YI T'OEGYE, pen name of Yi Hwang (1501–1570), founder of the Yŏngnam school of Korean Neo-Confucianism. T'oegye is credited with having established in Korea the orthodox Neo-Confucian tradition as propounded by the Cheng-Zhu school, so-called after its putative founders Cheng I (1033–1107) and Zhu Xi (1130–1200), and is widely regarded as the greatest of all Korean Neo-Confucian thinkers.

Yi T'oegye was born in Yean in Kyongsang Province, in the southeastern part of Korea. He began his studies with his uncle, Yi U, and continued them at the Royal College in Seoul, which he entered in 1523. He passed the preliminary civil service examination in 1528 and the final examination in 1534, after which he joined the small governing elite by embarking upon a long official career. His career, which followed the pattern typical of the elite of the period, included posts in such metropolitan bureaus as the...