Who is Ahn Hyang?

The lives of many Koreans were guided by the principles of Neo-Confucianism, the ultimate goals of which were to adopt a well-rounded character for individuals and virtuous governance for the state. Korean scholars of old known as seonbi were said to have constantly striven to live ethically and keep their spiritual integrity. Neo-Confucianism served as the foundation for the Joseon Dynasty. The father of Neo-Confucianism in Korea was Ahn Hyang, Confucian scholar of Goryeo.

Born in 1243 in the southeastern part of Korea, Ahn was a child known for his prodigious reading and good manners. His academic pursuits began early and at age 18 he passed the national exam for government officials at the top of his class, launching his public service career.

But at the time, Goryeo was in the midst of an invasion by the Yuan Empire, a dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan. The Goryeo court, which had fled to Ganghwa Island to evade Mongol attacks, was fighting over whether to return to the former capital of Gaeseong. King Wonjong and his followers wished to return to the old capital, while military officials strongly opposed the move, which they considered tantamount to surrender to the Yuan Empire. For this reason Ahn had to stay in Ganghwa Island for some time.

At age 36 Ahn joined Gukjagam, Goryeo’s national educational institution, to teach students. In 1289 he visited the capital city of the Yuan Empire as part of a delegation led by then-Crown Prince Chungseon. A year later he brought back from China a copy of a very special book.

Devoting His Life to Spreading Neo-Confucianism

What Ahn brought back from China was a hand-written copy of the collection of renowned Confucian scholar Zhu Xi’s works. Neo-Confucianism teaches children to love their parents and vassals to be loyal to their king. It teaches people to run the household with love and treat people with trust, and train to be respectful and act with care. These teachings provided comfort and hope to Ahn, who was devastated by the sufferings of Goryeo people under the three-decade-long Mongol invasion.

From that time, Ahn visited the Yuan Empire on a number of occasions and picked up on their educational trends. He also sent his student to China to bring back the portraits of Confucius and his 72 students. His efforts to spread Neo-Confucianism in Goryeo included purchasing a wide range of musical instruments, ritualistic vessels, Confucian classics and historical books.

Ahn also saw the need to educate students in order to spread the new teachings, so he donated his home to the government, which was used to build Ban-gung, a new national university in Goryeo and later the Seonggyunkwan of Joseon. He proposed to the king to set up an educational foundation with the silver and fabric collected from government officials.

Thanks to his efforts, a great shrine commemorating Confucius and his works was completed in the Goryeo capital of Gaeseong in 1304. In his later years, he changed his penname to Hoiheon, in honor of Zhu Xi’s penname Hoiam. After dedicating his life to propagating Neo-Confucianism, he passed away in 1306 at age 64.

Starting Point for Korea’s Neo-Confucianism

Ahn’s achievements had a far wider impact after his death than during his lifetime. He was revered as a master by the king and his shrine was set up in hundreds of Confucian academies around the country. Ahn is thus admired because he had demonstrated a righteous way to reform the Goryeo society, which had been mired in corruption, abuse of power, and exploitation of the poor. His teachings became the founding principles of Joseon, the kingdom of Confucian scholars. Consequently, Korea’s first Neo-Confucian scholar had provided the basis for a new nation to blossom for the next five centuries.