The Art of Calligraphy and Painting in Korean Calligraphy

Under the influence of China culture, calligraphy has always been closely related to painting in South Korea. Some people think that painting is influenced by calligraphy from the perspective of strong and harmonious brushwork arrangement. People often hang calligraphy works on the wall like paintings, and appreciate every uniqueness, the charm of its brushwork, the skill, backbone and charm of its overall layout, and so on. A good word is not formed by symmetrical arrangement of some strokes, but like a beautifully choreographed dance and coordinated movements-passion, movement, instantaneous pause and alternating active brushwork, forming a balanced whole.

Technically speaking, the art of calligraphy depends on how the writer uses skills and imagination to show charm in strokes. These strokes with different expressions form a beautiful structure. After writing, you can't add pens or fill colors. The most important thing is to pay attention to the spatial symmetry between strokes, which needs years of practice and training to achieve. However, in understanding the basic nature of calligraphy art, proficiency in writing and aesthetic cultivation are not the only basic elements. In the past, in the upper class of South Korea, learning calligraphy was considered as a necessary process for cultivated people to cultivate their sentiments. The practical function of calligraphy as a means of writing or communication is often not as important as the philosophical significance of writing quality.

Like all other brilliant arts in ancient Korea, the basic inspiration of calligraphy comes from nature. Every stroke and every point of a word symbolizes the form of a natural object. Korean calligraphers, like those in ancient China, realized that just like every branch of a living tree has life, every stroke of a good word must be alive when writing. This is the essential difference between Chinese characters in calligraphy and printed characters. Ideographic Chinese characters have an abstract and visual feature, which further strengthens the visual appeal of calligraphy, because it allows calligraphers who have reached the perfect artistic level to express their thoughts almost infinitely, just like great painters in painting.