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Idu (Korean: 이두; Hanja: 吏讀; lit. 'official's reading') was a writing system developed during the Three Kingdoms period of Korea (57 BC-668 AD) to write the Korean language using Chinese 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 the imperial examinations from 958 AD-1894 AD.cite-ref-1[1]

The term idu may refer to various systems of representing Korean phonology through hanja, which were used from the early Three Kingdoms to Joseon periods. In this sense, it includes hyangchal,cite-ref-oxford-2-0[2] the local writing system used to write vernacular poetrycite-ref-oxford-2-1[2] and gugyeol writing. Its narrow sense only refers to idu propercite-ref-3[3] or the system developed in the Goryeo (918–1392), and first referred to by name in the Jewang ungi.

• History

• Example

• See also

• References

• Bibliography

The Idu script developed during the Three 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.cite-ref-footnoteli202078-79-4-0[4]cite-ref-5[5]cite-ref-6[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,cite-ref-0-7-0[7] to teach Koreans Classical Chinese, and to translate Chinese documents such as the Ming legal code and the Essentials of agriculture and sericulture (Nongsan jiyao) (ordered by the King Taejong in 1414).cite-ref-1-8-0[8]

The following example is from the 1415 book Yangjam 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 ᄒᆞ… |

| Modern Korean | 누에 는 양물 로써 , 물기 를 싫어해, 뽕잎 만 먹 고 , 물을 마시… |

| Meaning | Silkworm is Yang (positive) animal, it… |

• Korean language

• Hunminjeongeum

• Kanbun

• Man'yōgana

cite-note-11. ↑ citerefloweyasuhara2016Lowe, Roy & Yasuhara, Yoshihito (2016). The Origins of Higher Learning: Knowledge Networks and the Early Development of Universities. Oxon: Taylor & Francis. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-138-84482-7.

cite-note-oxford-22. ↑ citerefgrimshaw-aagaardwalther-hansenknakkergaard2019Grimshaw-Aagaard, Mark; Walther-Hansen, Mads & Knakkergaard, Martin (2019). The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 426. ISBN 978-0-19-046016-7.

cite-note-33. ↑ citerefli2019Li, Yu (2019-11-04). The Chinese Writing System in Asia: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-00-069906-7.

cite-note-footnoteli202078-79-44. ↑ Li 2020, p. 78-79.

cite-note-55. ↑ citerefsohnlee2003Sohn, Ho-Min & Lee, Peter H. (2003). "Language, forms, prosody and themes". In Lee, Peter H. (ed.). A History of Korean Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780521828581.

cite-note-66. ↑ citerefhannas2013Hannas, William C. (2013-03-26). The Writing on the Wall: How Asian Orthography Curbs Creativity. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0216-8.

cite-note-0-77. ↑ citerefallan2013Allan, Keith (2013). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 222. ISBN 9780199585847.

cite-note-1-88. ↑ citerefkornicki2018Kornicki, Peter Francis (2018). Languages, scripts, and Chinese texts in East Asia. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 197. ISBN 9780198797821.

• citereflee2003Lee, Peter H., ed. (2003). A History of Korean Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521828581.

• citerefnam-pung-hyeon-2000Nam Pung-hyeon (남풍현) (2000), Idu Study [吏讀研究], Seoul, Korea: Taehak Publishing (太學社)

• citerefli2020Li, Yu (2020), The Chinese Writing System in Asia