Hangul syllable 텬

텬 is a historical Korean spelling for 天, “heaven” or “sky.” The old Korean spelling records the Korean reading of that Hanja, a Chinese character used in Korean; it does not depict the sky. The 1447 Buddhist text Seokbo sangjeol and the 1447–1448 verse Worin cheongang jigok, both early works from Korea’s Joseon dynasty, place 텬 beside 天 as a reading guide.

This pairing let readers see the Chinese character and its Korean reading together. The historical works use both orders, 天텬 and 텬天; the order follows each book’s layout or emphasis, not a change in meaning.

Should I use 텬 in modern Korean?

Keep 텬 in historical quotations; use 천 in current Korean. As Korean pronunciation shifted, the spelling settled as 천. Still, 19th-century texts retained 텬 in formal compounds such as 텬하 and 텬문. In a modern message, this form looks deliberately old-fashioned; if it arrives alone, ask what word or passage it belongs to.