 A scholiast and a meditation master, he dedicated his energies to creating harmony between two conflicting sectarian positions, those who emphasized meditation, on the one hand, and those who were dedicated to textual studies (kyo 敎) on the other. He started his career as a tireless reformer. This was achieved by way of introducing and regulating meditative practices to the existing sangha that later became the integral part of Sŏn and, eventually, all of Korean Buddhism. A key innovation of his within Sŏn was his introduction and elaboration of kong’an (公案 the public case records) or rather the practice of its key component called “hwadu (話頭)” (Park 2005).