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Around 1280, Anonymous Inventor
Dominican friar Alessandro della Spina (~1313) is recorded in chronicles as having passed down the method for making spectacles, which were invented by a fellow friar around 1300. The identity of this colleague, however, remained a secret throughout history. This period, the 13th century, marked a time of significant and rapid advancement in Italian glass processing technology. Specifically, the sophisticated crystal glass techniques developed on Venice's Murano Island provided an essential and fertile ground for such an invention to emerge and flourish.
Why the Monastery?
In medieval Europe, the average life expectancy was between 35 and 40 years. However, monasteries offered better nutrition and hygiene, leading to a significant number of monks living into their 60s and 70s. Their primary work involved reading and copying Latin manuscripts. The onset of presbyopia, or age-related farsightedness, would render them unable to perform their duties. The inability to read was not merely a practical problem but a profound religious crisis. Therefore, it is no coincidence that monks were among the first users of spectacles.
Arrival in Korea, 1577
Spectacles first arrived on the Korean Peninsula around 1577, during the reign of King Seonjo of Joseon, brought by envoys from the Ming Dynasty. A record in Yi Deok-mu's 18th-century work, *Cheongjanggwanjeonseo*, states that they were "called 'Angyeong (眼鏡)' and used by elderly people to read texts." Initially regarded as a novel foreign artifact, their use gradually spread by the late 19th century to include common *yangban* (aristocrats) and *jungin* (middle-class officials). The Korean Hanja characters for *Angyeong*, 眼鏡, literally translate to "eye mirror."
The Hanja for 'See'
The Hanja character '視 (si)' is composed of 示 (si), meaning 'to show,' and 見 (gyeon), meaning 'to see,' together conveying the sense of 'to observe what is shown.' This character is fundamental to terms like *sigak* (vision), *siya* (field of vision), and *siryeok* (eyesight). The very essence of spectacles—to enable one to 'see again what was unseen'—is embedded within this Hanja. This profound meaning in an East Asian character directly echoes the urgent need felt by Italian monks 700 years ago.
