The Surface and the Line

Pictorial Ideograph with Birds

Korea’s alphabet, hangul (한글), was introduced in 1443, in the early Joseon era. Yet, even today scholars use Chinese ideographs for art and literature. This painting pictorializes the Chinese character “trust” (信), a key component of the eight principles of Confucian morality. This character for trust (信) is composed of two parts, one which refers to “people” (人) and the other to “word” (言), placed directly side by side and fused into a single character. This combination indicated that a person’s word needs to be trustworthy. In the painting, these two elements are connected, yet visually differentiated by two distinct images. Hover over the highlighted sections for more information about this pictograph and its parts.

For another example of this type of painting, see this painting at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

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