YI, Hwang (or T’OEGYE).

Sheng xue shi tu [K: Sŏnghak sipto; Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning].

All sheets with woodblock diagrams. Ten woodblock-printed sheets (each 980 x 580 mm.). [Korea]: 18th or 19th century?

A very rare woodblock-printed broadside edition of the influential Sŏnghak sipto, by Yi Hwang (1502-71), “Korea’s greatest philosopher.”–Pratt & Rutt, Korea. A Historical and Cultural Dictionary (Curzon: 1999), p. 517. Yi, a child prodigy, was a scholar and government official. He served four kings in a number of high positions, but his integrity and stand against corruption caused him to be relieved of his posts and sent into exile a number of times.

“Yi Hwang, better known by his penname, T’oegye, is generally reputed as Korea’s foremost Neo-Confucian thinker. From the very beginning of the Yi dynasty (1392-1910) the Neo-Confucian doctrine of the Ch’eng-Chu school was the officially sanctioned ideology, but with T‘oegye it arrived at its full maturity on the peninsula, for he was the first to present it with a fully sophisticated and integral grasp of its scope, unity, and implications. Consequently his teaching became a constant reference point for subsequent generations of Korean Neo-Confucians and his understanding of Chu Hsi’s [Zhu Xi’s] vision exercised a profound and lasting influence…

“One of his last and most important works was the Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning (Sŏnghak sipdo), which he composed for the instruction of young King Sŏnjo (reigned 1567-1608) in 1568, two years before his death. Considered the summation of T’oegye’s lifetime of learning, the Ten Diagrams became one of the classics of the Korean Neo-Confucian tradition: during the course of the Yi dynasty it was reprinted at least twenty-four times, and it now circulates in three modern Korean translations…

“‘Sage learning’ is a phrase that appears frequently in Neo-Confucian works meant for the instruction of rulers, reflecting the view that the essential duty of a ruler is to learn from and emulate ancient sage kings. In terms of its origin, the Ten Diagrams is certainly such a work. But T’oegye’s title is ambiguous, for ‘sage learning’ also means ‘learning how to become a sage,’ that is, a fully perfected human being. This is a kind of learning that has to do with not only kings, but every human being. Thus the provenance of this work is universal, and through the centuries it has served as a basic handbook for generations of serious Neo-Confucians in their endeavor to understand and cultivate the full perfection of their humanity…

“This kind of ‘sage learning,’ in its full scope, is a distinctively Neo-Confucian development. With the Neo-tradition revival of the tradition in the Sung dynasty, Confucians finally developed a metaphysical, psychological, and ascetical framework that could fully describe the status of sagehood and delineate it. Sagehood became a practical goal rather than a theoretical ideal. T’oegye’s object in the Ten Diagrams is to present that framework and path…

“Doing this, of course, amounts to presenting a structured summation of the essence of Ch’eng-Chu theoretical and practical learning. One could devote a large book to this topic; T’oegye compressed it into ten chapters, each brief enough to be mounted on a single panel of a ten-paneled screen. Each chapter begins with a diagram and is followed by a text. T’oegye’s own remarks are only a short portion of each chapter. As far as possible he tried to make this a compilation of diagrams and words from other authoritative sources so that the work would clearly represent the cumulative wisdom of the Confucian tradition, not just his own private opinion…

“The compressed format is not a concession to hasty readers or beginners needing a simple introduction. Quite the opposite; whether as a short book or a screen placed in one’s quarters, T’oegye intended this as a work to be lived with and absorbed slowly through repeated reading and leisurely reflection. In that way its compressed contents would unfold gradually and become a part of oneself through the lengthy and personal effort of apprehending its full meaning. The diagrammatic format he chose is ideal for such use, for the categories, correspondences, and relationships suggested by spatial arrangement offer food for reflective thought far beyond the content of the words themselves. T’oegye could expect that the Ten Diagrams would be approached in this way because the Neo-Confucian approach to texts emphasized this kind of repeated reading, prolonged reflection, and personal assimilation. The theory was that reading should be a process of self-transformation, not mere information gathering. T’oegye designed his Ten Diagrams precisely as a tool to be used in such a process.”–Michael C. Kalton, “T’oegye’s ‘Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning’: A Korean View of the Essence of Chu Hsi’s Teaching” in The Journal of Korean Studies, Vol. 7 (1990), pp. 97-99–(& see the rest of this wonderful article for the importance of this text, which was influential in both Korea and Japan).

The titles of the ten chapters are: The Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, The Western Inscription, The Elementary Learning, The Great Learning, The Rules of the White Deer Grotto Academy, The Mind Combines and Governs the Nature and Feelings, Diagram of the Explanation of Humanity, Diagram of the Learning of the Mind-and-Heart, Diagram of the Admonition of Mindfulness Studio, and Admonition on Rising Early and Retiring Late.

As mentioned in Prof. Kalton’s essay, these broadsides were intended to be made into a ten-panel standing screen.

Fine condition, and a remarkable survival. The final sheet is a little dusty and waterstained. We find no broadside edition in WorldCat. With thanks to Prof. Marten Soderblom Saarela of the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.