Korea’s first dictionary of words of Chinese origin, Taedongunbugunok (in 20 volumes) was compiled by Kwon Mun Hae, a scholar in the 16th century.
The dictionary was first published in 1822 and its type-printed edition was issued in 1913-1914.
As a book in the form of dictionary first compiled in the feudal period, it is one of the oldest of its kind.
It contains over 6 190 characters and more than 22 560 words.
The interpretation of the entries is based on 174 books published in Korea and other materials.
The dictionary deals with a wide range of spheres like historical facts and persons, books, geography, art and literature, politics, the economy, the military, language, folklore, religion and fauna and flora.
As it arranges and explains particularly important geographical items, surnames and other things, it is convenient to search and consult. And it is very similar to modern dictionaries which arrange entries in an alphabetical order.
Hong Yo Ha (1621-1674), a scholar, noted that the book was the best of all books of Korea and a book published in France in 1894 wrote that it was an encyclopedia which contains everything related to Korea arranged in the order of rhyme and gives very interesting knowledge of geography, history, literature and science.
The book is a valuable cultural heritage item.
Ri Song, director of the National Classics Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences
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