Han Wonjin

Han Wonjin (1682 to 1751), known by the pen name Namdang, was a scholar and official of the later Joseon period and a Neo-Confucian philosopher. He studied under Kwon Sang-ha, who was himself a leading pupil of Song Si-yeol, and was counted among the eight leading disciples of Kwon known as the Eight Scholars of Gangmun. In the Horak debate he opposed Yi Gan, who held that human and non-human nature are the same, and argued that the natures of humans and other beings are not the same. He became the leading figure of the Ho school, drawn from Chungcheong, against the Nak school of Yi Gan, and he held to the Yi I doctrine that material force issues while principle rides. He took office on recommendation in 1717, left when the Noron fell in 1721, taught at the royal lectures from 1725 but was dismissed for attacking the Soron, and was restored in 1741 only to withdraw to his studies. He completed the Juseo dong-i go, the study of Zhu Xi's letters that Song Si-yeol had begun, and left the Namdangjip, a collection of his writings. He was also skilled in astronomy, geography, military science and mathematics.