The Chinese character carved on the monument at Moo Jang Temple(무장사, 藏寺) bear a striking resemblance to the calligraphic specimen of Wang Hee Ji(왕희지, 王羲之) the famous Chinese calligrapher. This has led many to believe that these characters on the monument are an assembly of Wang's calligraphic writings culled from one place to another.
However, when considering how proportionally and harmoniously those characters are arrayed and how homogeneous they look in size and heavy stroke style, one may find it difficult to imagine that they are merely a collection of Wang's calligraphic works selected and pieced together carefully.
According to my own inquiry, numerous experts of the field in the past, including Kim Jung Hee (김정희, 金正喜) and Hong Yang Ho(홍양호, 洪良浩), have recorded that those characters in question are the work of Kim Yook Jin(김육진, 金育珍), a calligrapher during the Silla Dynasty. I would also propose that what we see in the monument are not the work of Wang Hee Ji but the work of Kim Yook Jin who, with Wang Hee Ji as his primary model, had mastered the art of calligraphy to the highest possible level. If this is true, what we see in the monument is a great calligraphic work produced by an individual who had accomplished such an artistic achievement that is comparable with that of Wang Hee Ji. Kim Yook Jin's new dexterity was such that even the experts in the field could be mistaken his work for that of Wang's.
If this claim here turns out to be valid, it is likely that we are witnessing a fresh new mane added to the list of the Korea's greatest calligraphers. Futhermore, the significance of this addition is that it will shed light on some unexplored chapter in the calligraphical history of Silla Dynasty which includes a handful of calligraphers only such as Kim Sang(김생, 金生).

• 李鍾文(啓明大 漢文敎育科) | Lee Jong-mun