In the spring of 1805, Jeong Yak-yong, then residing at Dasan Cottage, made an outing to Baengnyeonsa Temple. There he met Monk Hyejang, who was serving as the temple's abbot at the time. Jeong Yak-yong, born in 1762, and Hyejang, born in 1772, were a decade apart in age — but this meeting sparked a deep friendship that crossed the boundaries of both social status and religion.
What makes their relationship especially interesting is that it wasn't one-directional teaching but a genuine exchange. Jeong Yak-yong, the exiled leading scholar of practical learning in all of Joseon, taught Hyejang Confucian classical scholarship, while Hyejang — learned enough to have once served as a head lecturer (gangbaek) at Daeheungsa Temple — taught Jeong Yak-yong the art of tea. The roughly 800-meter path connecting Baengnyeonsa Temple to Dasan Cottage later became a site of intellectual exchange crossing the boundary between Confucianism and Buddhism, especially once the monk Choui joined their circle as well. Walking this path today, it's still possible to sense the relationship between two men who, despite the era's barriers of religion and social rank, never hesitated to learn from one another.