Korean calligraphy
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Korean calligraphy, also known as Seoye (), is the
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
tradition of artistic writing. Calligraphy in Korean culture involves both
Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...
(Chinese logograph) and
Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...
(Korean native alphabet). Early Korean calligraphy was exclusively in Hanja, or the Chinese-based logography first used to write the
Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...
. During the
Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...
and Joseon dynasties, utilitarian objects were often inscribed with calligraphy such as brush stands, padlocks, incense burners, porcelain, lacquer, and branding irons. Even after the invention of the Korean alphabet
Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...
in 1443, Korean calligraphers preferred Chinese characters as they saw it as more prestigious. Hanja continued to be used as the official script until the late 19th century. This changed when both North Korea and South Korea, after their split, separately institutionalized Hangul as the official
orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...
of Korean. Today many calligraphers, particularly in South Korea, are experimenting with new styles of Hangul, which has become an important part of the larger practice of Korean calligraphy.


History

Chinese calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high este ...
was introduced to
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
as early as the 2nd or 3rd century CE, and became popular in the 7th century. In the 8th century, Kim Saeng became known as the earliest Korean calligraphic master, producing work that was compared with that of master Chinese calligrapher
Wang Xizhi Wang Xizhi (; ; 303 AD361 AD) was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, general and writer during the Jin dynasty. He was best known for his mastery of Chinese calligraphy. Wang is sometimes regarded as the greatest Chinese calligrapher in Chines ...
. In the 9th century, poet
Choe Chiwon Choe Chiwon (; 857–10th century) was a Korean philosopher and poet of the late medieval Unified Silla period (668-935). He studied for many years in Tang China, passed the Tang imperial examination, and rose to the high office there before r ...
became known for his calligraphy both in his home country
Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms ...
and in the
Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
. The angular calligraphy styles of the early Tang masters, Yu Shinan,
Ouyang Xun Ouyang Xun (; 557–641), courtesy name Xinben (), was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, and writer of the early Tang dynasty. He was born in Hunan, Changsha, to a family of government officials; and died in modern Anhui province. Achievements ...
, and
Yan Zhenqing Yan Zhenqing (; 709–785) was a Chinese calligrapher, military general, and politician. He was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy is equal to that of the ...
, persisted in popularity until the 14th century, when the more rounded style of
Zhao Mengfu Zhao Mengfu (; courtesy name Zi'ang (子昂); pseudonyms Songxue (松雪, "Pine Snow"), Oubo (鷗波, "Gull Waves"), and Shuijing-gong Dao-ren (水精宮道人, "Master of the Water Spirits Palace"); 1254–1322), was a Chinese calligrapher, pa ...
came into vogue. Korean calligraphy became increasingly formalistic in the years that followed. Gim Jeong-hui (김정희, 金正喜, (1786–1856), also known as Kim Jeong-hui, is considered the greatest calligrapher in the Joseon dynasty, and he was also a scholar-official, painter, epigrapher, and practicing Buddhist. He was a master of many calligraphic forms but is most famous for ''Chusache'', the bold, freeform style he perfected while in exile on Jeju Island. He is known as the ''chusa'' style after his pen name 秋史, inspired by the ancient Chinese lishu script. As the scholarly classes used Chinese characters, Korean calligraphy used ''hanja'' until the 1910–1945 Japanese occupation of Korea. Nationalist sentiment led to the popularization of the native ''hangul'' alphabet, and calligraphic works using hangul have since seen a revival, although hanja calligraphy is still popular today. The Korean calligraphy is developing its own style, steadfastly. Fonts that are not square are being developed, considering jong-sung, or sound coming after the vowel.


Types

There are five major types of Korean Hanja calligraphy, which are derived from
Chinese calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high este ...
. * Seal scripts () are scripts featuring uniformity of stroke thickness and spacing of vertical, horizontal, and curved lines. It is often use for seals and chops. * Cursive or grass script () is known for extreme economy in individual pen strokes. Extreme cursive script is not legible for most people because different characters may resemble each other when written in cursive script. * Block script () Each block script character is roughly the same size proportion and fitted into a square space. Chinese characters are frequently written in block script. * Semi-cursive script () is a practical style intermediate between block and cursive script. It is legible for most people. * Official script () was developed from seal script form. It is angular in appearance and much more legible than cursive or seal script.


The "four friends" of tools

The "four friends" means paper, brush, ink stick, and ink stone in Korean calligraphy. Those are called Munbangsawoo (文房四友) in Korean. In Korean calligraphy, traditional hanji (韓紙) made of Korean mulberry is used. It is well-suited for absorbing ink and reflecting its colors. For brush, animal hairs of same length are selected and made into straight and a sharply pointed tip. Ink stick is made by soot from burned trees and glue. A good ink stick has extremely fine particles. Finally, ink stone must be made from a firm stone which does not when ground by the ink stick, or jade. In addition to the four tools, calligraphy needs other items: a yeonjeok, a container of water, used for making ink with ink stick, boot tong, a container for holding brushes after being used, munjin, a long and flat paper weigh, and pilse, a bowl for washing the brush.


Gallery


References


External links


Newspaper article with visuals on Korean calligraphy
{{Authority control Chinese characters Hangul