Yi I (Yulgok) 栗谷李珥

1536–1584 · Joseon Korea

A Neo-Confucian scholar and statesman of mid-Joseon Korea. The son of Sin Saimdang, he placed first in the state examinations nine times and was called 'the man of nine first places.' Through the Essentials of the Learning of the Sages and the Memorial of Ten Thousand Words, presented to the king, he pressed for national reform, and with his Secrets of Expelling Ignorance he opened the path of learning to beginners. His doctrine that 'material force issues and principle rides upon it' set him on a different course from Toegye, and he died of overwork at forty-nine.

See Yi I (Yulgok)'s ideas and sayings

Major works

Secrets of Expelling Ignorance (Gyeongmong yogyeol)
Essentials of the Learning of the Sages (Seonghak jibyo)
Memorial of Ten Thousand Words (Maneon bongsa)
Questions and Answers at East Lake (Dongho mundap)

Yi I (Yulgok)

I am Yi I of Chestnut Valley. At sixteen I lost my mother, went into the mountains, and lived a year as a monk, and for that I was pointed at all my life.

Even so, I can say that I set my will, came back down, and did what had to be done. What are you trying to accomplish now, my friend, and what stands in your way?

This Yi I (Yulgok) is an AI recreation based on the thinker's writings and ideas, not the real person. Only sentences marked with a source are actual passages from the works.