Hanmunhak or Literary Chinese literature in Korea (

Hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

: 한문학

Hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: 漢文學) is Korean literature written in

Literary Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...

, which represents an early phase of Korean literature and influenced the literature written in the

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

Classical Chinese in Korea

The role of the

or Hanmun (

: 한문;

: 漢文) in Korea was akin to the same role as

Kanbun ''Kanbun'' ( 'Han Chinese, Han writing') is a system for writing Literary Chinese used in Japan from the Nara period until the 20th century. Much of Japanese literature was written in this style and it was the general writing style for offici ...

in Japan and in Vietnam,

Hán văn Literary Chinese ( Vietnamese: , ; chữ Hán: 漢文, 文言) was the medium of all formal writing in Vietnam for almost all of the country's history until the early 20th century, when it was replaced by vernacular writing in Vietnamese using t ...

; a role which is broadly comparable to that of the

Latin language Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

in Europe. During this period the use of written Chinese language did not indicate that Korean literati were fluent in spoken Chinese.James B. Palais Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions: Yu Hyŏngwŏn and the ... 1996 p639 "Unfortunately, Yu found that despite the facility of educated Koreans in reading classical Chinese texts, there were absolutely no civil officials who understood the spoken Chinese language. King Sejong in the early fifteenth century had faced ..."

Korean literature

The role of

was so dominant that the history of Korean literature and

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

are almost contiguous till the 20th Century. Korean works in Chinese are typically rendered in English according to modern Korean

hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

pronunciations: *

Samguk Sagi ''Samguk sagi'' () is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. Completed in 1145, it is well-known in Korea as the oldest surviving chronicle of Korean history. The ''Samguk sagi'' is written in Classical ...

(三國史記) "Three Kingdoms History" *

Samguk Yusa ''Samguk yusa'' (; ) or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, d ...

(三國遺事) "Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms" * Geumo Sinhwa (金鰲新話) "New stories from Mount Geumo" It is disputed whether Chinese or Korean was the original language of some works: * Dream of Nine Clouds (九雲夢,

: 구운몽).

References

{{Authority control Chinese-language literature of Korea Korean literature