ŬICH'ŎN (1055–1101), also known as National Master Taegak; Buddhist cataloger and founder of the Ch'ŏnt'ae (Chin., Tiantai) school of Korean Buddhism. Ŭich'ŏn was the fourth son of the Koryŏ king Munjong (r. 1046–1083), and one of the premier scholiasts of the Koryŏ (937–1392) Buddhist church. Early in his life, he is said to have mastered all of the main currents of Buddhist philosophy as well as much of Chinese classical literature. Korean Buddhism during his time was bifurcated between two increasingly hostile traditions: the scholastic schools (kyo; Chin., jiao), dominated by Hwaŏm (Chin., Huayan) philosophy, and the Nine Mountains schools of Sŏn (Chin., Chan), which were chiefly concerned with meditative practices. Ŭich'ŏn deplored the sectarianism that had infected the order and criticized adepts of both the Sŏn and scholastic schools for their...