蒼巖 李三晩의 學書淵源과 學古精神

Abstract

Organized by Jeonju MBC in July, 1988, “Exhibition of Autographs of Deceased Changam Lee Sam-Man” was meaningful for shedding light on his calligraphy. Published at the same time as the exhibition, Book of Changam's Autographs introduced his life, his original works, and explanations for his works and built a foundation to figure out the world of his art. Since then, growing interest in the calligrapher has led to the continuous excavation of his scrapbooks, which helped to confirm that he had his own systematic calligraphy theory along with his calligraphy works. That is, the research conditions were met to shed total light on his aesthetics and values as well as his works as an artist. One would find structural systemicity of some sort while reading the theories on his calligraphy. One is his learning theory to transmit his technique of calligraphy, and the other is his art theory to figure out the technique himself and reach his own level. He developed a learning theory of mentioning the principles that he learned systematically for his pupils on the one hand and reflected on the values of calligraphy and the ultimate goals of art in relation to his own life on the other hand. From the perspective of principles, the former case emphasizes old traditional principles, whereas the latter highlights absence of principles that transcend principles. The old traditional principles represent the standards of calligraphy study that have been demonstrated historically and present an essential course that should be mastered by anyone who studies calligraphy. The level of absence of principles presents the ideal world of a calligrapher and artist that learned principles himself and reached his own level, transcending all principles to have a good time himself and enjoy freedom to his heart's content. That is, his goal was to practice absence of principles through their presence. A close look at the sentences in his writings and scrapbooks will help to highlight his own elation and differentiation. Previous studies focused on figuring out philosophical meanings in his calligraphy theory while examining his calligraphy works. They, however, did not consider the calligraphy theory as a literature ground to discuss his calligraphy works and accordingly failed to figure out his real intentions. Respecting the research achievements of previous studies, the present study paid attention to the structural systemicity of his calligraphy theory, analyzed its crucial characteristics, and thus reviewed again his view of art and ultimate intention point.