Seol Chong (650 - 730 AD) was a leading scholar of the

Unified Silla Unified Silla, or Late Silla (, ), is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, after 668 CE. In the 7th century, a Silla–Tang alliance conquered Baekje and the southern part of Goguryeo in the ...

period from the Gyeongju Seol clan. He studied

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

writings and the related Chinese classics. He is also known by the

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

Chongji and the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Bingwoldang. Seol was the son of the prominent Buddhist figure Wonhyo and the Silla princess Yoseok, the daughter of

King Muyeol King Taejong Muyeol (604–661), born Gim Chunchu, was the 29th ruler of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He is credited for leading the unification of Korea's Three Kingdoms. Background King Taejong Muyeol was born with the "sacred ...

. He was of head-rank six in Silla's

bone rank system The bone-rank system was the system of aristocratic rank used in the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. It was used to segregate society, and particularly the layers of the aristocracy, on the basis of their hereditary proximity to the throne and th ...

. An account of his life is found in the ''

Samguk Sagi ''Samguk Sagi'' (, ''History of the Three Kingdoms'') is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The ''Samguk Sagi'' is written in Classical Chinese, the written language of the literati of ancient Korea, ...

'', yeoljeon (biographies), vol. 6 and his achievements are mentioned as well in the '' Samguk Yusa's account of Wonhyo (vol. 5). Seol Chong is best remembered for regularizing the idu and gugyeol scripts, which were the first systems for representing the

Korean language Korean (South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographica ...

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

s. The idu script had been in use previous to Seol Chong, but had lacked rigorous principles. Early in his career Seol is also credited with composing a short Confucian parable on kingship entitled ''The Warning of the Flower King'' (화왕계/花王戒) for King Sinmun of Silla. This parable is either repeated or paraphrased in the ''Samguk Sagi'', and influenced later writers of the

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

period. A typically Confucian text, it criticizes monarchs for valuing pleasure-seeking over righteous rule. Seol Chong is sometimes regarded as the progenitor of the Gyeongju Seol lineage. However, opinions on this differ, since the Seol family name is found as far back as the foundation of Silla. He is also one of eighteen Korean Confucian sages who have been enshrined in the Korean National

Confucian shrine A temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple for the veneration of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism in Chinese folk religion and other East Asian religions. They were formerly the site of the administration of ...

See also