Kwon Geun

Kwon Geun
Hangul	권근
Hanja	權近
Revised Romanization	Gwon Geun
McCune–Reischauer	Kwŏn Kŭn
Pen name
Hangul	양촌
Hanja	陽村
Revised Romanization	Yangchon
McCune–Reischauer	Yangch’on
Courtesy name
Hangul	가원,사숙
Hanja	可遠,思叔
Revised Romanization	Gaweon,Sasuk
McCune–Reischauer	Kawŏn, Sasuk
Posthumous name
Hangul	문충
Hanja	文忠
Revised Romanization	Munchung
McCune–Reischauer	Munch‘ung

Gwon Geun (1352–1409) was a Korean Neo-Confucian scholar at the dawn of the Joseon Dynasty, and a student of Yi Saek. He was one of the first Neo-Confucian scholars of the Joseon dynasty, and had a lasting influence on the rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea.

Gwon Geun was a Korean Neo-Confucian scholar at the time of the change from the Goryeo dynasty (during which Buddhism was a prominent philosophy) to Joseon. He was a member of the Andong Gwon clan that was very influential in the Goryeo court. He was a student of Yi Saek, and passed the first level of civil service examinations at the age of fourteen. He later went to Yuan China, and during his six years stay there he passed the second and the third level examinations. After his return to Korea, he became associated with the loyalist faction, and was exiled in 1389 for his defense of the loyalist minister Yi Sungin (1349–1392). While in exile he got involved in the faction’s attempt to prevent the rise of Yi Seonggye, by alerting the Ming Dynasty. His was acquitted when a flood that stopped the trial was accepted as an omen. A year later he returned from his exile and retired to the village of Yangchon, on which he based his pen name. However, king Taejo (R. 1392 - 1398) convinced him to devote his talent for the new dynasty.

At first, resentment from Jeong Do-jeon's faction kept his role minimal, but Jeong Do-jeon and many of his colleagues were wiped out during the succession straggle of 1398. From that point until his death, Kwon Geun became the most important scholar in the government. During this time Kwon Geun directed the education system back toward literary accomplishments.

Gwon Geun lived and served during the dynastic change, and became eventually one of the architects of the Neo-Confucian ideology that provided both reasoning for the change, and ideological framework for the Joseon literati. He introduced Zhu Xi to the Korean audience, and his writings served as the basis for future scholars.

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