UYal's blog

From ancient East Asian calligraphy to modern digital documents, the direction of writing has shifted dramatically. Here’s why we moved from vertical to horizontal writing—and what we lost along the way.

Most people today assume that text is naturally written left to right.

But not long ago, Korean writing was vertical—flowing from top to bottom, and turning pages from right to left.

It used to be the default.

When writing with brushes or printing with wooden blocks, vertical writing felt natural and fluid.

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📜 The Origins of Vertical Writing

Korea’s traditional script direction came from Chinese-influenced East Asian writing systems.

Text would flow top to bottom, and columns would move right to left.

Historical documents—like the Hunminjeongeum Haerye, Joseon-era literature, and newspapers from the Japanese occupation—followed this style regardless of whether the language used was Hanja or Hangul.

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🛠 The Rise of Horizontal Writing

By the mid-20th century, Western writing styles became more prominent in Korea.

With the rise of typewriters, word processors, and computers, writing left to right across horizontal lines proved more efficient.

Eventually, horizontal writing became the norm in government documents, textbooks, and the press.

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📊 Vertical vs. Horizontal Writing – A Quick Comparison

Category	Vertical Writing	Horizontal Writing
Eye Flow	Top → Bottom / Right → Left	Left → Right / Top → Bottom
Reading Rhythm	Slow, contemplative	Fast, linear
Cultural Roots	Chinese script tradition, classical texts	Western influence, tech-driven
Readability	High focus, more white space	Better for bulk information delivery
Tech Compatibility	Handwriting, brush, woodblock print	Optimized for typewriters, computers, and web
Use Cases	Poetry, calligraphy, traditional reprints	Everyday writing, media, digital communication

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🌱 Returning to Horizontal—But Not Forgetting Vertical

Today, horizontal writing is dominant.

But vertical writing still offers something different.

The quiet flow of moving down a page,
the whitespace that forms between words—
these elements create a rhythm
that horizontal scripts rarely replicate.

It may feel strange for some,
but for others, it’s more natural.
And once in a while,
changing the direction of writing
might just open new thoughts.

(Honestly, I felt like the text was wobbling from reading only horizontal formats lately.
So I challenged myself to write vertically—by forcefully pressing Enter and Spacebar.)

(And aside from “circular communiqués” from old Korean traditions,
no other form felt this fun to explore.)

(Yes, it was annoying—but worth it.)

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📎 This reflection continues from my earlier vertical-writing experiment:
👉 Reading Slowly, Line by Line – A Vertical Poem in Korean

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