Hangul boasted the scientific and creative function of the letters, their practicality, and the unique typographical beauty with artistic sense. Since the creation of Hunminjeongeum, the hangul usage developed in the mid-15th century through its diversification into print fonts and hand-copied text versions, thus establishing the unique artistry of the hangul letterforms through the printed literature.
With a view to 'A study on the typographical beauty of the printed hangul edition of Yeosaseo', this study examines the letterforms from the early print fonts. The Haerye version basically faces forward and its letterforms flaunt the hard and straight seal script typography in rectitude and monotony. Also appearing homely from its age and featuring the softness of the original calligraphy, the version introduced the replacement of the print font with the regular script, which would make hand-copying easier. On the other hand, the middle edition of Yeosaseo, which adopted the mixture of Chinese characters and hangul, demonstrates the changes and harmony in imitation of the writing of Chinese characters and the transformation and development of the print literature that broke from the Haerye version letterforms and cleaved to hand-copying.
To analyze the letterforms that constitute the typographical beauty of the middle version of Yeosaseo as annotated by Pak Man-hwan in 1907, this study adopts the research method for hangul letterform analysis from the earlier studies by Hong Yun-pyo, Park Byeong-cheon, and Kim Du-sik. Focusing on the middle version of Yeosaseo, the study first figures out its overall system and structure. Then, it closely examines the structure, size, proportion etc. for the analysis of the graphemes and the form of kipil ('beginning of a stroke') and supil ('ending of a stroke') in unpil ('execution of the brush'), the thickness, structure etc. of the dots and strokes for the analysis of dots and strokes. With this, the study has found that the middle version of Yeosaseo adopted a print font adapted to hand-copying that showed the visual changes in the letterforms, graphemes, and dots and strokes, which would make hand-copying easier, and developed through the artistic sense of beauty which was begotten in practicality. The study has further found that the change occurred so as to demonstrate the aesthetic sense of the copier. The change essentially tapped into the close linkage among the graphemes in the hangul letters.
In the hangul calligraphy, the middle version of Yeosaseo serves as a bridge that connects the past with the present by expanding the scope of application for the hangul typography. And the current development of digital technology and culture opens up the possibilities for developing various hangul typefaces. Continuing discovery and research of old texts will enable typographic diversification and establish the identity of the hangul calligraphy as carrying the tradition. The research for the improvement of the hangul calligraphy and the development and utilization of the hangul typography is an indispensable process that should run without end.