| Idu script | |
 A page from the 19th-century yuseopilji. | |
| Korean name | |
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| Hangul | 이두 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Idu |
| McCune–Reischauer | Idu |
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| Korean writing systems |
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| Hangul |
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| Hanja |
| Mixed script |
| Braille |
| Transcription |
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| Chinese characters |
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Collation and standards
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Homographs and readings |
Idu (Korean: 이두;Hanja: 吏讀;lit. 'official's reading') was awriting system developed during theThree Kingdoms period of Korea (57 BC-668 AD) to write theKorean language usingChinese 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 theimperial examinations from 958 AD-1894 AD.[1]
The termidu may refer to various systems of representingKorean phonology through hanja, which were used from the earlyThree Kingdoms toJoseon periods. In this sense, it includeshyangchal,[2] the local writing system used to write vernacular poetry[2] andgugyeol writing. Its narrow sense only refers toidu proper[3] or the system developed in theGoryeo (918–1392), and first referred to by name in theJewang ungi.
The Idu script developed during theThree Kingdoms period of Korea between 57 BC-668 AD. It was used for writing official documents and the imperial examinations from 958 AD-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.[4][5][6]
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,[7] to teach Koreans Classical Chinese, and to translate Chinese documents such as the Ming legal code and theEssentials of agriculture and sericulture (Nongsan jiyao) (ordered by theKing Taejong in 1414).[8]
The following example is from the 1415 bookYangjam Gyeongheom Chwaryo (양잠경험촬요;養蠶經驗撮要, lit. 'Collected Summary of the Experiences of Silkworm Cultivation').
| Literary Chinese | 蠶陽物大惡水故食而不飮 |
|---|---|
| Idu transcription | 蠶段陽物是乎等用良水氣乙厭却桑葉叱分喫破爲遣飮水不冬 |
| Old Korean | 蠶ᄯᆞᆫ 陽物이온ᄃᆞ로ᄡᅥ 水氣ᄅᆞᆯ 厭却 桑葉ᄲᅮᆫ 喫破ᄒᆞ고 飮水안ᄃᆞᆯ |
| Modern Korean | 누에는 양물로써, 물기를 싫어해, 뽕잎만 먹고, 물을 마시지않는다. |
| Meaning | Silkworm isYang (positive) animal, it doesn't like water'sgi, so it eats mulberry leaves but not drinks water. |
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