Calligraphy by Yi Gwang-sa

Calligraphy by Yi Gwang-sa, known by its own title as the Wongyo Beopcheop, was produced by Yi Gwang-sa (1705–1777), a widely admired calligrapher of the eighteenth century whose pen name was Wongyo. Neither the recipient nor the date of production is recorded, but the various seals stamped throughout the album -- reading Wongyoeunja ('the recluse Wongyo'), Yi Gwang-sa, Yi Gwang-sa pilseo ('written by the hand of Yi Gwang-sa'), Yi Gwang-sa-in, Yi Gwang-sa-jang, Dobo, Wongyo, Yi Dobo-ssi, and Joseonguk Yi Gwang-sa ja Dobo ('Yi Gwang-sa, courtesy name Dobo, of the state of Joseon') -- suggest that it was written in his middle years, before his exile. The album runs to forty pages in all: the front twenty-five pages are in ink on pale jade-coloured silk, the middle nine pages in ink on very faintly jade-tinted silk, and the last six in gold pigment on black silk. Using ink and gold pigment on jade-coloured, pale jade and black silk, Yi Gwang-sa carefully wrote characters large and small in all five scripts -- seal, clerical, regular, running and cursive. In the passages written in seal script, a rendering of each character into regular script is added in red ink at the upper right, for ease of reading. The original title slip once mounted on the cover appears to have come away; written on the back instead is "Wongyobeopcheop (員喬法帖) [seal, regular and cursive scripts (篆楷艸)]," but since the character 喬 in 員喬 is an error, it has here been corrected to Wongyobeopcheop (員嶠法帖). Among Yi Gwang-sa's many surviving albums, this one shows the most typical method of album-making, while also giving clear expression to his views on calligraphic theory; its state of preservation is likewise excellent.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물