To Become a Sage: The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning

About this book

Yi Hwang (1501-1570) better known by his pen name Toegye is generally considered Koreas preeminent Neo-Confucian scholar. The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning is his final masterpiece a distillation of the learning and practice of a lifetime and one of the most important works of Korean Neo-Confucianism. In it he crystallized the essence of Neo-Confucian philosophy and spiritual practice in ten brief chapters that begin with the grand vision of the universe and conclude with a description of a well-lived day. In To Become a Sage Michael Kalton supplements a superb translation of this pivotal text with useful commentary that will greatly enhance its value and interest to the lay reader. The Ten Diagrams is the first complete primary text of Korean Neo-Confucianism to be translated into English. Koreas Yi Dynasty (1392-1910) the only East Asian regime founded exclusively under Neo-Confucian auspices was unique in its allegiance to the orthodox Cheng Chu school predominant in China Korea and Japan. Although the Ten Diagrams is a relatively short work it fully presents the entire vision of Neo-Confucianism as framed in that school. Kalton provides a brief history of Neo-Confucianism in China and Korea as well as commentary that includes extensive passages from Toegyes voluminous personal correspondence. These annotations expand the meaning distilled in each chapter. They help the uninitiated reader understand the basic elements of the complex Cheng Chu school of Neo-Confucianism while enabling the scholar to distinguish characteristic aspects of Korean Neo-Confucianism as presented in the thought of the nations leading philosopher of the time.