It is known that the appearance of hanging wooden plaque originated earlier in China. According to Seolmunhaeja, in the Qin Dynasty which unified China first, the calligraphic style used in the hanging wooden plaque was allegedly referred to as “Seoseo (titles of books)”. ¹⁾ It could be interpreted that the Qin Dynasty unified the calligraphic style of the hanging wooden Plaque which were the best letters when the letters were unified in the age of Chinese warring states rather than that the calligraphic style of the hanging wooden plaque first appeared in Qin Dynasty. If so, it can be assumed that in China the hanging wooden plaque appeared first in one period of the age of Chinese warring states (B.C. 770~B.C.221). It is thought that the hanging wooden plaque were limitedly used in the palaces or governmental institutions among others. It is known that the use of the hanging wooden plaque began to become widespread among common folk during the late Tang Dynasty. However, since common folk are naturally irrelevant to society, it can be assumed that the plaque were limited to the buildings owned by aristocrats.

In Korea, though there are no materials for analogizing the period of appearance of the hanging wooden plaque, in Three Kingdoms of Korea when the ancient nation was established, the use of the hanging wooden Plaque might start with palaces, national institutions, or temples as the center. After the Unified Silla period when they interchanged with the Qin Dynasty in China vigorously, it was assumed that the range of the use of the hanging wooden plaque spread to the class of aristocrat’s buildings, but there are no materials to ascertain this at present. The materials which can be identified as of now are as in the followings. In Magoksa Temple, Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do, < Daeungbojeon> which was written by Kim Saeng (711~unknown) in Silla and in Mandeoksa Temple, Gangjin, Jeollanam-do were handed down, so the usage of the hanging wooden plaque is already verified in the Unified Silla at the latest.

The usage of the hanging wooden plaque became common during the Goryeo Dynasty. In 1123 (the first year of King Injong in Goryeo), Seogeung who was sent as an ambassador during the Song Dynasty wrote Seonhwabongsagoryeodogyeong, which showed that there were hanging wooden plaque at the gate of the royal castle.

In those days, the usage of the hanging wooden plaque might have become common among ordinary people as well as in the royal castle.

Along with it, in the residential districts of the subjects, pavilions were set up, so they indicated the characters of villages.

Judging from this, during the Goryeo Dynasty, the characters of the buildings were indicated by the hanging wooden plaque from royal palaces and temples⁵⁾down to the buildings of the government offices⁶⁾, and private houses. The generalization of the use of the hanging wooden plaque began from the Joseon Dynasty.

At this time, Jeong Do-jeon intended to represent the spirit of the national foundation of the Joseon Dynasty giving names of main royal buildings and putting the hanging wooden plaque in the newly completed Gyeongbokgung Palace. However, in those days, it seemed that the hanging wooden plaque were only at the main royal palaces, but at the entrance door of the palace among others, there were no the hanging wooden plaque.

According to the article, there were no the hanging wooden plaque at each door of the palaces even until the sixth year of King Seongjong (1475), and gradually they seemed to be installed on every door like the present. Since that period, the hanging wooden plaque began to come into wide use among common folk in need of national policy with the palace as the center. As the Joseon Dynasty began to plateau, the generation of King Seongjong bestowed the hanging wooden plaque as a reward for one of the means to encourage the edification of people, with the Confucian policy of reformation going on.

Since the sixteenth century, seowons (Confucian academies) for commemorating ancient sages and honoring learning and virtue were built all over the country and the hanging wooden plaque with the name of the seowon began to be posted at the building. In particular, Baekundong Seowon, which was the first seowon in the Joseon Dynasty, was given a name of Sosu Seowon by the king, so the hanging wooden plaque was bestowed by a state. It emphasized the meaning of learning for ancient sages, which seemed to serve as momentum for the generalization of the hanging wooden plaque.¹⁰⁾ At this time, on the hanging wooden plaque used in seowons, the names of places were most common with the content focused on admiring ancient sages,

In gentry families, it seemed that pavilions were built and their names were carved on the hanging wooden plaque earlier than at seowons.

Likewise, it seems that after the fifteenth century, the hanging wooden plaque began to be posted at buildings with noblemen as the center in earnest, but the existing hanging wooden plaque remaining were produced almost after the nineteenth century. The reasons are as follows. The constructions in the early Joseon Dynasty already disappeared or even though they remained, most of the buildings were repaired and reconstructed. Accordingly, almost all the hanging wooden plaque posted there disappeared with the buildings or new ones were hung when they were repaired or reconstructed. Above all, the hanging wooden plaque were installed at the outside buildings so they were damaged relatively quickly. Because of this, when repairing and reconstructing buildings, the hanging wooden plaque were often replaced with new ones. Along with this, as the buildings were moved or the villages themselves were moved to other regions, all the buildings couldn’t be moved or restored, so only the hanging wooden plaque have been preserved.