The Yeungnam University Museum is holding a special exhibition under the title ‘Qualification of the Masterpiece’ in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its opening. It is being held from October 21 to December 21 this year at its special-exhibition hall. Here we will introduce you some relics being displayed at the exhibition.
Gim Jeong-hui(Revised Romanization) was one of the most celebrated practitioners of calligraphy, an epigraphist, and a scholar of later Joseon period. He used various ‘Ho’(pen-names): Wandang(阮堂), Chusa(秋史), Yedang(禮堂), Siam(詩庵), Gwapa (果坡), Nogwa(老果), etc. There are about 200 Ho in total, but he is most commonly known as ‘Chusa(秋史).’ In Yanjing, he was on good terms with the great masters of the Qing Dynasty like Weng Fanggang, Ruan Yuan, and others, and expanded his scale of paintings and calligraphic works based on his study of ancient documents of the Qing Dynasty. Furthermore, he created his own unique style of handwriting style – called ‘Chusa-che’ – by synthesizing the styles of former generations, and thus brought a striking sensation within the area of calligraphy in the late Joseon Dynasty.
‘A discussion of Wen Heng-shan’s writing’ is the criticism of Wen Zheng-ming(文徵明)’s writing, who was excellent in painting, writing, and poetry. In the first picture on the right, Chusa said that it is wrong to learn Wen Zheng-ming’s writing without seeing his real work because all of the popular writings known as his own are fake.
‘Danyeonjuknosiok(端硏竹爐詩屋)’ is a masterpiece written in Chusa’s last period(63-65 years old), representing an inkstone, a bamboo furnace where you can boil tea, and a small house where you can write poetry. Chusa’s writings of this period showed the true beauty of the Chusa-che, displaying its far-out beauty, idiosyncrasy, and bold design variations in the composition of letters.
