Lee,+Ji+Young+(Gina)BlockD

King Sejong's moto for/to the Byungin Lee's family hold

//** Interview: **// I went over to my grandfather's house and asked him some questions about the moto written by King Sejong because he was the one who gave me this artifact (he got it from his grandfather and his grandfather got it from his grandfather and so on...). Since my grandfather could only speak Korean, this interview is an English version that I've translated.


 * Q1: ** Where did you get this artifact? Did you buy it?
 * A1: ** No, my grandpa gave it to me..Meaning that I didn't buy it...


 * Q2: ** What exactly does the moto say?
 * A2: ** It says "Ga Jeong Chong Baek Sae Soo Choong Gwon."


 * Q3: ** How many words is that? Are there 8 words?
 * A3: ** These are all different words but the first four characters added up together means something different from the next four characters.


 * Q4: ** So what does the first four characters mean?
 * A4: ** It means to purify yourself, meaning, not to be greedy.


 * Q5: ** Then, may I ask you, what does the next four characters mean?
 * A5: ** It means to show patriotism and solute towards our country.


 * Q6: ** Is there anything you want to add to those two questions?
 * A6: ** Well, the first four characters are directed towards our households and the last four characters are directed towards our country... That's all...


 * Q7: ** Why do you live by this moto?
 * A7: ** In Korean traditions, normally people follow their ancestors motos of living.


 * Q8: ** Are you sure this is real?
 * A8: ** I absolutely positively sure. See this paper, it's really old, they don't come from these days... It's very brittle and fragile.


 * Q9: ** Do I have to live by this moto?
 * A9: ** I guess you don't HAVE to...But, it would be good if you did because it's a moto that has been passed on for years. If you stop living by this moto now, our family's history on this moto would end right here. So, it's up to you...

Me: Thank you grandpa~ See you later! Grandfather: Bye!!

Secondary Sources (from books; written sources):



 * Brief Description of Source: ** First of all, the two pictures above are types of writing pieces that King Sejong has written (They are from two book that I had). Secondly, the picture shown below is a moto that my dad's side of the family (The Lee family) lived by. The moto is written on a delicate piece of paper from the old days by King Sejong. It was given to one of my ancestor and was passed on from generations to generations since then.

Primary Source (Artifact):



 * Source Type: **The artifact right above is 100% a primary source because it was passed on from generations to generations. King Sejong was the person to write this moto. One of my ancestors, Byunkgin Lee (where I get my last name from) worked under/with King Sejong (and was close with him) and so, Lee received this from him as a gift. Basically the artifact itself is a primary source from the actual King, Sejong. The other two books above the "Brief Description of the Source" are Korean history textbooks, which are secondary sources. It is so because the history textbooks contain pictures of artifacts from the past.


 * Short Explanation of the Source’s Significance to the Event: ** The significance of this moto is that my family has been living under this same moto for years. It is interesting how the actual King, Sejong wrote this because having something from one of the most famous people during the old times is very unique. King Sejong was the 1st person to invent Korean writing (not Japanese, not Chinese, but actual Korean writing). He had created this moto for one of my ancestors, and once something has been made, it is ment to be followed...(The other two books just show the other types of writings King Sejong had made)


 * Written Recount of the Event: **Although the artifact above is known by the Byukgin Lee's ancestry, it is not known as well as the Korean War, Japanese invasion, and etc (but this is only because the artifact/life moto, was ment for the Lee family line) . However, King Sejong, is mentioned in many korean textbooks, museums, and even Korean dramas! King Sejong played a big role in changing my family's history because he was the person that wrote this artifact~ In addition to that, he was the 1st person to invent the Korean writing system, also known as "Hangul" (which makes him very significant), which makes him special. King Sejong, being from the Joseon time period (of Korea), had to use Chinese characters to write (because back then, Korea's writing system resulted from Ming China). Believing that writing, education, and the concern for the common people (democratism) was extremely important, King Sejong felt the need to change the Chinese character system and create Korea's own language system. Eventually he came up with 28 letters that could represent the Korean language. He wanted the language to be easy to adapt to for the Koreans. He practice his this new type of korean written language by writing down sentences that had meaning to it. For example, he made a letter for Byunkgin Lee that was constructed of a couple of words with Chinese characters that stated that "people should have clear mind (not tricking people or doing harm to others) and show patriotism to their country." Byunkgin Lee later used this as a precept, and since then it has been passed on from generations. So overall, Korea's language inventor had given a special present to my ancestor, Byungin Lee. Also, another reason why the artifact above is extremely important (and in high value) is because Byunkgin Lee is also mentioned in Korean textbooks and old Korean news because he was the Chief Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection (kind of like a prime minister/lawyer) of South Korea.This ment that he worked under the Korean government. His duty was to go around town checking if anyone was ripping off people (by deceiving them). Since this was a very crucial role, Byunkgin Lee talked with King Sejong often. Because Byunkgin Lee was able to communicate with King Sejong in King Sejong's palace, I think that it was possible for him to get close with the King and to receive gifts from him.

ROLES OF A HISTORIAN

 * Detective: **Detectives are supposed to find evidence proving that a shift/change in history has occurred. As a detective I gathered information about King Sejong and how he was related to my ancestor, Byunkgin Lee. I explained how the precept given by King Sejong to Byunkgin Lee changed our family's way of living (behavior,respect,and attitude wise). Also, I figured out what kind of source the precept was (primary source) and what kind of sources the two books on King Sejong were (secondary sources).


 * Interpreter: **Interpreters analyze and look for contradictions of all the information gather. As an interpreter I took out information that contradicted each other. For example, some information that I gathered told me that King Sejong's invention of the korean language overlapped with the period that chinese characters were used. Just by analyzing the data, I could see which type of information I had to take out, because the two informations were contradicting.


 * Judge: **Judges are supposed look at the evidence and decide which information is the most accurate. As a judge, I discarded the information saying that the precept was made recently. I mean, I know that there are copies of this precept, but, just the artifact itself was NOT made recently because it was made during the time span of King Sejong's rule.


 * Philosopher: **Philosophers are suppose to questions, "Why should I/ others care?" Well, first of all, I know that I should care because this precept is kind of like a life moto that tells me how to behave. I have to try my best to stick with this precept and continue on the family history later on (because my ancestors have been continuing to live by this moto for years). Second, I personally think that others (esp. koreans) should care too because this is a part of history about the old Chief Chairman and the most widely known king, King Sejong (whom invented korean writing in which we are using right now; we should study this history, at least to honor King Sejong).