The Characteristics of Calligraphic Script of Published Hangeul Documents in the First Half of the 20th Century and Their Significance in Calligraphy History

This study is part of a project to clarify the changes in Hangeul calligraphic scripts from the invention of Hangeul in the 15th century to the first half of the 20th century and to organize the various modifications in Hangeul calligraphic scripts that occurred during the process. The subjects of the study are 75 kinds of Hangeul documents with excellent calligraphic scripts, high readability, and reliable bibliographic information among the documents published by government agencies, religious groups, and other private organizations in the first half of the 20th century. In the first half of the 20th century, the printing culture led by the government had changed to the private sector. As a result, published Hangeul documents became popularized as publishing methods diversified, such as wood-block printing, new lead-type printing, and lithograph. Although the mass distribution of Hangeul documents contributed to the popularity and expansion of Korean language life, the lack of liveliness or formative changes and the fonts created through practical industrialization led to a decline in artistry and the standardization of strokes. The characteristics of the fonts also did not change In addition, the strict censorship of the Japanese Empire contributed to the popularity of block-printed novels and made textbooks published by the private sector coexist. The fonts of the court style of Hangeul calligraphy have become common in almost all types of printing, and private publishing with poor capital has resulted in the crudity of printed fonts.