Toi Gye is the pen name of the noted scholar Yi Hwang (1501-1570 A.D.), an authority on Neo-Confucianism.Yi Hwang, or Toi Gye as he is often called, lived at a time of great social upheaval and ethical conflict between the public good and private self-interest.He passed the preliminary provincial civil service examination with top honours at the age of 33 and continued his scholarly pursuits, even as he held several government positions, until his death at age 70.
Yi was the ideal gentleman-scholar for he pursued self-cultivation and service to his country throughout his life. On numerous occasions he was exiled from the capital for his firm commitment to principle.
Yi Hwang was greatly respected by King Chungjong, Myongjong and Sonjo, and his thought even influenced the development of Neo-Confucianism in Japan.
Yi died in 1570. He was posthumously promoted to the highest ministerial rank. His mortuary tablet is enshrined in a Confucian shrine as well as in the shrine of King Sonjo.
Yi was the author of many books on Confucianism. He also published a “shijo” collection, a short poetic form popular with the literati of the Choson period.
It was in his later years that he began to build Tosan Sowon, a private Confucian academy offering instruction in the classics and honouring the sages with regular memorial rites.
The academy remains a centre for the study Toi Gye thought, and regular memorial services are held in honour of its founder twice a year.