A genius who stunned China

In many cases an intellectual who is ahead of his or her time is destined to be at odds with the ideas or spirits of the time he or she is living in. Even if the ideas pursued by the intellectual are not championed at the time, however, they oftentimes germinate and blossom in later years to open up a new chapter in history. Such was the case with Choi Chi-won, arguably the brightest star of Shilla Kingdom.

Born in 857, the first year of King Heon-an’s reign in Shilla, Choi Chi-won started learning how to read at age 3 and became very knowledgeable in all the major scholarly writings of the time by he turned ten. But his father was only a class six nobleman, and Shilla being a strict class-based society, the younger Choi could not advance any higher than the sixth level out of seventeen levels of government posts. This is why his father sent his 12-year-old son to China to study. Well aware of his father’s sacrifice and intentions, Choi studied harder than anyone, even poking himself with a needle to keep him from falling asleep. His hard work paid off six years later in 874 when he passed China’s national exam for foreigners with the highest score.

At the age of 18 his career in government was launched. In 876 he was appointed as mayor to current-day Nanjing and later on made a name for himself all over China by writing “Tohwangsogyeokmun (A Letter to Rebuke Hwang So)” when he fought against a rebellion in 875 led by a salt merchant named Hwang So, known in Chinese as Huang Chao.

Starting with the phrase “the wise succeed by obeying the call of the time, but the foolish are bound to fail for going against reason,” Choi’s writing at times threaten and other times placate Huang. It is said that Huang was so amazed, frightened and moved by the letter that he fell from his seat upon reading it. Choi’s persuasive writing played a vital role in suppressing the rebellion and put him among the greatest writers of the time.

During his 17-year stay in China, Choi came to be known as a genius scholar, whose work was included in an anthology of the 100 greatest Chinese writers and many other historical textbooks. After enjoying fame and fortune in China, he then returned to Shilla in 884 to serve his homeland.

His Dream Dashed in Shilla

A letter of recommendation to Shilla’s King Heongang from Chinese Emperor Xizong gave Choi a supervisory position overseeing the writings of all documents from the Shilla court to China. But unfortunately, he was demoted after the passing of King Heongang in 886 and spent the following years in rural regions.

His banishment to the periphery of power failed to squash his reformist spirit. He continued to promote his reformist ideas and attempted to revive Shilla society by making many social reform proposals. Afraid of social changes, however, the aristocrats in the central government rejected his reform ideas.

Discouraged by the limitations of his social standing and the impotence of the waning Shilla Dynasty, Choi resigned from public service before he even turned 40 and devoted himself to writing while traveling all over the country. Then he dropped out of sight in 908, never to be seen again.

An Idealist Applauded in Later Times

Choi’s life was full of disappointments and unfulfilled dreams, but his ideas and works received their due recognition during the Goryeo Dynasty. Choi’s philosophy of a society not based on class was applied to the government system and social order of Goryeo, and the integration of Confucian, Buddhist, and Tao teachings deeply influenced Goryeo’s philosophical and religious framework.

His penname “Go Un,” which means lonely cloud, alludes to how dejected he felt about social rejection. But his name and legacy continue to inspire today’s people, one thousand years after his time. The long-lasting fame of Choi Chi-won demonstrates that steadfast dedication and adherence to one’s own ideas is rewarded eventually.