Calligraphy, as one of the most representative art forms of East Asian civilization, embodies the spiritual essence of written characters and their aesthetic ideals. Since the introduction of Chinese script to the Korean Peninsula, calligraphy has ser...
Calligraphy, as one of the most representative art forms of East Asian civilization, embodies the spiritual essence of written characters and their aesthetic ideals. Since the introduction of Chinese script to the Korean Peninsula, calligraphy has served as a vital medium of Sino-Korean cultural exchange. The formation and development of Korean calligraphic discourse are deeply rooted in the theoretical traditions of Chinese calligraphy. Centering on the theme of the historical interaction between Chinese and Korean calligraphic theories, this study investigates how Chinese theories of calligraphy were transmitted, received, transformed, and reinterpreted within the Korean calligraphic system.
The chronological scope of this research spans from the Unified Silla period to the late Joseon dynasty (seventh to nineteenth centuries). Adopting an interdisciplinary approach that integrates intellectual history, philology, and cultural transmission theory, the study aims to clarify how Chinese calligraphic theories were reinterpreted on the Korean Peninsula and developed into an independent Korean scholarly system with distinct cultural characteristics.
This dissertation consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 presents the research rationale and significance and outlines the general trajectories of Chinese and Korean calligraphic discourse. Chapter 2 reviews previous scholarship and establishes a historiographical framework by assessing the achievements and limitations of existing studies in both traditions. Chapters 3 through 7 examine, in a periodized manner, the mechanisms of exchange and influence between corresponding dynasties: Unified Silla and Tang, early and middle Goryeo and Song, late Goryeo and Yuan, early Joseon and Ming, and mid-to-late Joseon and Qing. Chapter 8 synthesizes these analyses, highlighting similarities, differences, and cultural-historical implications in terms of spiritual ideals, aesthetic paradigms, and theoretical structures. In this study, “exchange” and “influence” refer specifically to interactions formed between contemporaneous dynasties of Korea and China.
Positioned at the intersection of East Asian intellectual history, art history, and cultural transmission studies, this research treats calligraphic theory not merely as a technical discourse but as an integral component of philosophical and civilizational history. Since the Tang and Song periods, Chinese calligraphic theory developed into a systematic framework encompassing both philosophy and aesthetics. As these ideas were received and rearticulated in Korea, a shared yet differentiated structure of expressing the Way through writing emerged within the East Asian cultural sphere.
From a historiographical perspective, scholarship on calligraphic theory has generally progressed through three stages: the compilation and organization of texts prior to the mid-twentieth century; interpretive studies grounded in intellectual history and aesthetics from the late twentieth to the early twenty-first century; and comparative and transregional cultural research since the twenty-first century. Against this background, the present study reviews prior research in three areas—Chinese calligraphic theory, Korean calligraphic theory, and Sino-Korean comparative studies—while situating its own methodological and academic contributions within these developments.
The major findings of this study are as follows. First, during the Unified Silla period, Tang dynasty theories emphasizing both normative formal models and aesthetic resonance jointly shaped the foundational orientation of early Korean calligraphic discourse. Figures such as Kim Saeng and Choe Chiwon were profoundly influenced by Tang masters including Ouyang Xun and Yan Zhenqing, whose discussions of brush technique and vital energy provided a theoretical basis for Korean calligraphic thought. Second, during the Goryeo dynasty, the transmission of Song dynasty literati aesthetics and Neo-Confucian ideas facilitated a shift in Korean calligraphic discourse from a technique-centered approach toward an emphasis on moral cultivation and personal character, as reflected in the writings of Choe Rin and Jeong Mong-ju. Third, in the late Goryeo period, the direct influence of Yuan dynasty model-calligraphy studies and the calligraphic system of Zhao Mengfu established an emphasis on central-tip brushwork and a tendency to integrate calligraphic practice with Neo-Confucian principle.
In early Joseon, Korean calligraphic discourse was shaped primarily by Ming dynasty theories. From the mid-Joseon period onward, the transmission of Dong Qichang’s theoretical system encouraged a more inclusive approach, later articulated by figures such as Kim Jeong-hui, who advocated learning from Tang models while valuing personal intent and freely engaging Jin and Song traditions. With the eastward spread of Qing dynasty epigraphic studies, stele-based calligraphy gained prominence in late Joseon. The pursuit of rugged, archaic forms and heightened expressive force may be understood as both a response to Qing stele studies and a localized reinterpretation within the Korean context.
Through systematic comparison, this study demonstrates that Korean calligraphic theory did not passively inherit Chinese traditions but actively appropriated, reflected upon, and reconstructed them, thereby cultivating a distinct sense of cultural self-awareness. The interaction between Chinese and Korean calligraphic theories thus represents a symbiotic process of intellectual exchange and co-development rather than a unidirectional transmission. In both traditions, calligraphy is closely linked to Confucian ideals of self-cultivation. While the Chinese notion of writing as a vehicle for the Way emphasized metaphysical significance, in Korea it was reinterpreted in ethical and practical terms, giving rise to indigenous concepts such as writing as the expression of the person and writing as the embodiment of the Way. Accordingly, the development of Korean calligraphic theory can only be fully understood within the broader framework of the East Asian cultural community, through which deeper patterns of civilizational interaction become visible.
Primary sources examined in this study include classical texts such as Shupu, Xuanhe Shupu, Dongguk Seoron, Haedong Seogarok, and Pildam, together with epigraphic materials, stone inscriptions, and literati correspondence. By cross-analyzing these sources, the study offers an in-depth interpretation of their theoretical propositions and aesthetic expressions. Employing textual analysis, comparative cultural research, and intellectual-historical inquiry, this research seeks to strengthen the systematic foundation for studies of Sino-Korean interaction in calligraphic theory and to provide a theoretical basis for future comprehensive research on the history of East Asian calligraphy.