Chinese characters ("hanja"). It used Hanja to represent both native Korean words and grammatical morphemes as well as Chinese loanwords. The script, which was developed by Buddhist monks, made it possible to record Korean words through their equivalent meaning or sound in Chinese. It was used primarily to write official documents and the imperial examinations from 958 to 1894 AD. The term idu may refer to various systems of representing Korean phonology through hanja, which were used from the early Three Kingdoms to Joseon periods. In this sense, it includes hyangchal, the local writing system used to write vernacular poetry and gugyeol writing. Its narrow sense only refers to idu proper or the system developed in Goryeo (918–1392), and first referred to by that name in the Jewang ungi.
History
The Idu script developed during the Three Kingdoms period of Korea between 57 BC and 668 AD. It was used for writing official documents and the imperial examinations from 958 to 1894 AD. The Idu script was used to write both native Korean expressions as well as Chinese characters (Hanja) that still retained their original meaning and Chinese pronunciation (loanwords). The basic words were commonly Chinese in origin, written in Hanja, and pronounced approximately in the same way as in Chinese (on). However unlike Classical Chinese, the Idu script also incorporated Korean words and Korean grammatical morphemes represented using Hanja that only retained their pronunciation but not their original meaning. They were used purely for their phonetic values to represent Korean expressions. The Idu script was written in Korean grammatical word order. Aside from writing official documents and imperial examinations, the Idu script was also used to clarify Chinese government documents written in Classical Chinese so that they could be understood by Korean readers, to teach Koreans Classical Chinese, and to translate Chinese documents such as the Ming legal code and the Essentials of agriculture and sericulture (Nongsan jiyao) (ordered by the King Taejong in 1414).
Example The following example is from the 1415 book Yangjam Gyeongheom Chwaryo (양잠경험촬요; 養蠶經驗撮要, lit. 'Collected Summary of the Experiences of Silkworm Cultivation').
See also Korean language Hunminjeongeum Kanbun Man'yōgana
References
Lee, Peter H., ed. (2003). A History of Korean Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521828581. Nam Pung-hyeon (남풍현) (2000), Idu Study [吏讀研究], Seoul, Korea: Taehak Publishing (太學社)
Bibliography Li, Yu (2020), The Chinese Writing System in Asia
