Yi Hwang: he turned the court down more than twenty times, so the king sent a painter to bring back a picture of where he lived
After 1543 he resigned a post or declined an appointment more than twenty times. Unable to summon him, King Myeongjong quietly sent a painter to Dosan to paint the place, had the picture made into a screen and looked at it morning and evening. What he built there in 1560 was a study hall, not an academy — and in Andong you can see the difference from the buildings themselves.
Language
The king could not get him to come.
When King Myeongjong repeatedly urged Yi Hwang to take office and he would not, the king composed with his close officials a poem titled "Lament that the Worthy Will Not Come", and quietly sent a painter to Dosan to paint the scenery there.
He then had Song In write the Dosan Record and the Dosan Miscellany onto the picture, made it into a folding screen, and is said to have admired him through it morning and evening.
What you see in Andong is the place that painter was sent to.
At a glance
Declined twenty-odd times
After 1543 he resigned a post or declined an appointment more than twenty times.
1560, a study hall
What he built was the Dosan study hall. He lived there for the next seven years, teaching.
The first chartered academy
As magistrate of Punggi he petitioned for a plaque, books and land for the Baegundong academy. It became Sosu Seowon.
The last morning
He had his beloved potted plum watered, had his bed put in order, and died sitting upright.
His name came from a place name, and he changed the place name
Toegye means "the stream one withdraws to". The name was not invented for him; it is a place name he renamed.
After the 1545 literati purge he resigned all offices on grounds of ill health, and in 1546 he built the Yangjinam hermitage at Dongam on Togye, the upper Nakdong, to devote himself to reading. At that time he renamed Togye as Toegye and took it as his own art name.
Withdrawal became his name. And the name was not a metaphor; it was an address.
He was born close by. At Ongye-ri in Yean-hyeon — today Onhye-ri in Dosan-myeon, Andong — as the youngest of eight children, and he lost his father seven months after birth. At twelve he learned the Analects from his uncle Yi U.
🔵 Even his frail health has a recorded cause. Around the age of twenty he damaged it by immersing himself in the Book of Changes, and is said to have been a sickly man ever after.
The man who made the academy system did not live in an academy
His name travels with the word seowon, yet what he built was not one.
Take the institution first. As magistrate of Punggi he petitioned the court, through the provincial governor, to grant a name plaque, books and school land to the Baegundong academy founded by his predecessor Ju Se-bung, and he succeeded. That became Sosu Seowon, the first royally chartered academy of the Joseon dynasty.
In other words he is the man who first opened the route by which a private academy could be recognised and supported by the state.
What he built for himself was a study hall. In 1560 he built the Dosan study hall and took the art name Doong; for the next seven years he lived there, devoting himself to reading, self-cultivation and writing while teaching many disciples.
You can see the distinction on the ground in Andong. The smallest and plainest buildings in the compound are his side, and Nongunjeongsa in this article's photograph is one of them. No painted decoration, posts that look barely dressed, and under the eaves a plaque reading Siseupjae — "the room for practising in due season".
The résumé of a man who said no twenty times
His official career reads not as a list of appointments but as a list of refusals.
After 1543 he resigned a post or declined an appointment more than twenty times.
Deputy Director of the Office of Special Advisers in 1556, Second Minister of Works in 1558 — declined repeatedly. King Myeongjong appointed him to high offices and invited him often; each time he declined and did not leave home.
Then, once, he went. At sixty-eight he took the heavy offices of Grand Academician and Royal Lecturer, and submitted the Six-Article Memorial of the Musin Year to King Seonjo. And while repeatedly asking to resign in old age, as his last service to the king he composed the Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning with the effort of a lifetime and presented it to the young monarch.
The order of those events is the evidence that withdrawal was not idleness. What the man who refused twenty times finally submitted was not a resignation but a textbook.
Having the potted plum watered
In the eleventh month of 1570 his illness worsened, perhaps from overexertion at the head family's ancestral rite.
On the morning of the eighth he had his beloved potted plum watered, had his bed put in order, asked to be raised, and died sitting upright.
Seonjo suspended state affairs for three days in mourning and posthumously appointed him Chief State Councillor; the funeral was conducted at that rank. The grave does not follow it.
By his own written instruction, his grave carries only a small natural stone inscribed "Tomb of Master Yi of Jinseong, Toedo the Late Recluse".
A funeral at the rank of Chief State Councillor, and one undressed stone. Both belong to the same man.
Going to see it
Dosan Seowon is outside the town of Andong; opening hours and directions are on the Dosan Seowon place page.
🔵 When you go, look at the gradient between the buildings. His study-hall side is small and undecorated, and scale and ornament increase as you move outward. The first was built by him and the rest were built to honour him, so the difference is itself information about the man.
What to look for
Find the Siseupjae plaque under the eaves of Nongunjeongsa. The name comes from the opening line of the Analects, and the Analects is the book he learned from his uncle at twelve.
And do not look for painted decoration. There is none. That absence is how the older half of this compound speaks.
Places connected with Yi Hwang
One of his disciples was Ryu Seong-ryong, who studied alongside Kim Seong-il. That story is in the article on Ryu Seong-ryong.
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Official sources
- Fact check: Encyclopedia of Korean Culture — Yi Hwang (Jinbo clan; courtesy name Gyeongho; art names Toegye, Toedo, Dosu. Born at Ongye-ri in Yean-hyeon, Gyeongsang-do — today Onhye-ri, Dosan-myeon, Andong — the youngest of the eight children of Yi Sik. Lost his father seven months after birth and was raised under the instruction of his mother, Lady Bak. At twelve he learned the Analects from his uncle Yi U. Around the age of twenty he damaged his health by immersing himself in the Book of Changes and is said to have been sickly ever after. Passed the provincial preliminary examinations in 1527 and the civil service examination in 1534, entering officialdom as an assistant proofreader in the Office of Diplomatic Correspondence. After the 1545 literati purge he resigned all offices on grounds of ill health, and in 1546 built the Yangjinam hermitage at Dongam on Togye, the upper Nakdong, to devote himself to reading; at that time he renamed Togye as Toegye and took it as his own art name. Magistrate of Danyang in 1548, then transferred to Punggi; while at Punggi he petitioned the court, through the provincial governor, to grant a name plaque, books and school land to the Baegundong academy founded by his predecessor Ju Se-bung, and succeeded — this became Sosu Seowon, the first royally chartered academy of the Joseon dynasty. In 1560 he built the Dosan study hall and took the art name Doong; for the next seven years he lived at the study hall, devoting himself to reading, self-cultivation and writing while teaching many disciples. After 1543 he resigned a post or declined an appointment more than twenty times. When King Myeongjong repeatedly urged him to serve and he would not, the king composed with his close officials a poem titled Lament that the Worthy Will Not Come, quietly sent a painter to Dosan to paint the scenery, had Song In write the Dosan Record and the Dosan Miscellany onto it, made it into a folding screen, and is said to have admired him through it morning and evening. At sixty-eight he took the offices of Grand Academician and Royal Lecturer and submitted the Six-Article Memorial of the Musin Year to King Seonjo, and as his last service composed the Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning and presented it to the young king. He exchanged the Four-Seven questions and answers with Gi Dae-seung. On the morning of the eighth day of the eleventh month of 1570 he had his beloved potted plum watered, had his bed put in order, asked to be raised, and died sitting upright. Seonjo suspended state affairs for three days in mourning and posthumously appointed him Chief State Councillor; the funeral was conducted at that rank, but by his own instruction his grave carries only a small natural stone inscribed Tomb of Master Yi of Jinseong, Toedo the Late Recluse)
- Fact check: Encyclopedia of Korean Culture — Ryu Seong-ryong (Pungsan clan, art name Seoae; a disciple of Yi Hwang who studied alongside Kim Seong-il; Chief State Councillor during the Imjin War; enshrined at Byeongsan Seowon among other places)