The Seoul Museum of History said Monday that it has recently designated a collection of poems handwritten by a renowned calligrapher in mid-period of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) as a national treasure.
Han Ho (1543-1605) with the pen name of Seokbong (stone peak) handwrote 21 pieces of poems and prose created by his close friend and scholar Choe Rip (1539-1612) in the standard style of calligraphy for writing Chinese characters. The poems are on two booklets 27.2 centimeters wide and 36.3 centimeters long.
Han has been regarded as one of the leading calligraphers in Korean history, along with Kim Jeong-hee (1786-1856), who is known by the pen name Chusa.
A spokesman said that the Cultural Heritage Administration had designated the collection, now preserved by the city-run history museum, as Treasure No. 1078-3.
He said that the collection of calligraphy _ clean and in large volume _ has high cultural value as it contains an epilogue written by Eom Gye-eung, the son of famous calligrapher Eom Han-bung, in 1803.
``There have been few works left by Han Ho although he is one of Korea’s leading calligraphers,’’ said the official. ``The collection shows his unique calligraphic style.’’