Abstract

Hak San 鶴山 Yi Jeong-ho 李正浩 conceptualized and drew the “Hunminjeongeum-do” 訓民正音圖 (Diagram of Hunminjeongeum) using the basic initial consonants and 11 medial vowels of Hunminjeongeum 訓民正音 (It is the Korean alphabet, also called Hangeul). In the process, he added several strokes that were not part of the 28 letters of Hunminjeongeum to the “Hunminjeongeum-do” to emphasize the shapes of stars. This was intended to demonstrate the similarity between the “ Hunminjeongeum-do” and the “Jeongyeok Eight Trigrams Diagram” (正易八卦圖), thereby suggesting that the Zhouyi 周易 philosophy embedded in the creation of Hunminjeongeum inherently contains the Jeongyeok 正易 (Correct Zhouyi) philosophy. Furthermore, he created the Celestial Diagram of Hunminjeongeum using the 28 Lunar Mansions of the ecliptic, which he referred to as the Jeongeum cheonmun-do 正音天文圖. In this diagram, he included the two central positions, elevated as the Emperor of Heaven and the Great Emperor, and applied a 30- day month calendar using all of these elements. In fact, it is based on the discussion in the Jeongyeok regarding the “Diagram of the 28 Lunar Mansions’ Energy Flow chart” (二十八宿運氣圖). The Jeongeum cheonmun-do can be found to contain similar concepts to those in the records of astronomical calendrical science from the Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋, written during the Warring States period in China, and the “ Yaodian” 堯典 chapter of the Shujing 書經. Moreover, it is closely related to the circular diagram of the Fuxi 64 Hexagrams and also shares commonality with the star illustrations found in the Cheonsang yeolcha bunyajido 天象列次分 野之圖, a celestial map engraved in the early Joseon Dynasty. Haksan sought to demonstrate through the Jeongeum cheonmundo that ‘the intention of King Sejong, the Sage King, to illuminate the Heavenly Way and care for the affairs of the people upon his ascension to the throne is revealed in the creation of the miraculous letters Hunminjeongeum, and that the spirit of its creation embodies the Confucian concept of the Heavenly Way.’