U T'ak (; 1262–1342), also known as Woo Tak, was a

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Neo-Confucian Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a Morality, moral, Ethics, ethical, and metaphysics, metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768� ...

scholar and philosopher during Korea’s

Goryeo dynasty Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

. He was also commonly known as ''Yŏkdong Sŏnsaeng'' (). His

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

s were Paekun and Tanam, his courtesy names were Ch'ŏnchang and T'akpo, and his posthumous name was Moonhee. U T'ak helped spread

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) i ...

, which had come from the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

, in Korea. He was a disciple of the Neo-Confucian scholar, An Hyang. U T'ak belonged to the Danyang U clan. He was the 7th generation descendant of the Danyang U clan's founding ancestor, U Hyŏn. U had two sons, U Wŏn-gwang () and U Wŏn-myŏng (). U T'ak is considered as the ancestor of the Moonheegong branch () of the Danyang U clan. By 1308, U held the Censorate office of royal inspector (), however he protested newly reigning King Chungseon's relationship with late king's former concubine, Lady Sukchang by bringing an axe to court and appealed to the king to reconsider his ways. U would retire early from the court after this incident. U T'ak was a respected scholar and centuries after his death, a

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

Confucian scholar,

Yi Hwang Yi Hwang (; 1501–1570) was a Korean philosopher, writer, and Confucian scholar of the Joseon period. He is considered the most important philosopher of Korea - he is honored by printing his portrait on the 1000 South Korean won banknote, on ...

, helped to establish the in honor of U T'ak in 1570.

References

1262 births 1342 deaths Korean Confucianists Neo-Confucian scholars Danyang Woo clan 14th-century Korean philosophers {{Korea-philosopher-stub

See also

References