In early October 2014, on a Sunday afternoon, my wife and I went to the “Tamna Culture Festival,” held at the Tapdong Plaza in Jeju City.
As we entered the event site, booths for cultural activities lined up. The first booth offered a wood carving experience and the next offered calligraphy.
I hadn’t held a writing brush since my university days, around 40 years ago when I participated in a calligraphy club.
However, seeing the set of calligraphy tools at the booth, I suddenly felt like writing a few characters.
So, I placed a sheet of calligraphy paper under a paperweight and picked up the writing brush.
As I wondered, “What should I write?” a thought came to mind: “I should come up with a name for my study room.” Without hesitation, I wrote the name “Uijedang.”
I visited the cultural event purely by chance and had never considered naming my study room. The name was written almost instinctively, and when I saw it, I was satisfied with it.
“Uijedang” (義齊堂) – “The House that Shares God’s Righteousness.”
With that, I went to the wood carving booth next door, where the staff had prepared a woodblock for me. I attached the calligraphy paper to the woodblock and attempted to carve it.
Though I had once carved some jade seals for a signature stamp during my university days, I had never tried wood carving before.
After a few swings with the wooden hammer, I realized I was about to ruin the letters. So, I asked one of the booth keepers to finish the engraving.
I brought the woodblock home and completed the finishing touches. That is how I obtained the carved nameplate for my study room, “Uijedang” (義齊堂).
