The story of Yul-Gok
Yul-Gok was the nickname of Master Yi I, a great philosopher and teacher of 16th century Korea. He was so clever that he passed the test for choosing public servants at the age of 13. As the Minister for Defence, he was worried about the possibility of Japan invading Korea in 1592 and he recommended that his country create an army of 100,000 men. After leaving government service, he devoted himself to writing. He published many books on philosophy, Confucianism and public administration. His work led him to become known as the Confucius of Korea.
Yi was born in 1536 in his grandparents’ house on Korea’s north-eastern coast and just a little south of the 38th parallel. The 38 movements of this pattern are therefore symbolic of his birthplace. His mother was a talented painter and calligrapher. Her remarkable artistic skill must have rubbed off on the young Yi, who is said to have been able to write characters as soon as he could speak and who wrote an essay at the age of seven.
Yul-Gok's picture on the Korean 5000 won note
At the age of 15, Yi was so distressed when his mother died that he ran away to a Buddhist monastery where he spent a year deep in meditation, studying Buddhist philosophy and teachings. After leaving the monastery, he devoted his life to government service. He adopted the nickname Yul-Gok, meaning ‘Chestnut Valley’.
Yi had a lot of important jobs, including being the Minister of Defence, the prosecutor-general and ambassador to China. But during this time, the government began to fight within itself and was almost unable to run the country. In 1583, Yi proposed that the government build a 100,000-man army to defeat Japan. But his idea was ignored and the Korean army was hopelessly outgunned against the Japanese when they did invade. But Yi had already died by then, in January 1584.
Yul-Gok was the nickname of Master Yi I, a great philosopher and teacher of 16th century Korea. He was so clever that he passed the test for choosing public servants at the age of 13. As the Minister for Defence, he was worried about the possibility of Japan invading Korea in 1592 and he recommended that his country create an army of 100,000 men. After leaving government service, he devoted himself to writing. He published many books on philosophy, Confucianism and public administration. His work led him to become known as the Confucius of Korea.
Yi was born in 1536 in his grandparents’ house on Korea’s north-eastern coast and just a little south of the 38th parallel. The 38 movements of this pattern are therefore symbolic of his birthplace. His mother was a talented painter and calligrapher. Her remarkable artistic skill must have rubbed off on the young Yi, who is said to have been able to write characters as soon as he could speak and who wrote an essay at the age of seven.
Yul-Gok's picture on the Korean 5000 won note
At the age of 15, Yi was so distressed when his mother died that he ran away to a Buddhist monastery where he spent a year deep in meditation, studying Buddhist philosophy and teachings. After leaving the monastery, he devoted his life to government service. He adopted the nickname Yul-Gok, meaning ‘Chestnut Valley’.
Yi had a lot of important jobs, including being the Minister of Defence, the prosecutor-general and ambassador to China. But during this time, the government began to fight within itself and was almost unable to run the country. In 1583, Yi proposed that the government build a 100,000-man army to defeat Japan. But his idea was ignored and the Korean army was hopelessly outgunned against the Japanese when they did invade. But Yi had already died by then, in January 1584.