Calligraphy Collection of the Oksan Branch of the Yeoju Yi Clan

Wonjo Ojam (Five Admonitions for New Year's Morning) comprises five short admonitory verses, Oecheonjam (On Revering Heaven), Yangsimjam (On Nurturing the Mind), Gyeongsinjam (On Reverence for the Body), Gaegwajam (On Correcting Faults) and Dokjijam (On Firm Resolve), composed by Yi Eon-jeok (pen name Hoejae) at the age of twenty-seven. Yi Hwang (pen name Toegye), deeply moved on reading them and unable to forget them, is said to have written out this text at the request of Yi Eon-jeok's son, Yi Jeon-in (pen name Jamgye, 1516-1568). This account appears in Yi Hwang's colophon, written across the tenth panel, although the colophon itself makes no mention of Yi Jeon-in's request; it simply closes with the clearly legible inscription 'humbly written by your junior in learning, Yi Hwang.' Wonjo Ojam is of particular value as an autograph work showing how Toegye viewed, and was influenced by, the scholarship and thought of Hoejae. Wonjo Ojam is written in haeseo, standard script, on broad sheets of mulberry paper, six columns to a panel, sixteen characters to a column, with characters about 8 cm across. The colophon runs to four columns in a haehaeng, or semi-cursive standard, script with characters under about 4 cm, entirely free of any wild, exaggerated, coarse or overly ornate brushwork; its dignified, restrained and refined character reflects precisely the bearing of a scholar of Confucian moral learning who held firmly to correct principle, making it a representative example of Toegye's surviving calligraphy. Kim In-hu noted in a farewell poem that the distinguishing feature of Toegye's brushwork was the elegant, flowing technique of the Songseol style, named after the Chinese calligrapher Zhao Mengfu, combined with the strong, disciplined brush method of Wang Xizhi and his son; Wonjo Ojam is a typical example of this Toegye style. Sasan Odae, or Four Mountains and Five Terraces: in 1530 Yi Eon-jeok opposed the appointment of Kim An-ro and was demoted as a result; he resigned his office and retired to his hometown, and the following year built the Oksanjeongsa complex, including Dongnakdang House, at the foot of Jaoksan Mountain, naming the scenic spots nearby, the so-called Sasan Odae. These works of calligraphy are large-character inscriptions of seven such names, Jaoksan Mountain, Yongchu Pool, Gwiyeongdae Terrace, Jingsimdae Terrace, Sesimdae Terrace, Tagyeongdae Terrace and Gwaneodae Terrace, each mounted as a hanging scroll; it is thought that Yi Jeon-in received these large-character plaques at the same time as he received the Wonjo Ojam calligraphy. Toegye's large-character plaques include many well-known examples, such as Yeongnak Seojae at Dosanseowon Confucian Academy, Hujodang and Eupcheongjeong at the head house of the Yean branch of the Gwangsan Kim clan in Andong, Wolcheon Seodang at Dosan, and Seonmongdae Pavilion in Yecheon. However, while carved versions of such plaques often survive, the original calligraphy behind them does not always remain; the Sasan Odae calligraphy at Dongnakdang House is of great value precisely because the original large-character plaque calligraphy has been preserved intact.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물