Calligraphy of Patriot An Junggeun

This calligraphy was composed by patriot An Jung-geun (1879-1910) in prison at Lushun in Liaoning Province, China, in March 1910. He had produced over 200 works of calligraphy during the Japanese colonial period, due to his great character and thought which charmed even his enemies, such as the Japanese prosecuting attorneys. It is significant to note that the writing, “gyeongli saui gyeonwi sumyeong”, [a complete person is someone] who thinks of righteousness when he sees profits, and is prepared to give up his life when he sees danger. Referring to this, he was thinking of righteousness and ready to give up his life, allowing him to assassinate Ito Hirobumi, the Japanese statesman but the main foe for Korean. Interestingly, the style of his calligraphy follows the exceptional Yan Zhenqing’s style, indicating the serenity and the strength in order to show his patriotism.