Korean Confucianism: The Philosophy and Politics of Toegye and Yulgok

From the publisher’s website:

This book explores Neo-Confucianism and its relationship to politics by examining the life and work of the two iconic figures of the Joseon dynasty Yi Hwang (1501-1570, Toegye) and Yi I (1536-1584, Yulgok). Neo-Confucianism became state orthodoxy in 1392, and remained in place for over five centuries until the end of the dynasty in 1910, thereby shaping the Korea of today. Toegye and Yulgok founded the two main schools of Josean Neo-Confucianism, which became the most dominant schools of thought in Korean history. In shedding new light on the important relationship between these two iconic figures, Hyoungchan Kim offers an important new examination of Korea today, which will be essential to those interested in the philosophy and history of Korea.

Hyoungchan Kim is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Korea University

Contents

1. The Enduring Dialog of Toegye and Yulgok
2. The First Encounter
3. Yulgok Asks and Toegye Answers 1 (in May, 1558)
4. The Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings: Eight-Year Debate between Toegye and Kobong
5. Yulgok Asks and Toegye Answers 2: On The Doctrine of the Mean
6. Yulgok Asks and Toegye Answers 3: On Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning
7. The Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings; the Human Mind and the Moral Mind
8. The Politics of the Royal Court
9. Conclusion: The Resolution of the King and Retainers’ Adherence to Confucian Ideals