Yi Hwang

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Yi Hwang (1501-1570), Yi-dynasty philosopher, poet, scholar, and educator, was one of the greatest Korean Confucian philosophers, famous for his comprehensive studies of the great Sung Neo-Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi.

Yi Hwang, whose literary appellation was T'oegye (Stream Hermit), was the youngest son of scholar Yi Sik, who died seven months after Yi Hwang's birth. The family was plunged into "honest" poverty because of the loss of the father's government stipend. When Yi was 12, he began his studies in preparation for the government entrance examinations, a basic feature of the Confucian bureaucracy. He studied the Analects of Confucius with his uncle Yi U. Yi Hwang attracted the attention of his elders by his precocity. He is said to have loved the poetry of T'ao Yuan-ming, the outstanding post-Han era nature poet of China.

When Yi was 17, he began his study of the Confucian commentaries of the Sung Neo-Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi which was to bring him lasting fame. About his twentieth birthday Yi was initiated into the mysteries of the Book of Changes (I ching) and is said to have injured his health and even neglected his meals pondering the philosophy of change.

Yi married when he was 21, and his first son was born two years later. In 1527 he passed the Kyngsang provincial qualifying examination and passed the metropolitan examination the next spring, placing second and earning his literary licentiate degree. His wife died only a few months before his success. In 1530 he remarried, and another son was born the following year. In 1534 Yi placed in the higher government examination and was appointed to office in the Royal Secretariat. He was prevented from advancing in his career by a faction led by Kim Anno despite his aristocratic background.

Yi held various minor posts until his mother died when he was 37. In accordance with Confucian custom, he left the government for an extended period of mourning. Near the end of this mourning period Kim Anno's faction fell from power, and there were no further major political obstacles in Yi's official career. He was given a post in the very powerful Office of Special Counselors and simultaneously in the prestigious Office of Royal Lectures. At 43 he was appointed assistant headmaster of the National Academy, but he left office shortly thereafter and returned to his home, turning his back on court politics to devote himself to his philosophic studies.

Five years later Yi was made headman of Tanyang county, a position which provided him with a stipend away from the factional tensions of court; however, his elder brother, Duke Taehn, was made chief magistrate of the province, obligating Yi to request a transfer for the sake of propriety. He was transferred to P'unggi county in Kyngsang Province to serve as headman there. The next year he petitioned the chief magistrate to relieve him from duty, and his request was granted the following year. He retired to the west bank of T'oegye Stream and devoted himself to philosophical studies.

At the age of 52 Yi was recalled to the capital to be the headmaster of the National Academy. He repeatedly requested to be relieved because of his failing health; however, he served as minister of works, minister of rites, and chancellor of the Office of Royal Decrees. In 1569 he returned to his home in Andong in poor health. The next year he passed away. The Tosan Academy in Kyngsang Province was established in his honor five years after his death. The following year the King conferred the posthumous title of Mun Sun (Pure Word) upon him.

Chu Hsi and Neo-Confucianism

In the late 12th century Chu Hsi became the leader of the Sung philosophical School of Principle, and his commentaries on the Confucian canon and his interpretations of Confucian principles became the orthodoxy of the Yi-dynasty Confucianists in Korea under the influence of Yi Hwang (T'oegye), Yi I (Yulgok), and others. Even in China, the Chu Hsi interpretation stood as the standard for government examinations with only occasional challenges by new interpretations from philosophers such as Wang Yang-ming and Lu Hsiang-shan. Self-improvement, polishing of one's virtues, was the ideal and objective of the true adherents of Neo-Confucianism.

Two major Confucian schools in Korea were the Yngnam school, led by Yi at Andong in North Kyngsang Province, and the Kiho school, led by Yi's contemporary Yi I, the only other Korean philosopher of T'oegye's stature. Both schools were factions of the Korean School of Nature and Law, but they differed substantially in interpretation. A third contemporary, S Kyngdok, evolved a monistic emphasis in his cosmology; Yi T'oegye, a dualistic emphasis; and Yi Yulgok's group, a middle ground.

"Twelve Songs of Tosan"

Yi wrote a large corpus of poetry in Chinese in traditional Chinese forms. He also composed a famous cycle of sijo, three-line poems, in Korean titled the Twelve Songs of Tosan. They sing of the beauties of Mt. To, yet each incorporates a didactic Confucian lesson, such as the eleventh song of the cycle: "The ancients see me not, nor I, the ancients,/ Though I see the ancients not, the Way they trod is before me,/ Their Way before me, can I but follow?" Yi also wrote Tosan Records, a diary of his recollections at Tosan.

Further Reading

There are no major studies of Yi Hwang's life or works in Western languages. For background see Evelyn McCune, Korea: Its Land and People and Culture of All Ages (Seoul, 1960; rev. ed. 1963) and The Arts of Korea: An Illustrated History (1962), and Peter H. Lee, Korean Literature: Topics and Themes (1965).

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This is a Korean name; the family name is Yi.

Yi Hwang
Korean name
Hangul	이황
Hanja	李滉
Revised Romanization	I Hwang
McCune–Reischauer	Yi Hwang
Pen name
Hangul	퇴계
Hanja	退溪
Revised Romanization	Toegye
McCune–Reischauer	T'oegye
Courtesy name
Hangul	경호
Hanja	景浩
Revised Romanization	Gyeongho
McCune–Reischauer	Kyŏngho
Posthumous name
Hangul	문순
Hanja	文純
Revised Romanization	Munsun
McCune–Reischauer	Munsun

Yi Hwang (1501-1570) is one of the two most prominent Korean Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty, the other being his younger contemporary Yi I (Yulgok). Yi Hwang is often referred to by his pen name Toegye ("Retreating Creek"). His courtesy name was Gyeongho.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Works 2.1 Short poem 3 See also 4 External links

Overview

Yi Hwang was born in Ongye-ri (now Ansan), Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on November 25, 1501. He belonged to the Jinseong Yi clan. He was a child prodigy. At the age of six, he started to learn the Thousand Character Classic from an old gentleman in his neighborhood, and at 12 he learned the Analects of Confucius from his uncle, Yi U. At the age of 19, he obtained the two-volume Seongni Taejeon, a great compendium of neo-Confucianism by Hu Guang, and experienced a process of great awakening. He became devoted to Song thought.

He came to Seoul when he was 23 years old to study at the National Academy, and passed the preliminary provincial Civil Service examination with top honours at the age of 33, continuing his scholarly pursuits whilst working for the Joseon government. Indeed, he continued to work for the government throughout his life, moving through 29 different positions. His integrity made him relentless as he took part in purges of corrupt government officials. In a report to the king following an inspection tour of Chungcheong Province as a royal secret inspector, he ruthlessly condemned a provincial official who, ignoring an order from an honest magistrate, busied himself in illicitly building a fortune by taking possession of government articles. On numerous occasions he was even exiled from the capital for his firm commitment to principle.

In 1549 he retired back to his home and lived there until his death. There he began to build the Dosan Seowon, a private Confucian academy offering instruction in the classics and honouring the sages with regular memorial rites. Unfortunately he died in 1570 and never lived to see the opening of his academy, although his students continued to work after his death. Dosan Seowon (or Tosan Sowon) opened in 1574, and remains in use to this day.

Yi Hwang on the currently circulating 1,000 won note

On his death, Yi Hwang was posthumously promoted to the highest ministerial rank, and his mortuary tablet is housed in a Confucian shrine as well as in the shrine of King Seonjo. He was the author of many books on Confucianism, and he also published a "shijo" collection, a short poetic form popular with the literati of the Choson period. During forty years of public life he served four kings (Junjong, Injong, Myeongjong and Seonjo), and his interpretation of the "li-chi" dualism gained him fame in Korea and beyond.

Toegyero -- a street in central Seoul -- is named after him, and he is depicted on the South Korean 1,000-Won note. The Taekwondo pattern Toi-Gye was named in honor of Yi Hwang.

Works

• The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning (성학십도; 聖學十圖)
• Outline and Explanations of the Works of Zhu Xi (주자서절요; 朱子書節要)
• Commentary on the Scripture of the Heart (심경석의; 心經釋義)
• History of Neo-Confucianism in the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties (송계원명이학통록; 宋季元明理學通錄)
• The Four-Seven Debate (사칠속편; 四七續篇): discusses Mencius's philosophy with Gi Dae-seung

Short poem

Accidie

Though thunder splits the mountains,

Deaf men will not hear

And though in the noonday Heaven

The sun burns white and clear,

Blind men will not see it.

But we, thus eared and eyed,

Lack even the lame excuses

Infirmities provide.

(Translated by Graeme Wilson)

See also

• List of Korean philosophers
• Yi I
• Neo-Confucianism

External links

• Detailed bibliography (in English, Korean encoding needed)
• Photos: portrait and tombstone (in Korean)
• Rules of the White Deer Hollow Academy and comments by T'oegye

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