On October 9th 1443, the Korean king Sejong starts a large-scale project: the creation of an alphabet specific to the Korean language. This, in order allow its people to fully express themselves through writing. He also wants to break away from the hanja, the traditional Chinese characters used until then by the aristocrats. It will take him three years to build a simple alphabet aligned with the phonetics of the Korean language.

The official declaration of the new hangeul alphabet is stated in the Hunminjeongeum, a document describing the use of the new written language. This will mark a step in the independence of South Korea both with respect to China and to Japan. Hence, the use of a new way of writing down their own language allows the Korean people to find their own identity.

The poet Hwang Geum-Chan, born during the Japanese occupation, writes:

"The Hangeul is the home of our language.
Receiving the will of heaven,
I thank forever whoever built
A house for our language."

"한글은
우리말의 집이다.
하늘의 뜻을 받아
우리말의 집을 지으신 분에게
나는 영원히 감사를 드린다."

Many attempts were needed before finding « the right sound to educate the people ». Once the alphabet was chosen, people start using it with calligraphy brushes. The writing then releases unexpected accords: the smell of bamboo wood mingles with the animal notes of goat hair (allowing a maximum absorption of ink and water). These notes finally join the ink ones, which are nowadays reproduced through a clever mix of aldehydes and castoreum.

Discover below our fragrances evoking the olfactory world of writing.