Mongolian calligraphy is the technique of handwriting in the Classical Mongolian script, which comprises ninety letters connected vertically by continuous strokes to create words. The letters are formed from six main strokes, known as head, tooth, stem, stomach, bow and tail, respectively. Mongolian calligraphy expresses ancient traditional literature, culture, knowledge, intellectual education and innate human sensuality through the brush strokes used in writing the Classical Mongolian script. It requires an equal combination of hand, eye and mental artistry and skill, using brush, ink, paper and strop. This calligraphic art is used for the distinct, vertically written Mongolian script comprising several patterns of writing: ancient, meticulous, stenography, ornamental and stylized. Traditionally, mentors select the best students and train them to be calligraphers over a period of five to eight years.

Mongolia 2013

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Baecheop refers to a traditional method of making a scroll, frame or folding screen for preserving calligraphic letters and pictures. Baecheopjang refers to an artisan belonging to the Dohwaseo (Bureau of Painting). The skill continued to develop during the Unified Silla (668 – 935) and Goryeo (877 – 1394) Periods. In the Joseon Period (1392 – 1910), artisans skilled in picture mounting were designated as Bacheopjang. There are five types of picture mounting – making scrolls, making folding screens, making frames, binding and refurbishing.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Gakjajang refers to the skill of engraving calligraphic letters to be used for wood printing blocks or to an artisan with such a skill. The oldest existing print done with wood blocks is the Great Dharani Sutra of Immaculate and Pure Light made in the Silla Period (circa 57 BC – 935 AD), while the wood blocks of the Tripitaka Koreana, made between 1236 and 1251 during the Goryeo Period, are regarded as the most outstanding still in existence. It became common practice to use hanging boards containing engraved characters in royal palaces and temples, and even in private houses. Towards the late Joseon Period (1392-1910), this once exquisite skill went into decline, but the reliance on the traditional practice of wood block printing remained high until it was pushed aside with the introduction of modern photography and printing technology during the colonial period.