Korean calligraphyArticle Free Pass Korean calligraphy, the
Korean art of beautiful writing as it was derived from Chinese
calligraphy. Koreans have used Chinese characters probably since
the 2nd or 3rd century ce. Even after the invention of Hangul in
1447, Chinese was used as the official script until the 19th
century. A few inscribed stone monuments remain from the Three
Kingdoms period (c. 57 bce–668 ce). Ancient Koreans, eager to
adopt Chinese culture, developed a calligraphy reflecting
Chinese styles. In the following Unified Silla dynasty
(668–935), a devotion and adherence to the Tang culture of China
gave birth to such great masters of calligraphy in Korea as Kim
Saing and Choi Ch’i-wŏn, whose styles of writing basically
followed those of the Chinese calligraphers Ouyang Xun and Yu
Shinan. The angular, squarish style of Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan,
and Yan Zhenqing, inherited from the Silla dynasty, continued in
the Koryŏ period (918–1392) until roughly 1350, when the
rounded, fluent style of the Chinese c