A Study on Okdong Yi Seo’s Theory of Self-Attainment in Calligraphy

The present study focuses on the aesthetics of self-attainment (自得) in the thought of Okdong Yi Seo (玉洞 李漵, 1662-1723), examining how the concept of self-attainment is philosophically justified within the structure of Confucian Neo-Confucianism, and how it harmonizes with the creative succession of the Dao lineage (道統) and the calligraphic lineage (書統). Based on the Cheng-Zhu school’s idea of “nature is identical with principle” (性卽理), Yi Seo sought to manifest the principle (理) inherent in human nature through the cultivation of reverence (敬). He regarded calligraphy not merely as a minor technical skill (小技), but as the Dao of Calligraphy (書道), and aimed to embody the Heaven’ Dao(天道) in calligraphy by realizing the Dao(道) through the method of self-attainment. This paper analyzes how the notion of self-attainment is closely connected to the concept of timely appropriateness (時中) in the Doctrine of the Mean (中庸), the idea of balanced correctness (中正) in the Book of Changes (周易), the Neo-Confucian theory of balancing principle and expediency (經權論), and Yi Seo’s perception of the calligraphic lineage centered on Wang Xizhi. It argues that self-attainment is not the external succession of the Dao lineage, but the internal realization thereof, and that form and creativity, as well as norm and autonomy, can be integrated without conflict. Furthermore, Yi Seo’s self-attainment integrates artistic expression with moral cultivation, providing a mind-method (心法) structure that enables the moral justification of subjectivity and creativity within Confucian art theory. In this respect, his aesthetics of self-attainment offers an important clue to understanding the development of Confucian art philosophy in late Joseon Korea.