Wongoji is Korean manuscript paper: a grid of squares with one character per square, used in Korean schools, essay contests and for counting the length of a text. Print blank 200- or 400-square sheets as a PDF, or type your text and watch it laid out by the standard rules for indents, spaces and punctuation.
How to use
- Type or paste text; it fills the grid as you go. A new line starts a new paragraph.
- Pick 200, 400, 600 or 1000 squares, the paper size and line color, then save a PDF or print. PNG saves the page shown.
- The Blank sheets tab makes empty manuscript paper with as many pages as you need.
- Leave the first square of every paragraph empty.
- One character per square. Spaces and punctuation marks each take a square too.
- A space that would fall in the first square of a line is dropped; the line starts with the next character.
- A punctuation mark that would start a line goes into the last square of the line above, next to its character.
- Arabic digits and lowercase Latin letters go two to a square (20, ab). Capitals take one square each.
- A period or comma sits in the lower left of its square, and no empty square follows it.
- A question mark or exclamation mark sits in the middle of its square, and one empty square follows it.
- Quotation marks take their own square: opening ones upper right, closing ones upper left. A period and a closing quote share one square.
What the grid is for
Each square holds one Hangul syllable, so a full sheet tells you the length at a glance: the 200-square sheet has 20 squares by 10 rows, the 400-square sheet 20 by 20. Teachers and contests set essay limits in sheets, such as five sheets of 200 squares for 1,000 characters, and writing on the grid makes spacing mistakes visible.
Japanese genkō yōshi works on the same idea but is usually written vertically from right to left; Korean wongoji is written horizontally.
The main rules
Leave the first square of each paragraph empty. Spaces and punctuation each take a square. A space that would fall at the start of a line is dropped, and a punctuation mark that would start a line moves into the last square of the line above. Arabic numerals and lowercase Latin letters go two to a square. A period or comma sits in the lower left of its square with no blank after it, while a question or exclamation mark is centered and followed by one empty square.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters fit on one wongoji sheet?
A 200-square sheet has 20 squares × 10 rows and a 400-square sheet 20 × 20. Indents, spaces and punctuation also use squares, so a full sheet holds fewer letters than its square count.
Do spaces count on manuscript paper?
Yes. A space between words takes a square of its own, except at the start of a line, where it is dropped.
Where does a period go on wongoji?
In the lower left of its own square, and the next character follows directly with no empty square.
How are numbers written on wongoji?
Arabic numerals go two to a square, so 2024 takes two squares (20 and 24). Capital letters take one square each, lowercase letters two to a square.
Can I use it for Japanese genkō yōshi?
The layout rules here follow Korean usage. The blank grids print fine for practice, but Japanese manuscripts are normally written vertically with their own rules.