A game called "Jamachum Ttakji" once existed. A card game for learning letters by combining consonants and vowels, its name means "letter-matching cards." It was devised in 1938, during the dark days of Japanese colonial rule, by Korean language scholar Jeong In-seung (1897-1986). It is presumed to be the first case of combining Hangeul learning with card games. Unfortunately, no physical copies have been confirmed to exist today. The game has been restored based on records from the time, including the first edition of "How to Play Jamachum Ttakji" published in 1938, along with newspapers and magazines, and this restored version is now being unveiled for the first time.
The National Hangeul Museum (Director Lim Sung-hwan) and the National Folk Museum of Korea (Director Jang Sang-hoon) announced Tuesday that they are jointly hosting a special exhibition on the theme of "words" and "play." Titled "Ganadarak: Word Play, Language Play," the exhibition and experiential event is a participatory exhibition that invites visitors to encounter Hangeul as "the freest form of play" and explore its infinite possibilities. The exhibition runs through August 30 at Special Exhibition Hall 2 of the National Folk Museum of Korea in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Hangeul, in which sound itself becomes form and letters are created by combining consonants and vowels, is a superb play tool in its own right. The exhibition explores the literal characteristics of Hangeul that make play possible and the flexible transformation of Hangeul through play. It brings together 259 items from 58 collections of materials related to word play, including documents, textbooks, newspapers, and magazines, and introduces more than 20 word games. Alongside the materials, visitors can experience games such as crossword puzzles, word chain games, and tongue twisters.
The exhibition is divided into two parts. Part 1, "Archive of Word Play," illuminates the world of word play that has evolved across eras and media, from games preserved in records to digital word games. It traces the flexible transformation of Hangeul woven into Korean life across time, from "Cheonggu Yeongeon" (Treasure), in which Kim Cheon-taek compiled 580 lyric songs in Hangeul in 1728, to modern word games.
A representative traditional play tool, "Jeongmunteul," is estimated to have been developed in the 1950s. It is a teaching aid that allows users to learn the principle of Hangeul — combining initial, medial, and final consonants — by rotating circular boards of different sizes. Beyond teaching the structure of Hangeul, it also contains information such as words and pictures featuring each letter, multiplication tables, national holidays, and unit conversions.
Part 2, "Word Play Workshop," introduces games derived from the structural principles of Hangeul across four themes. It presents a variety of play stories, including games based on the literal characteristics of Hangeul, Chinese characters, and the Roman alphabet; combinations of Hangeul consonants and vowels; sound games that draw on Hangeul's characteristics as a phonetic script; and code-breaking using the Hangeul system.
The exhibition also examines today's word play from the perspective of everyday life. It looks at modern play culture spreading as memes, including "Yamin Jeongeum," which replaces Hangeul characters with other similarly shaped letters or writes them upside down, and provides a space to share thoughts on newly coined words.
On May 15, to commemorate "the Birthday of King Sejong the Great," the curator will offer a guided tour titled "Enjoying Ganadarak with the Curator." Participants in the guided tour will receive exhibition-related cultural merchandise. During the exhibition period, a "Word Play Typography Workshop" will also be held, expanding the exhibition's content into the field of design and offering an opportunity to encounter word play in a new way.
"I hope this exhibition will serve as an opportunity to confirm the excellence of Hangeul, which can be learned while being enjoyed," said Lim Sung-hwan, Director of the National Hangeul Museum.
