Ipan (理判) and sapan (事判) were originally two dimensions for viewing the world in Hwaeom scholarship. I (理) pointed to the unseen world of essence, while sa (事) pointed to the visible world of phenomena. By the Joseon period, an ipan monk meant a practitioner devoted to meditation, scriptural study, and preaching, while a sapan monk meant an administrative monk who ran the temple's finances and affairs. But Joseon was a state that revered Confucianism and suppressed Buddhism. Monks were cast down to the lowest social class, and by the late Joseon period they were even barred from entering the capital. To become a monk — "whether ipan or sapan" — meant stepping onto a dead-end road of caste with nowhere left to go. That cornered plight is exactly what became the word ipan-sapan. A lofty term of Buddhist philosophy, passing through an age of discrimination, turned into a byword for desperation.