Korean Calligraphy

Calligraphy is considered an art form in Asia. It was developed in China and although the Korean alphabet was fully formed, Chinese characters continued to be used in script as late as the 19th Century. Korean calligraphy is given as much admiration as any painting. It is hung on walls and like much Korean art, is deeply influenced by nature.

The Calligrapher gives the work life, using skillful brush strokes to create a dance of sorts between characters on the canvas. Characters represent objects in nature, and the calligrapher's style and technique act as the interpreter. Chinese ideograms lend themselves to artistic expression.

During the Three Kingdoms period in Korean history, calligraphy began to flourish as an art form. Calligraphy was taught as a mental exercise to men of upper social classes alongside Chinese philosophy and other academic and artistic endeavors.

Unfortunately, war with Japan took its toll on Korean art works leaving only a few dozen calligraphy pieces. Among the surviving pieces is the huge stone monument erected in honor of King Kwanggaeto of Goguryeo. This stone displays close to 2,000 characters engraved in Chinese and the epigraphic style used depicts the military valor of the people in the area. A rare archaeological find in central Korea in 1972 produced calligraphy engraved stone tablets that are treasured by today's calligraphers.

The Unified Shilla period produced the mastery of Kim Saeng and Choe Chi-won, two of Korea's greatest calligraphers. Their work was heavily influenced by the T'ang culture in China. Great calligraphers like Prince Anpyong, son of King Sejong, added to the history of Korean style calligraphy. After a bleak period, calligraphy flourished again with new individual styles closely related to the Chinese calligrapher Wen Cheng-ming. Kim Chong-hui emerged as the leader in this new school of style called Chusa.

Japanese replaced Chinese influence in Korean calligraphy around 1920. Since 1960 there has emerged a new style of calligraphy using Hangeul(the Korean alphabet). Korean calligraphy as an art form still flourishes and is now taught in universities and in Korean cultural centers and societies around the world.

▒ Various shapes of Korean alphabet