Xu Mu Seal Character Study

This thesis is an in-depth study of the special seal script calligraphy of Xu Mu (许穆, 1595-1682), which is also known as "Eyebrow Seal Script". Xu was a literati, philosopher, scholar-bureaucrat, statesman, and artist in the middle era of Korea. He lived in the 17^th century, a chaotic era with continuous political upheavals, a period that the country had passed through six dynasties. Before being employed as a government official at the age of 56, Xu had traveled extensively and lived a secluded life, during which he had acquired abundance of knowledge in many fields. Although braved a lot of storms in his 30 years of political career in later part of his life, he has still explored his creative talent as a calligrapher and scholar. He passed away at the age of 88.What Xu Mu studied was classical literature known as "Six Sutras"(六经学), through which he hoped to reestablish the political systems in the three Chinese ideal eras — Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties at this chaotic period of time. He began to study ancient characters and collected many classical writings through all kinds of methods to complete his lifetime project — Classical Language Dictionary (古文字典)。 As the result, he could create characters in classical style freely, demonstrating his profound knowledge in the ancient scripts. His persistence was originated from the idea that if one hoped to find out the original meanings of classical literatures, one must start from the study of ancient characters. Therefore, he hankered for calligraphy script of early Qin Dynasty. His "Eyebrow Seal Script", (also believed as being originated from "Bird and Worm Calligraphy" and "Pollywog Calligraphy"), the symbol of his classical literatures, represented his idolization of the ancient spirits, and expressed his criticism on the stagnancy of calligraphy at the time. The viewings of the Heng Mountain God Yu Inscription ( 《衡山神禹碑》 ) boosted his passion for antiquity, while the Xiongyuan Shiwen ( 《熊渊石文》 ) relaxed his critique on the calligraphic style after Qin and Han Dynasties.The calligraphy of Xu Mu is unique and without parallel in history. It could be seen as being originated from his self-determinate ideas on historical issues that were based on classical literatures. His ideology has attracted a lot of followers who eventually established the South Jinji School (南人近畿学派). The calligraphy of Xu Mu also represented the new trend of that era — the ideology of freedom and democracy, which could at least be described as the artistic transcendence of classical knowledge and a perfect synthesis of his fortitudinous personality and creative abilities.