Yi Hwang

Yi Hwang lived from 1501 to 1570 and was a Korean philosopher, writer and Confucian scholar of the Joseon period, considered the most important philosopher of Korea, honored by having his portrait printed on the 1,000 South Korean won banknote, the reverse of which depicts his school, Dosan Seowon; of the Neo-Confucian literati, he established the Yeongnam School and founded Dosan Seowon, a private Confucian academy, and is often referred to by his art name Toegye, meaning Retreating Creek, with the courtesy name Gyeongho. His interpretation of Neo-Confucianism was influential not only in Korea but also in Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam and is now studied even in mainland China, and his main work, Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning, originally published in classical Chinese, has since been translated into modern Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, English, French, German, Russian and Polish; some of his writings were looted by the Japanese military during the Japanese invasion of Korea.