Yi Gan

Yi Gan (1677 to 1727), who wrote under the pen names Oeam and Chuwolheon, was a Korean Neo-Confucian scholar of the Joseon period and the leading voice of the Nak school in the Horak debate. He was a pupil of Kwon Sang-ha, who had himself been a chief disciple of Song Si-yeol, and was counted among the eight leading disciples of Kwon known as the Eight Scholars of Gangmun. Under King Sukjong he held a post as a royal attendant. He argued that the natures of humans and other beings are the same, against Han Wonjin, who held that they differ, and the exchange of letters between the two from 1709 grew into the long Horak debate that divided the Noron faction. After the Ho school declined, his pupils held key posts at court. He was honoured after death with the rank of Minister of Personnel and the posthumous name Munjeong. His writings include the Oeam yugo and the essay Mibalbyeon, and the Oeam village in Asan takes its name from his pen name.