서예가 보인다

Most of Chusa's couplet works are outstanding. Therefore, I believe that the selection of representative works is merely a matter of personal taste and has no particular significance. If I had to choose just one work that I personally like the most, I would unhesitatingly pick <大烹高會 (Daepaenggohwe)>. This work is a late-period piece written in 1856 (the 7th year of King Cheoljong's reign), the year Chusa Kim Jeong-hui (1786~1856) passed away. It was written at the age of 71, the same year as Bongwonsa Temple's <版殿 (Panjeon)>, which is famous as Chusa's last work.

Chusa could have lived a life of abundance as a member of the royal family. However, he spent an unpeaceful later life embroiled in political strife and was exiled twice. This couplet work can be said to be a piece in which he, born into a prestigious family, candidly expressed his philosophy of life, which he felt while living a tumultuous life, including two exiles, and left it behind with an open mind as he faced death.

The main text of this couplet, written in clerical script on two sheets of 129.5×31.9cm Bundangji paper, is taken from the poem <中秋家宴 (Jungchugayeon)> by Wu Zongqian, a literati from the Ming Dynasty in China.

The best feast is tofu, cucumber, ginger, and vegetables.

The best gathering is husband, wife, children, and grandchildren.

The best food is tofu, cucumber, ginger, and vegetables,

The best gathering is husband, wife, children, and grandchildren.

It means that although one has tasted all the delicious, rare, and good things in the world, the best food is still the common, ordinary things that are easily available, such as tofu, cucumber, and vegetables. And although one has attended all sorts of splendid gatherings, met attractive people, and traveled to all the good places, the best times were still with family, such as sons, daughters, and grandchildren.

The main text contains the idea that a harmonious family life in ordinary daily life is the most ideal. It is a text written by Chusa, borrowing a verse from an old poet, stating that a simple meal setting and the warm and harmonious gathering of family members around the table, though most ordinary, constitute true happiness.

Let's look at the content of the side note that Chusa left in the margin after the main text:

This is the greatest joy of a country scholar.

This is the greatest joy of a country old man.

Although a large golden seal hangs at the waist

Although he wore a large golden seal at his waist

A table spread with food, hundreds of concubines

Even if hundreds of women served at the table

Few people can enjoy this taste.

How many people can enjoy such a taste?

For ancient agricultural books

Written for the owner of the title "Old Farmer"

Chusa also wrote down his lifelong feelings in small letters in the margin next to the main text, which could not be fully conveyed by the main text alone. "In the opinion of this old man from a rural village, no matter how much power one holds and how many women one dallies with at a drinking table, what could be better than living harmoniously with one's sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters while eating tofu and vegetables?"'

Thus, in the couplet of <Daepaenggohwae>, we can read Chusa's state of mind in his later years, and his artistic realm in his later years, concisely captured with an unadorned, free-spirited brushwork. This work, housed in the Gansong Art Museum, has been designated as Treasure No. 1978.

The main text of this couplet, created in 1856, the last year of his life, expresses that the happiness derived from the simple daily life spent with family is the highest state. It is written in Chusa's unique clerical script, while the smaller accompanying text is in semi-cursive script. The clerical script of the main text aims for the overall sculptural quality of the screen, and the semi-cursive script of the accompanying text written in the margins adds stability to the overall composition and a vibrant, lively charm.  

Chusa was an artist who best expressed the formative nature of calligraphy, an outstanding scholar, and a person who lived a fierce life like an ascetic monk to practice the true value of art and scholarship. Thus, this work, along with the previously explained <不二禪蘭불이선란>, was written when his holistic personality, embodying the unity of scholarship and art (學藝一致학예일치), reached a state of enlightenment (達觀달관) about life as he faced death.

We have appreciated this work, which is like a dying wish from Chusa, so let us all realize that simple happiness shared with family in ordinary daily life is the true joy of life, rather than worldly honor, and live accordingly!!!