Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning

Introduction

Yi Hwang (Toegye) presented this short work to the young King Seonjo in 1568, two years before his death, as a guide to self-cultivation. Each of the ten sections consists of a diagram, passages from classical and Neo-Confucian texts, and Toegye’s own comment; some diagrams he took over from Chinese predecessors, starting with Zhou Dunyi’s Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, others he drew or revised himself. The sequence leads from the cosmic order and human relationships to the mind and the practice of reverence in daily life. The work became one of the best-known texts of Korean Neo-Confucianism.

Connections

Builds on

• Commentaries on the Four Books1190 · Zhu Xi

Answered in

• The Essentials of Sage Learning (Seonghak jibyo)1575 · Yi I (Yulgok)