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Extra Training |
Yul-Gok Tul
(38 Moves)
In his encyclopaedia General Choi told us:
Yul-Gok is the pseudonym of the great Philosopher a scholar Yi I (1536-1584) nicknamed the Confucius of Korea. The 38 movements of this pattern refer to his birthplace on 38º latitude and the diagram represents the scholar.
What I’ve discovered
Yi I was born on 26th December 1536, in
Kangwon province, he was a child prodigy and could read Chinese script at just
three years old.
Yul-Gok had a very talented mother who was an
excellent painter and he is said to have composed an essay at the age of seven
by which time he had completed his study of the Confucian classics.
He passed the Civil Service literary exam at the
very young age of thirteen.
At twenty-nine he passed the higher Civil Service
exam gaining full marks, and then began his government service.
Some sources claim that it was the death of his
mother, which resulted in his seeking refuge in a Zen Buddhist monastery. His
mother died when he was 36 and he spent time on Kumgang-San(
Yul-Gok (
It was the philosophy of the 12th
Century Confucian scholar Chu-Hsi, which Yul-Gok developed into his own school
of thought.
Yul-Gok emphasised the value of practical
applications for knowledge, he is said to have been unusual for a scholar in
that he carried out manual labour.
Unfortunately all Yul-Gok’s efforts to improve
Korean government were marred by the division that subsequently arose between
his followers and those of another great Confucian scholar, Yi Hwang (see also
Toi-Gye).
Yul-Gok advised the raising of a 100,000 strong
army, but to his dismay, his warnings were ignored.
In 1575 the
Korean government was in inner turmoil as the Eastern Men (Yi Hwang’s
supporters) and Western Men (Yi I’s supporters) were in constant disagreement.
These inner battles and their refusal to act on Yi
I’s advice, adversely affected the government’s ability to repulse the Japanese
forces during the Hideyoshi invasions beginning eight years after his death in 1592.
(See pattern
Choong-Moo for more details).
For sources of this information please see the bibliography section of
the site.
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