Calligraphy by Yi Hwang

"Calligraphy by Yi Hwang - Album of Our Ancestor's Bequeathed Ink" is a compilation of writing by Toegye Yi Hwang (1501-1570) spanning from his youth to old age, including letters he sent to his descendants, drafts of his own poetry and prose, copies he made of other writers' work, and poems of the Tang and Song dynasties that he transcribed; the cover bears the title "Seonjo Yumuk" (Our Ancestor's Bequeathed Ink). The numbering on the cover runs up to "23," showing that the album originally had 23 or more folios, but folios 2, 7, 10, 21 and 22 are now missing, leaving only 18 extant. The folio number is marked in the upper left corner of each page. At the end of folio 13 is a piece by Yi Hwang recording that in 1565 he wrote several admonitory inscriptions (jammyeong) for his grandson An-do; accordingly the seal impression "Yi An-do jang" appears throughout the album, and at the end of folios 12 and 18 are colophons by his ninth-generation descendant Yi Ji-sun. Yi Hwang's calligraphy has already been designated collectively as a group of relics in cases such as "Toedo Seonsaeng Pilbeop," comprising old documents, ink writings and books held by the Gwon Ho-mun family head house and by Oksanseowon Confucian Academy; other examples include "Seonjo Yumuk," held by the Sanggye family head house, and "Samun Sugan," "Seonsaeng Sujeok" and "Toedo Seonsaeng Yumuk," all held by Dosanseowon Confucian Academy. Among these, the present "Seonjo Yumukcheop" contains the widest variety of handwriting, has the most instructive content, and includes many outstanding examples of calligraphic art. The family letters in folios 1-9 and the draft biographical account of King Myeongjong in folio 23 are notable both for their content and for their running-cursive script. In terms of calligraphy, notable pieces include the admonitory inscriptions in folio 13, Zhu Xi's poem "Stirred Feelings" copied in medium running script in folio 14, the "Admonition on the Great Treasure" in folio 15, and, in folio 20, copies made after the calligraphy of Zhong Yao and Wang Xizhi. The "Method for Nourishing Life" in folio 18 is considered especially noteworthy for recording, in Yi Hwang's own handwriting and drawings made around the age of thirty-five, gymnastic exercises practised by the neo-Confucian scholars of the time. Folio 11 bears the seal impressions "Jinseong Huin" and "Yi Hwang Jangin," and folio 17 bears the seal impressions "Ongye," "Jinseong Huin," "Yi Hwang Jangin" and "Gyeongho."

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물