Monthly Archives: July 2020

Brief History of Hangeul, The Korean Alphabet

In 1446, King Sejong the Great proclaimed that a new alphabet would be put in place in Joseon (1392-1897). Before this, Chinese characters, called hanja, were used in Korea as the writing system. Memorizing and writing the complicated characters lead many people to be illiterate, especially the commoners and the poor. King Sejong wanted to create a system that would… Read more »

Juryeonggu – 14-sided dice

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Juryeonggu (주령구) is a 14-sided Korean drinking game dice from the Unified Silla period, about 668 to 935 AD. The hanja, or Chinese characters with Korean pronunciation, for the name ju-ryeong-gu are 酒令具, meaning “liquor”, “command”, and “tool”. A die made of oak was found in a pond in Gyeongju, South Korea in 1975, but was accidentally destroyed while drying… Read more »