이익 李瀷
Silhak scholar and author of Seongho Saseol, founder of the Seongho school; pen name Seongho
| Life | 1681 ~ 1763 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 여주 이씨 |
Life & career
Yi Ik (1681-1763) was a late-Joseon Silhak scholar of the Yeoju Yi clan, courtesy name Jasin and pen name Seongho. His great-grandfather was Yi Sang-ui, Left Vice Premier under Gwanghaegun, and his father Yi Ha-jin, an Inspector-General, was exiled in the 1680 Gyeongsin purge; Yi Ik was born at the place of exile, Unsan in Pyongan. His father died when he was one, and he was taught by his brother Yi Jam, twenty-two years his senior, reading widely in the family library.
He passed the 1705 supplementary examination but was disqualified over a name-writing problem on his paper, and when Yi Jam died in prison the next year he gave up the examinations. Living in Cheomseong-ri, Ansan, he farmed for a living and taught students. King Yeongjo appointed him to a minor post in 1727, which he declined, and he later received an honorary post as Deputy Commissioner.
His writings include the encyclopedic Seongho Saseol, the reform treatise Gwangnok, the Seongho Jilseo and the Iija Suo. He criticized dogmatic scholarship, valued evidence, proposed that scholars also earn livelihoods, and advocated a land-limit plan fixing a basic family holding. He died in 1763 and was posthumously made Minister of Personnel.
Family Misfortune and a Life of Scholarship
His father Yi Ha-jin died in exile after the 1680 purge, and Yi Jam, his first teacher, died in prison in 1706 over a memorial. After this Yi Ik abandoned the examinations and lived as an independent scholar; Jeong Yak-yong is said to have remarked that he became renowned after the family's misfortunes.
Seongho Saseol and His Thought
Seongho Saseol, compiled from reading notes begun in the 1720s and completed around 1760 with his nephews' help, is an encyclopedic work. He criticized Sinocentrism ("the Eastern country is the Eastern country") and built a historical line through the Three Han. Western science is said to have led him to see the universe as boundless. He remained critical of commerce and money, and historians note limits where he stayed within contemporary norms.
The Seongho School
His circle produced the historian An Jeong-bok, Yi Jung-hwan of the Taengniji, and the statesman Chae Je-gong, while Yi Ga-hwan and Jeong Yak-yong carried on his outlook. Over the acceptance of Catholicism his followers are said to have split into left and right wings.
Grave
His tomb at Il-dong, Sangnok-gu, Ansan is Gyeonggi Monument No. 40, and the Seongho Memorial Hall stands nearby.
Descendants
His son Yi Maeng-hyu died before him; with no direct descendants the tomb was neglected until the Seongho Yi Ik memorial society restored it in 1967.