Yi Hwang

born 1501

died 1570

Korean religious leader, the foremost Korean Confucian.

He helped shape the character of Korean Confucianism through his creative interpretation of Zhu Xi's teaching. His To Become a Sage: The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning, an aid for educating the king, offered a depiction of all the major concepts in Song-dynasty learning. He elevated the level of Confucian dialogue to a new height of intellectual sophistication through his correspondence with Ki Taesung (1527–72). In their so-called four-seven debate, they discussed the relationship between Mencius's four basic human feelings (commiseration, shame, modesty, right versus wrong) and seven emotions.

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