Poem: "Song of the Fortress" by Sin Heum
(申欽,1566–1628)

Yi Gwang-sa—disciple of the renowned Joseon dynasty calligrapher Yun Sun (1681–1741) and the preeminent calligrapher of 18th-century Korea—devoted himself to the study of historic Korean and early Chinese calligraphy, in particular the cursive running script of Wang Xizhi (303–361). Yi brushed his later works in relative isolation. Exiled for political reasons, he lived the last 20 years of his life in the southwest region of the Korean Peninsula, far from the country’s foremost literary circles located in the capital city of Seoul. Perhaps because of these circumstances, he likely felt an affinity to the poem he brushed on this scroll by the famous mid-Joseon dynasty writer Sin Heum (1566–1628), who like Yi had also been sent into political exile: The gloomy desert plain is locked in a cold atmosphere. / Just outside the Jade Gate Frontier Fortress are the Dragon Dunes of Longdui. / People, do not follow the sad fluted song of the barbarians. / They say that guests can never reach the faraway heavens where the wild geese have already flown. Yi’s dynamic semi-cursive script of Chinese characters flows with vigorous energy, and quick, irregular strokes form characters of great boldness and spontaneity. The Neo-Confucian scholars of Joseon Korea (like their literatus counterparts in China and Japan) aspired to emulate this perfect synthesis of masterful brush technique, poetry, and individual expression.